Same here, a whole bunch are sitting around but sales is slow.

I can't tell much about growing them in our zone 3, some will make it in very protected location, near the house, most I've seen planted die, so I never bothered growing them.

Konrad

I wonder where they come from. If somewhat locally grown, then I could see them surviving as they would be naturally approaching dormancy. A good watering and maybe a burlap wrap and I'm sure they'd survive. But if they've been nursed along in some warm environment then their chances are slim. Especially if bitter cold hits us soon.

I don't think all cedars are created equal - any tags on them that say what variety they are?

I'll have to check if they have any identifying labels. It shocked me to see the appearance of more cedars as they let their entire shipment of spring cedars die from neglect. Their stock does seem healthy on arrival, however.

But now I have a different idea. These are cute little trees, and they're not expensive. I have a couple of large pots I leave outside for the winter. I was thinking about making some kind of winter arrangement in them. It would be very simple to just plunk one of those trees in each one - $10.00 for a winter decoration. Is that too silly? I'd almost feel badly about causing sure death for the trees though.

I wonder even if hardened off if it would survive a zone 1 winter? I thought zone 2 was pretty much pushing things as it is? ... ocrrect me if I'm wrong? About a month ago, SuperStore had nice 3' cedars for only ten bucks. I thought it was kinda late in the season, as I really like to see them being spring or summer planted and having the chance to really settle in.

I have many cedars and today was giving them a shot of water and a good dose of fertilizer. I have been fall fertilizing for years now. I had first done so after seeing how much better a blue spruce had faired when someone inevertantly dumped a bunch of fertilizer around the tree ... it was the only spruce not to have had any browning of its needles come spring.

Extra Foods is owned by Superstore, so I assume they are all carrying the same type of cedar: thuja occidentalis 'emerald' (smargd). This cultivar, at the best of times, is subject to winter damage in anything but a sheltered city yard. This spring I know some stores also had the 'brandon' cedar, which in my opinion is hardier.

If you do buy any trees, plant right away, water in and be sure to winter protect. I have a few 'emerald's' and winter protection is pretty well necessary. I just wrap with burlap or cover with a cardboard box. Actually, in a colder zone I recommend mounding snow around the base of the tree (once we receive decent snowfall, this helps insulate the roots) and then covering with an appropriate size cardboard box. This offers a bit more protection than just burlap.

In general, they say that the ground is warm and fall planting encourages root growth. At this point in the autumn, however, I really doubt that much growth of any kind will occur. So, another option might be to water the cedars well, and dig a hole in a protected spot and sink the pots up to their rims into the ground. Fill in around the sides of the pots with loose soil. Then I would still cover or wrap for winter. The advantage to this is that you can choose a shady location such as the east side or north side of the house as opposed to having the plant in an exposed location while it's not settled in yet. Check on the plant regularly until freeze up to see if it needs water, however.

Glen

North53, I have two half barrel planters on either side of my walkway into the house. For Christmas, I put 2 4-foot artificial trees in them with little LED lights, and they look pretty good. I don't see why you couldn't put the cedars in your pots for winter decoration, knowing of course that you'd be treating them as annuals. I know I've paid $5.00 for annuals like begonias or geraniums. Real trees would probably look a whole lot better than my garage-sale fake ones.

Connie

Hi Connie, I went back and looked at them last week and decided they were too small for my pots. Today they are all gone! I had mentioned my idea to several people though who thought it sounded great. But I can't believe they sold them all. Maybe they sent them back.

I also have an artificial tree I made out of an upside down very large tomato cage. It actually looks pretty good. Like yours it's about 4 ft tall. Too bad I only had the one huge cage. A pair would look better.