Hi Ken,

Reading whorls is kind of fun. Your Red Pine sure looks healthy and growing at a nice pace. I'm a fan of conifers that turn gold in cold weather. Its the time of year when we really need some color around here; not so much in spring when everything seems to be providing interest. I'm surprised its colored-up this early. We've only had one freezing day (mid September) and its been warm (actually hot) and wet otherwise. Did it turn this early in the previous years?

Here's a few pics of a volunteer seedling. Around here they average about 6" the first 3-5 years, and then increases to about 12"-16" the next few years. Those growing wild on my place rarely grow more than 24" (although I've seen around 36"), and start producing cones at about 10 years. Is this one supposed to be smaller & slower growing then the species?

BTW, it looks like the tree behind it (Larix 'Varied Dir's?) in the August '07 photo not doing too well.

Bob

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oh cool.. that second picture above .. easily shows the yearly whorls .... or the yearly growth rate ... trunks ONLY expand in length that first spring it extends ... no further length thereafter ...

funny you mention the varied directions.. 5 years... growing like a weed ... and a mysterious death.. just as the buds were opening ... spring frost death ... as far as i could tell...

then i put my cherished taylors sunburst there ... same old carp ... buds extending.. then bammo .. dead ... i am really wondering if that small brick wall .. of which i WAS really proud ... is causing problems ... it faces due south .. on the hill ...and i suspect that it might be a heat sink in the cold winter, if no snow cover... or in early spring.. warming the soil.. causing the roots to become active too soon.. or too often .. prior to the break in dormancy ....

and BTW.. two 50 dollar taylor's.. dead ... i give up .. unless someone gives me one..

ken

Hey Ken, that is one amazing revelation!

"i am really wondering if that small brick wall .. of which i WAS really proud ... is causing problems ... it faces due south .. on the hill ...and i suspect that it might be a heat sink in the cold winter, if no snow cover... or in early spring.. warming the soil.. causing the roots to become active too soon.. or too often .. prior to the break in dormancy .... "

You might be right! I am now wondering if that isn't what killed the Irish Juniper I had in a small (south facing) retaining wall just off the patio... I suspect some roots could have been touching some stone inside the wall. That makes sense now!

Thanks for posting the pics of Pinus resinosa 'Aurea', Ken. I have one of these in a pot and I need to get it in the ground. I'm just not sure where to put it. Hopefully, 'Aurea' will be slightly smaller than the straight species.

Thanks, in general, for posting all of the the great pics and showing us these plants as they develop in your yard.
Mike

thanks freak ....

what i was trying to show.. is when you are trying to define a problem .. you have to think outside the box ....

the resinosa put on about 18 inches of growth this year .... yikes ....

ken

Looks stocky and strong.

Dax

Erf! I have a very very small castlerock "wall" surrounding the smallest hosta bed where I stuck the mugo / mungo pine... the wall doesn't really go more than 4" underground and no more than 12" above... I didn't expect a real heat sink effect and, with so little underground, maybe I don't need to worry.

I used the castlerock much higher in some of the other spots. My concern was keeping roots warm enough... I didn't worry about keeping them too warm.

Sorry about your losses. :(