I thought I would share this with you since it is very exciting here........
My tulip tree is in zone 4b actually and it supposed to be in zone 7 but somehow it got used to the brutal winters here and so on and has survived for about 90 years. We knew the tree produced seeds since there was pods on the ground. But the pods that fall are infertile in this type of tree.........
there is only a couple of viable seeds in each pod and the pods are huge........
The tree is going to be made a Heritage Tree and that is very exciting. I found the right arborist for it and that is a great news but.......
Since the Conservation Authority here wants to see if they can produce a seedling to survive the winters here and start the tulip tree that is a species of Ontario to grow in this zone they needed a PROVEN tree and that is mine...... So they are collecting all the pods, I donated them and they will try to start some in pots in the nursery after a cold frame and then grow them a bit and TRY TO see if they will survive .........
So far that means that this tree has had likely about 45000 pods or more and that is 90000 seeds and none has caught and that is due to the certain conditions it needs to grow in.......and THEN of all things...... We get hit with a Wind burst............ and that resulted in DOWN pour of rain for hours and hours and that was followed but big amounts of heat ...........in the days following.....
The seed for some reason started to germinate in August instead of in the spring as it should have but did sprout. The little tree is about a foot tall already....
They are going to come and dig out the special tree and plant it in a park. They prefer that I put the little tree on my property but one tree that is 80 feet is enough.......but the cross pollinating would definitely help to produce more viable seed they say........
when you consider the tree tolerance of cold is 20F and last year and the year before we were -30F or more for a month or longer and then the wind storm of 175KL winds and this species does not like winds either.......
this is way cool for science and so on...
I have a scientist and a biologist coming to see the baby next week to decide the best way to over winter it.........and the best way to dig it if it needs to be transplanted...... they are thinking maybe pot it and leave it with the mother in its micro environment for another year maybe....
and you thought lilies were interesting and they are
but mother nature is very interesting in general
