Question - Kwanzan flowering cherry. Is it dead?

Tue May 03, 2011 7:03 pm

Hi there! I've registered to see if perhaps the good people here can help me in determining if my poor tree is dead, and if not, what I can do to get it going again.

Last June, I purchased a Japanese Kwanzan flowering cherry. I believe that is the name..There are so many varieties! This is the one with the large pink blossoms.

Anyhow, I planted it. It grew quite a bit over the summer and even over the winter, and is a bit taller than I am now. This spring, it began to get buds on it. However, I have no other word to describe the temperature here in upstate NY this spring other than being bipolar..We had a few warm days in late March/Early April, and then it got very very cold and even snowed once. I think this may have killed or severely stunted my tree. The buds never opened and don't look like they plan on it - The other trees of this variety in my area have all bloomed and begun to get leaves. It looks dead, for all intensive purposes, EXCEPT at the bottom, near the ground, it has leaves growing out of the trunk. These leaves appear to be growing just fine and have gotten bigger since I noticed them.

Does anyone know what this means for my tree? Or what I should do to save it if its still alive? Here's a picture of the little cluster of leaves growing from the trunk.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee68 ... leaves.png

Tue May 03, 2011 7:48 pm

It looks as if that is winter kill damage probably from the wind and lack of moisture. I'd wait and if the plant was guaranteed usually for one year, I'd call and ask then dig it up and trade it in for a new plant. You might want to try a crab apple in its place since it didn't make it although the others did because of the wind.