did you fert at planting??

and where are you.. z6 is a pretty big area???

ken

"Is it a response of some kind to the initial loss of leaves?"

Sometimes when plants prematurely drop their leaves from stressors (like being planted in the ground or pot) and they have decided their growing season is not over, they will put out new growth like your catawba is producing after they get over the initial shock.

John

Thanks for the responses.
ken: I applied no fertilizers or amendments at planting time or since. (Didn't want to encourage new growth.) Rain has kept the soil adequately moist in this region. I mulched with pine bark nuggets to a depth of 2"-3" and extended the mulch 3' out from the trunk. As concerns the zone: Gardenweb's zonefinder indicates that Roanoke, VA is in zone 7. However, travel 30 miles west and you have zone 6. IOW, I'm right on the edge of zone 7 and, to be safe, would prefer to think in terms of zone 6! :0)
John: Hadn't thought about stress potentially impacting dormancy but it makes sense.
gary

Stress made my metasequoia drop needles and then the end of the drought and tons of water and it was re-leafing. Now its kinda stuck in between hopefully getting ready for winter.
My freshly transplanted sourwood dropped its leaves earlier and releafed entirely. It now is going dormant.

toronado3800: A dawn redwood. Lucky you ... still waiting for a nursery in this area to offer one!!
I should have asked everyone: Is there anything I can, or should, do at this point? The new growth will obviously be killed by low temperatures; will this have repercussions regarding the health/life of the tree, as well as blooms next year?
gary

The tree will be fine.