This a very late update, but I will do my best to convey everything that has happened with our lovely Tree. Some of the news may be shocking to some of you.
Last post updated ended on Love Tree losing it's leaves in the beginning of Winter 2012. Love only had two leaves left by December. Eventually, love tree lost all of it's leaves that winter. We were not sure if that was normal or not for a young tree. Love tree was only about 8 months old from the day we planted it.
However, we still made sure to keep the soil moist. Ironically, the only picture I took of love tree was after it lost all of it's leaves. Here's a picture of Love Tree Winter 2011:
Calvin had given all hope for Love Tree. He thought for sure love tree was dead. Me on the other hand, still made sure to keep Love Tree's Soil moist and that proved to be a great idea. Love Tree was simply doing what a tree does best. Love Tree was wintering.
Love Tree stayed at Calvin's State College, Pa apartment. Love Tree still did not have any leaves when he left college to go home for the summer first week of May. However, suddenly right when we came up to State College to pack up the apartment Love Tree was revived. In about 2 and a half months Love Tree was bursting with life. Love Tree had so many leaves, more than it ever had when it was sprouting. It did not seem like Love Tree grew any taller, but Love Tree certainly had many more leaves. Although, I did not update this blog as often as I should have, we did keep a journal of Love Tree's progress. We recorded Love Tree's height and number of leaves that sprouted about once a week. So we brought Love Tree back home with me in New York.
Sadly, in New York I did not take care of Love Tree as well as I should have. I admit it, I killed Love Tree. I am really sorry. I was negligent. At first I wanted to place Love Tree in the backyard of my apartment building, where we have a gardening area, but Calvin did not like Love Tree placed there. So I moved Love Tree to the roof, I live on the top floor of a small 4 story building. Love Tree got plenty of sunlight, but too much sunlight, and it had to endure the scorching heat of New York City. The city get's pretty hot in the summer time. When Love Tree's leaves starting drying out I moved it into the apartment. However, in the apartment, I placed it in the living room near the window. Unfortunately, we kept the A/C on a lot during the summer and I think the temperature change and Love Tree being near the A/C killed Love Tree.
Cherry Trees need to be kept in a semi-shaded areas to thrive. They dry up in intense sunlight areas and do not grow well in sunny areas. It is best to keep cherry blossom trees in the semi-shade. That is where it will grow the best. Do not worry if your seedling loses it's leaves in the winter time. It is just doing what it does best. It is being a Tree. Love Tree grew back it's leaves in summer. But I killed it with the New York summer heat and negligence. I should have kept a better watch of Love Tree.
I suggest for all who are growing a Tree from seedling, keep careful observation of your tree's first to second year of life.
Although Love Tree has left us, it was a beautiful experience. I have now graduated from college and am in my first year of graduate school. Love Tree has been in my life from my senior of college to when I was accepted to graduate school. Although, Love Tree has only been with us for a year and half, a lot has happened during that time. Calvin is now in his last semester of college. Love Tree was a definitely a fun project. Although, I did not keep up with this blog as often as I have promised and nor did I post as many pictures as I have promised, It was still a lot of fun maintaining the blog. Even though, I did not post often, I would often check the stats of the blog. I am happy and grateful for every single person that ever visited our blog. Not surprisingly, the most popular post is how to grow a cherry blossom tree from seed.
This year, 2013 I hope to return to Washington, D.C. this year and purchase another cherry blossom tree kit. We will soon begin the journey of "Love Tree 2.0". This time around I will do my best to document this experience better. I hope you guys will stay tuned and join us in our 2nd adventure.
THANK YOU!!!
Love,
Tina
Still waiting on that update...
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