Should I be worried?

I have a small red JM I placed in the ground last fall that is sprouting buds.
All the trees I had in containers are not clearly doing so yet.
Should I be worried?
This is in Chicago (zone 5).

well it depends .... I have mine in a green house...I'd keep a watchful eye on the weather forecast if it is gonna be anywhere near 35 at night I'd cover it with plastic ( that gives you a bit of a window in case the weather guy or gal is wrong) ...put some stakes around it to hold off the plant ( you don't want it touching the buds if it goes below 32-30) and anchor it down around the plant at bottom...I'd use heavy mil. CLEAR plastic not black ( in case you forget to take off and it gets sunny...it will singe your plants.) and not that thin garment stuff... and remove early the next day as soon as it's about 38 degrees unless it's gonna be freezing or below freezing during the day ... This all comes from experience with tomatoes and other plants mostly in fall but I think it would be the same in your case and in the spring as well. Now remember seed grown stuff is pretty hardy so it might not be necessary but if it was me I wouldn't chance it... David

Hoard are these the same trees you purchased from MB last year? I would thing they should be in the ground by now anyway. I finally bought a red one and a green one. there was freeze going on last week so I bought them inside and one dropped some leaves. Other than that, they came to me beautifully. Probaly because I wrote them prior too ...asking them not to send me any dead plants i might have to return! lol
Sylvia

Yup, same ones.
They should be able to weather a zone 5 winter-- seems odd to compare them to tomatoes.

I wasn't comparing them to tomatoes just how I covered them and the do's and don'ts.... a zone 5 hardy plant that has heavily budded out or leafed out this early (NONE OF MY SOME 30+JM PLNTS HAVE EVEN BROKEN BUDS AND I'M 200 MILES SOUTH OF YOU)...It probably broke buds cause it buds earlier ( may be mislabeled) and may aleays be at risk and require covering!!!... well...l if you want to see whether they will take a cold Chicago night after busting buds be my guest ;>) David

It's helpful to hear you don't have buds. The ones in the container
have an obviously dead twig here and there, but otherwise look quite well despite the absence of buds (e.g. greenish tinge, nice flexibility).
So I'll keep watching.

Hoard I am going to take pics of mine in the morning for you to see.
Sylvia

Hoard ...I do have buds on all my trees but they are not breaking meaning they are still in their winter form i expect them to do so this next week if not sooner though ...Be advised all my trees are in the ground so container trees especially new ones could be differnt ...cold weather won't hut dormant buds as mine have "buds" all winter it's when the burst and start to come out that really cold weather can kill 'em ( the buds) and even then it they will often will shoot out new ones if it's an older tree which yours is not... Why the container tree is differnt from the planted one is strange unless its against a wall and is warmer or as i expect a differnt variety. The fact that they are green and viable is good ...if you go another week or so with nothing I'd take 'em inside put in a sunny window and see if that does it unless the weather warms ...my guess is they are probably just fine ...David

Thanks, David.
I'm not too worried . . . the ones in the pot are more exposed and it's not surprising they'd think it was a bit colder out than the ones in the ground.
Will keep you posted . . . I'm not about to let my "story" thread die after less than a year.

Hoard I just checked on little saplings and the green on is all bushy and pretty! The red one which is taller is not bushy, but I think the cat got a hold of it when I bought in inside. Something tells me these two trees are going to need different requirements. David whats your take on this? I didnt have my camera in my purse this eve, but will show you pics tommorrow.
Sylvia

Her are my pics
My green tree

my red tree

Good pics. Looks like they liberally snipped 'em to save on shipping.
Your red appears to be of a more exotic variety than mine, but the green's the same.

Now I'm worried . . .
The one in the ground has -leaves- unfolding . . . no obvious progress on the potted ones.
David, got an update on yours?
-h

Here in zone 9 where I'm about a month ahead of you, some of my cultivars started leafing out about a month ago and some are just beginning right now. The pots may be the difference but it also may just be the differences in cultivars.

After that, all I can say is our cold weather folk are the experts here.

ahhh you should see my green one, it is getting bushier. I am really worried about the red one, but I did see some little red nodes on it.

Sylvia

Hoard ...yes mine are all leafing out they broke bud about 5 days ago ...I didn't realise the time until I saw this... that I posted on the garden web they broke 10 days ago ( wrong ) ..oh well ...there is a post on the GW from some poor person who lives in bloomington who also has potted seedlings that are doing zilch like yours check it out ...yah I'd be concerned the potted ones should have been warmer since they have less dirt sourounding them and should logically leaf first...so YES I think you have some right to be concerned!!...But Doss is right it may just be a cultivar differnce....time will tell but being a half empty guy I am not optimistic just as I wasn't from the GW person from Bloominton....David

Hmmmm . . . not sure if the pottedness would necessarily make them want to bud earlier . . . could be that the extra cold made 'em extra dormant . . .or that there's more moisture in the ground.
It would be a costly learning lesson if they don't come back. But the happy one in the ground gives some consolation.

Soil in pot is a MUCH smaller area therefore YES it would warm faster all else being equal...shade, exposure, moisture... If both were exposed to the same winter cold there is no "extra" about it...as I said the differnce in culivars could cause differnt timing ...but ALL 20+ differnt cultvars of mine are in varying degrees of leafing and we are just 200 miles south and you have NOT had sufficiently cooler weather than we have this spring from my following of the weather map ...NO large snow or ice storms and no sub zero freezing periods ...so if anything you might be a week behind us at most and buds SHOULD be breaking or broken IMHO ...but hope "springs" eternal.... David

Sure, I'm not arguing that the pots wouldn't warm faster, but maybe that's not the only factor.

I was at Carlmont nursery last week (zone 9) and there were still trees with no leaves. The red buds are very good news. Seems as if something is stirring.

Either the tree is going to make it or it's not. When dealing with nature, worry doesn't make the difference unless there's something that you can do. We all lose plants from time to time. Hard, but that's gardening.

Either the tree is going to make it or it's not. When dealing with nature, worry doesn't make the difference unless there's something that you can do. We all lose plants from time to time. Hard, but that's gardening.

What a profound statement Doss! I try to tell my friends who "dont" garden this. Gardening is like a crap game. You win some, you lose some and you learn....
Sylvia

Perhaps better said by Syliva. Down to earth - "like a crap game". I have to admit that I'm still in the process of this and I still mourn a plant here and there. If I could always be in the place of acceptance though, it would make gardening a pure joy.

I tacked on a few red JM saplings to an order from this gal in Tennessee:
http://stores.ebay.com/Viola-Valley-Nursery-Seedling-Trees
And they arrived pretty much just as dormant as my potted JMs-- so I have a little more hope . . .
-h'

Well not to burst your bubble but maybe, maybe not ...they may have been in cold storage to keep them dormant were they bare root or potted ??? ..many growers do that until mid june ..I got some forest pansey red buds from the deep south last week still dormant ...budded out in two days after arrival ...definetly refrigerated ...Also Last year i bought a dormant bare root jm seedling ...it NEVER budded and I had to contact my credit card to get a refund ... so It's more likely IMHO that it has been refrigerated to keep it dormant hopefully not like mine last year and DOA!!.... David

David, yours are in a greenhouse, right?

Hoard...No mine are all planted in the ground...I have my grafted new stuff in the GH only and a few new larger ones in pots waiting for the energy and time to plant ..which is probably today ...ALL of mine planted last year or or before have leaves now ...a few not fully leaved but most are fully...we are about a week ahead of you maybe 10 days but this warn spring I'd say a week at MOST... David

I'll show you, David :-)

My largest potted red JM is clearly on the verge of breaking bud today. The rest are still 100% dormant.
Hard to believe we're still over a month away from last frost date . . . all this dormancy could be a good thing. Can the fresh leaves on the one in the ground survive frost?

Hey Guys, I bought this Maple at the HD for 21.00. its called a Acer palmatum "atropurpureum". Did I do good or what?

Sylvia

$21 at Home Depot?
There goes the neighborhood . . . might as well move all the JM discussion to the Hosta forum :-)

Now Hoard what is that suppose to mean? I must take offense to that remark, considering I am a Hostaholic. lol
Sylvia

Hey, I resemble that remark, though I don't by Hosta there anymore due to a virus thing going around on them!

Looks like you got a good deal on your maple, it looks nice and full. Congrats, welcome to a new obsession!

Laura

Thanks Laura... So you are aware of the HVX virus too? I wouldnt dare buy a Hosta from any of those box stores. I order all my Hostas online and get a better deal. Yeah when I saw that Maple for 21 bucks, I got back in that long line to pay for it. I should have got two! :)
Sylvia

If you go to the hosta forum, the "August Moon" is mine. Just dug it out and tossed it this weekend and have spent nearly every morning checking others on my way to work. [sigh].

Laura

Laura I live in the Hosta forum! LOL I use to be Sedrick, remember? I know I feel so terrible for some of you guys. I am glad all mine are in pots...this way if I discover anything I can just dump the pot. OK I am on my way to the Hosta Forum.:)
Sylvia

I'm not a hostaholic but am curius about hxv...what does it do and the symptoms look like ..or just post a link to the thread at daves ( here) that best explains it ..I have a bunch of hostas ...all planted out ...never have seen any problems ...some don't make it but 95% do and seem healthy...thats pretty good for the type of plant that is earthtenal during the winter ..pls explain..David

Here you David, Hallson tells it all. There are some pics, will post if I come cross it.

http://perennialnursery.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38787

Sylvia...I've only been on DG for a short time, so no "memory", LOL!

Hosta forum has quite a bit of info, and the website Sylvia provided is excellent. "Uglifies" the plant, basically, and is passed via tools when cutting the flower scapes, or digging around the plants (or cleaning for shipping in the same water as infected plants). It is apparently very common now, and doesn't show in all plants, so you need to be careful when buying, and hope for the best, or quarantine plants. Also need to disinfect tools, which is going to be a real pain. When I planted bulbs this fall, I could easily have spread the virus among my hostas.

Laura

Laura Bless your heart you were hit really hard. Were you not?

Sylvia