A couple of weeks ago I published a photo of this riverflat hawthorn, Crataegus opaca, I collected on October 10th. There were tiny buds at the ends of some of the branchlets, which clearly were viable and indicated this tree was likely going to survive collecting. I had no real concerns about the tree. At the same time, however, I didn’t expect much more going into fall dormancy.
Imagine my surprise today when I saw a bunch of adventitious trunk and branch buds pushing. I certainly figured this was what was going to happen next spring, but to see the tree making a move now was a real eye-opener. What’s going to happen next? There should be modest growth all the way till our first freeze, which should come next month. I doubt this new growth will have time to harden off, but at the same time I don’t think the tree will be affected by it. This tree looks like wanting to live.
And speaking of pushing the envelope, a bunch of my new water-elm collects are now budding. Here’s one of them, trunk base 1.75″ and 11.5″ to the chop. This tree will be mostly developed in 2016. Great trunk movement and a nice root base.
This one is a lengthier project, but just a couple extra years should do the trick. Either two or three trunks, the main one is 2″ in diameter and 9″ to the chop. It and the number two trunk need developing, but this goes fast with water-elms. I like the start I have with the movement of the main trunk.