Trees

[Hoy]

Trond, it does seem a common thread, that certain plants actually need that summer heat and then proper hardening off periods of cold, to prove winter hardy. This fact became very clear the 4 years I lived near Seattle Washington, easily 3 zones more mild than where I lived in New England, but I had trouble overwintering a number of plants that easily sailed through New England winters without a blink of the eye.

Mark, I know! I have a hard time trying to grow eastern American plants in particular

[RickR]

Thanks, Mark.  Today I went to our local Lily Society education meeting, and since it was only a week later, I kept the arrangement in the garage in the meantime, for "show and tell" there, too.  It was cooler in the garage than I thought, and the water froze.  It turned out to be the best happenstance, because I could be very rough transporting it around, yet everything stayed firmly in place.....way better than an oasis cube.    Got lotsa kudos at that meeting, too.  Lilium hybridizer Brian Bergman, from Ontario, spoke.

[Gordon]

Just thought I'd give you an update on Paulownia tomentosa. Although our tree hasn't bloomed yet, we were able to collect a few seed pods from a mature one (naturally decided to do this after we had had more than a few nights of -20 F or lower). I wasn't sure if the seeds would still be viable, but gave it a shot. Here are the results

[Lori S.]

Freezing seeds doesn't necessarily affect their viability -it's whether the seedling and plant can survive the climate.

[Hoy]

In fact it is the way to store seeds for a long time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

[McDonough]

Trond, that is so cool!  Thanks for making us aware of that.

[Gordon]

I have some extra seed from Paulownia tomentosa, should anyone be interested in it. A word of caution though, it may be considered a pest tree in some areas, though it seems to be well behaved in our cool/cold maritime climate. Stooling it each year causes the rebounding plant to produce huge immature leaves (the largest on ours last year covered my outstretched arm, fingertips to shoulder)

[Hoy]

Trond, that is so cool!  Thanks for making us aware of that.

You are welcome, Mark!