No.....not unusual, often on mine some remain when the leaves are all gone.

Ditto.

Same here.

The pods all seem to disappear at some point. I have never seen anything eating the seeds--does anything do that? Squirrels? Possums?

I usually have dried pods remaining when they come into bloom next year. Not many...but some.

They just eventually fall off as the wind catches them and twists the stems off.

The one down my street also has the seed pods still on.
This tree also self seeds readily. I have about 4 growing in my yard and when you cut them down they sprout back up from the roots.

Maybe this is the first year that I really noted them.

Your note is interesting as I do not have any seedlings happening. I do get new sprouts from and old root right next to mine.

As for seedlings, I would treat them like the way I do with Maple trees. You have to pull them and take out the root when they are young. If you miss them long enough that they are too strong to be pulled, either dig them out or chop them down but leave leaves on the stalk. Then gather a piece of plastic at the base and encase the plant. Spray it with an herbicide. In about two weeks it will be totally dead without affecting the plants near by. You can then simply cut it at the base and it will not return.

This only works with seedlings, not suckers as suckers share the same roots as a main stalk.

the only thing strange.. is that you just noticed .... lol

you kill trees ... independent ones as you note.. by filling the very expensive applicator at the link with full strength round up.. or generic ... and DRIPPING it on a snipped or cut off tree ... you apply only to the cambian layer ...

as you are not spraying.. you wont need your plastic setup ...

full strength is a labeled use of RU ...

spraying diluted concentrations for tree killing.. can be very hit and miss ...

BTW .... perhaps it is a mast year for seed production on your tree ... and that is why you are just noticing... seed production.. like nut production.. varies wildly year to year.. not to mention.. how many years it takes for a tree to get to maturity

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Err ken, are you advocating using mustard on the errant seedlings ?

"you kill trees ... independent ones as you note.. by filling the very expensive applicator at the link with full strength round up.. or generic ... and DRIPPING it on a snipped or cut off tree ... you apply only to the cambian layer ... "

I had to read your response several times to convince myself that you were not being rude or arrogant and that you had not totally missed my point. Your over use of the ellipsis made me think that you were accusing me of doing all those things instead of coming across as a better way to kill off a single plant.

" the only thing strange.. is that you just noticed .... lol"

Sorry but "lol" is not a fix for a snide remark. I find it strange that you find it strange that people forget things. lol.

When I read the rest of your post, I also found it abrasive because at first, I missed your point too. If you had started it with "Your idea might work but I suggest you try..." it would not have been taken negatively.