I've been growing sequoias destined for relatives further south, up here in my way-too-cold-for-them climate of Iowa City. Last year, I overwintered them outdoors, but up against a wall, and I heaped snow over top of them. 5 out of 6 survived just fine. I had two left this year to overwinter again, and this year, I moved them into a garage during cold and/or windy weather (i.e., most of the time), but left them out on the warmer, sunnier days.

Like last year, they got brown-out, but I didn't think much of it. That is, to say, they turned that coppery, almost purplish brown that sequoias do when they don't like how cold they've gotten, but remain soft and pliable. This is in contrast to dead branches (which I've gotten also), which turn a dull brown and become stiff. Also, on parts of the upper reaches of the tree leading to the brownout, I could see green underneath the thinner bark areas, and there were even some new little green nubs, like the start of new growth (like erupted from the brownout last year in the spring).

Something's wrong this year, though. Despite all of the favorable signs, the trees haven't done anything, and it's June already. I got so concerned that the other day, I scratched off the bark in a tiny area at the base of one of the trees, assuming that it must be dead despite the coppery brownout and green bits on the upper part of the tree. The cambium was still perfectly green at the base. So it sure looks like it's alive... but why aren't they growing? Does anyone have any ideas?