I tried the "scrape test". The bare root persimmon passed...but I've never had a bare root persimmon successfully leaf out in the Spring. (They allways seem to be alive and in a coma all summer, then die). The redbud passed on the trunk but not the branches a couple weeks ago. I tried again Saturday and saw no green on the redbud. Hoping the bark was just too thick for my fingernail. K

I don't like to scape the bark on small young trees too much...

One of the toughest things about gardening for someone new to it is realizing certain things have to be done certain times of year...and those times of year aren't necessarily when you have free time, when you see flowers blooming in the neighborhood, or when Big Box stores switch to nursery mode. (I think this screws up a lot of new home owners.)
As a cubicle jockey, the seasons and weather are normally irrelevant to my life.

What are "rooted liners"?

Say...I got a notice in my inbox saying MizGG replied to this posting, but I don't see his reply.

Redbuds are one of the last trees to show new growth in my garden. I just pruned a branch that was rubbing off of my Cercis 'Forest Pansy' today. I checked and it was green along the cambium layer. But the rest of the tree shows no new growth whatsoever.

Patience grasshopper.

Steve

Rooted liners = rooting small cutting designed for the nursery trade to grow on.

Sorry about that ... my computer was acting up yesterday, and I was trying to edit my post, but somehow deleted it (my post was just suggesting the scrape test).