Dear Sonia and all Maple moms,
I would send a photo, but since I'm not well-equipped for that, I'll send a word picture instead.
There are a number of reasons that Little Tree should be dead by now, but instead he seems to be alive and thriving.
You'll remember that I told you last year about the squirrels digging him up? Well, that squirrely behavior continued. I've got a lot of oak trees here, and a load of squirrels. I would go out and find Little Tree tipped over on his side, though still in the paper cup.
Finally, I transferred him to another pot, and put the pot into a plant stand, thinking that would help. It did, for a while.
I thought that the frost this year might kill the little twig that he was. However, come spring, I began to see a leaf....
And then one morning I went out, after the strong winds we've had blowing, and discovered the plant stand had tipped over, spilling that poor Little Tree and a bunch of potting soil, out on the ground! Still the leaf kept growing.
And then more leaves. Little Tree now has half a dozen branches with beautiful red leaves on them...even though yesterday I discovered that another squirrel had found the pot, and knocked Little Tree aside. I gave the tree a few pets and strokes, and some water, repotted him, and today in the sunlight, he looks just fine.
This tree is a survivor!!
I hope his siblings are doing well too.
Jean Campbell
Portsmouth, Virginia
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