Nigras do really well for be and the deer seem to hate them. I'm a bit surprised. Wate's is dropping some brown needles right now, but pushing good new growth, too. Also, parvifloras love my place, but I know they haven't treated you well in the past. Amazing what 30 miles can do!

i dont recall any parv issues.. besides the fact that all the blue ones look the same ...

i can add... an 8 foot esk sunset dead to 8 inches ...

redbuds only blooming on the top third of the canopy .. which confuses me ... plain green ones.. i heard a lot of peeps lost the foo foo ones ...

cham tiny curls and whats the mini boulevard ... i am blanking.. dead brown ... but they were on their way out last summer.. so winter just finished them off ...

i will see more later

ken

Sorry to hear Ken. As you are aware, lots of casualties to go around this year, but that doesn't make it suck any less when it's YOUR (meaning anyone that this happens to) plants. I know our plants have taken beating after beating after beating, and it continues taking a toll. Hopefully your babies will have a very nice recover.

Arktrees

Took out your Wates VA pine? That's a surprise -- should be cold-hardy in z5.

Can't see anything on my 3 crape mrytles and 2 fringetrees (1 fringetree looks OK). Thinking these were killed to the ground.

Lots of losses Ken. I do know you had zone 4 winter this year. I lost a lot also. We definitely had zone 5 and with wind chill had zone 4 and I am 3 hours south of you. I finally gave up on a few things. Still watching some others to see what may come up at the root (Heath/Heathers) although not sure how happy I am about them if this happens again, which seems likely at some point. Just waiting things out with you. Hope you have more still alive than what you are thinking.
Cher

I'm border of 5b/6a and have been happily planting z6 stuff as our last 5-10 winters have been so mild ... now I realize my mistake. :(

IMO, people need to let go of those zone hardiness ratings.

Ken, it is my understanding you didn't meet Zone 4 minimum temps yet had extensive damage to the contrary.

Yes, there is a minimum temperature that will kill a tree but duration of intense cold can be more problematic for trees that should be otherwise hardy. This has IMO been clearly demonstrated everywhere east of the Rockies this spring. Texas to Michigan. Many plants that should have been minimum temperature hardy, many of which were well established, perished this winter after the prolonged repetitive cold attacks. Either fully capable of being lethal in susceptible trees.

I like to think of each cold outbreak killing a few HIT POINTS of the tree. The amount varies on the duration and intensity of the cold. So, after many attacks the tree's hit point reserve is depleted and the tree succumbs. OTOH, one extremely intense cold low could be like a critical 9999 hit and kill the tree outright.

Anyways, sorry Ken. You have many brothers and sisters here on GW to commiserate with. But let's be honest, fantasizing about what to fill the new holes with is nearly as enjoyable as seeing the specimen in the ground. Unfortunately, the wallet doesn't share in the delight of actually getting it to the hole...

hey jon doe ...

first off.. and you beat around the bush ... zone is NOT merely temps ...

i have some suppressed recollection.. that we had something like 20 days in a row of below zero wind chills ... never being above single digits w/o wind ...

though not min temps... the desiccating dryness of the wind ... most likely just freeze dried the tissue... like chicken left in the freezer too long ...

in addition.. perhaps we had a mild day.. brilliant sunshine ... and relatively warmer.. with the reflected sun on snow.. perhaps the tissue thawed .. only for the wind to increase at sunset.. and the temps to go back below zero ...

the only upside... is that long ago.. i bought a dozen z6 cham lawsonianas ...$4 a piece ... you know that logic.. if anyone can beat the zone.. i can do it.. lol.. yeah right.. i will out think the wicked witch of the north.. ma nature .... any way.. since that time.. i never bought a z6 plant ... so none of the losses were due to zone pushing ...

and i should note.. on the deciduous and the shrub damage.. they are all coming from the roots.. which isnt any good with a grafted plant.. but the point being... winter did not kill roots ... my soil freezes solid.. so frozen and dormant roots.. remain dormant..

i suspect.. much of the damage was from tissue going in and out of dormancy ... but for sure.. we had no temperate week in feb.. like we often do ... it was blistering cold from 11/1 thru 4/1 ....

ken

My Wates lost most of its needles but is pushing new growth at the moment.

Bummer,ken
I could not believe I had 4 thuja plicata croak
2 atrovirens,2 zebrennia

and a thun (oh you kids and your slang)banshosho
New guy,Ron