My BC doesn’t want to sleep

[WNC Bonsai]

I have 10 bald cypress ranging from 2-3 yr old saplings to several large (originally >8’) ones in pots. Most went to sleep on schedule this fall including my Florida tree. However one from Louisianna doesn’t want to go to sleep. It did let most of its leaves go brown and I left it outside for a couple good freezes before moving it to the unheated garage around Thanksgiving. However we really haven’t gotten any cold weather since then and it has started pushing new green growth. So since we are having a warm spell this week with today expected to hit 53 degrees, I decided to give it another shot of cold to hopefully induce full dormancy.

Our night time lows are running in the 40s right now but by early next week will dip below freezing a coulpe nights. I plan to leave it outside until the night time temps are projected to go down around 25 and then move it back inside for the winter. I am protecting this one because it was collected only last winter. I also have a handfull of trident seedlings that are doing the same thing while all my others dropped leaves on schedule so I put them outside too. Anyone else seeing this kind of behavior? I am afraid we may be in for another winter loke the last one with warm spells scattered throughout. Even with our big snowstorm last week the temps were holding near the freezing point making for a heavy, sloppy, wet mess.

 

[Dav4]

I collected a large baldie from a swamp in S.C. the week of July 4th, 2014, essentially sawing it out of the mud. It remained leafless until September, but ended up growing fairly well until it went dormant in November. It stayed out in the yard on the ground with a light mulching of leaves around the cement mixing tub it sat in. It saw single digit temps several times that winter but grew like a weed the next spring and continues to do well with minimal winter protection in my zone 7b back yard. If your tree grew well this past year, there's no reason to baby it. Louisiana and Carolina collected cypresses are quite cold hardy. Keeping them in an out building that can't be kept consistently cold all winter is asking for trouble.

 

[Joe Dupre']

At my old location, I had 17 bald cypress in the yard. Several would consistently bud out or go dormant as much as a month apart. I have a few as bonsai, and one still has a few greenish and orange leaves while the others are bare. It might be best to leave it outside until spring. The amount of light the is getting ( or not getting) I would think is important to the health of the tree. Don't pamper it. If it is native of your area, it should be fine outside.

 

[0soyoung]

Keeping them in an out building that can't be kept consistently cold all winter is asking for trouble.

It might be best to leave it outside until spring. The amount of light the is getting ( or not getting) I would think is important to the health of the tree. Don't pamper it. If it is native of your area, it should be fine outside.

I agree with that.
Bald cypress is cold hardy to zone 4, so keep them outside in zone 7a, @Cofga,

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Yes, I was thinking of digging it into the mulch pile with the other trees. I just thought it odd that this one out of 10 has avoided going dormant. May be just a genetic outlier, being from Louisiana. Next summer I plan to dig a trench into a bank in the back yard and build a cold cellar for overwintering the trees. My garage just doesn’t stay cold enough now that we installed the new insulated doors.

 

[Wilson]

I have always wondered what kind of dormancy period BC get in it's southern range? In Florida do they go dormant in the wild?

 

[Zach Smith]

One of my BC's is still showing green, the rest have turned color or gone through leaf-drop. Their behavior can vary a good bit. I've never noticed any real issue with the timing of leaf-drop. Just leave them outside through winter. As noted above, they are very cold-hardy.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

One of my BC's is still showing green, the rest have turned color or gone through leaf-drop. Their behavior can vary a good bit. I've never noticed any real issue with the timing of leaf-drop. Just leave them outside through winter. As noted above, they are very cold-hardy.

Zach—this is the one I got from you this past spring. I’m going to dig it into a mulch pile with some others on the N side of my porch and see how it does. We’ve had a couple snows this fall including the big storm last week (I only got 6” but other areas around me got up to 18”) but the temps really have gotten much below freezing. I am actually more concerned about my larches than the BCs. I will keep the Florida BC in the garage though.

 

[Silentrunning]

I have always wondered what kind of dormancy period BC get in it's southern range? In Florida do they go dormant in the wild?

I lived in Sarasota County in SW Florida and had 6 BC on my property. They lost all their leaves every winter and came back healthy every spring. Some winters saw heavy freezes and some winters were mild. Either way the trees seemed to come through the winters just fine. I brought 2 of them up to northern North Carolina and so far they are fine.

 

[Zach Smith]

Zach—this is the one I got from you this past spring. I’m going to dig it into a mulch pile with some others on the N side of my porch and see how it does. We’ve had a couple snows this fall including the big storm last week (I only got 6” but other areas around me got up to 18”) but the temps really have gotten much below freezing. I am actually more concerned about my larches than the BCs. I will keep the Florida BC in the garage though.

Ah, that would be the one from Louisiana! It could be a first-year out of the ground phenomenon. You'll know next fall. For now, keep it outside and mulch if you get to 20F or below to be on the safe side.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

We had a good discussion about Florida bald cypress last January when I asked about one I had recently received from the Tampa area. You can find that discussion here:

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/bald-cypress-from-florida-up-north.31884/

 

[M. Frary]

Was just watching a bass turnament.
Held in Louisiana.
They were catching them off of the knees furthest out.
I digress.
Anyway the Bald Cypress there were brown with a tinge of green. The tournament was filmed 2 weeks ago.
Maybe this helps out with your question.
If you want to look it's called Major League Fishing.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

After looking over the collection I have noticed more late sleepers. I also have a couple trident seedlings with their leaves intact, my Virginia sweetspire has almost all its leaves, and in spite of two more nights where temps dropped down near 25 degrees F the BC still has some pretty green foliage on the top. Seems like strange behavior but we’ll see what happens when it reall starts to get cold in late January.