I don’t know why I wasn’t able to post any more pictures, I’m not very good at the tech stuff lol

oh my goodness and now they’ve gone out of order. The one not labeled is from this year and while it has definitely grown out over the years, the pictures are a bit misleading as it’s still very short. I’ll include a profile pic from this year ;)

Great progression photos, but please don’t stop at 2021. I’ve got a couple of these, so I find it especially interesting to see how they progress from year to year. Mine are seemingly healthy, but they are slow. P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E.

Thank you maackia :) I love how they are slow though! Doesn’t it just make each noticeable change that much more miraculous??

Looks great and is tempting me to give it another try! Mine gave up the ghost after pushing new growth and seeming to thrive for 5 years...

Oh no! Any idea why? Losing the special ones is more than a bit heartbreaking ime :(

Wow I didn’t realize they were sensitive! Hearing your experiences with this makes me feel less guilty about my ‘Tom Thumb’ murder. Slightly

Enjoyable thread!

Well done!

Thanks , funny how the tougher to grow one survives.

ron

Well my Tom Thumb was extremely top-heavy from the start. If I do it again I will leave the little stake next to it for the first couple of years, beginner’s mistake. I went out there after a particularly rough and windy couple of weeks of winter and it was actually on its side with the root ball more than half exposed. I tried to replant it but it was already starting to turn brown and a few weeks later it was pitifully full on DEAD

This is a thread that needs regular updating. I’ve never seen a larger/older specimen, and its many failures are well reported. Hopefully one of us can hit the ten year mark with Ice Breaker, but I’m a long way off from that. Here are my two. The first is going on year three, while the second was planted last spring.

Those are huge for that young! At least when I bought mine it was only available in one size and you see what that size was 😂
I’ve never fertilized any of mine but I see that Connor for Kingdom sells conifer fertilizer and I’m wondering if I should give it a shot, especially now that I’m learning that this babe has been widely known as difficult. But then on the other hand maybe I shouldn’t do anything I haven’t done before lol

Fascinating, I love the progression pics too. I too bought a 1-year grafted Tom Thumb and promptly killed it. My first Ice Breaker was a large pot-bound tree from Iseli that I untangled and planted and looked good through the first winter until it gave up the ghost that spring. If I remember that one was $120 minus whatever the sale was. Seems like it might have been half off or 40%, something significant. Last year I bought a little ~3" pot for like $25 that handled the winter well and is growing this spring.

This beauty is growing at Gall Gardens (i.e. Coniferbros) in Moline, IL. I had the opportunity to visit Kurt and Ryan Gall’s garden this past week, and I’ll provide some pics in a separate post, but like everything they grow, it looked perfect.