"Steve" wrote in message
...
I am in SE Wisconsin (sometimes Zone 4, sometimes Zone5 depending on what
guide I use). Last year I planted a Hummingbird Summersweet. It did
wonderfully all year. This year, I thought it had died off over winter as I
had seen zero signs of growth - a scratch test of the stems shows dull
white and somewhat dried out branches. No signs of green budding, growth,
etc up to today. Today, I notice two very tiny and very lonely buds on a
branch near the ground. Still no signs of anything else anywhere else on
the plant. I'm wondring if it is suffering second season blues, an
extremely late grower, or if it is dying off. Whats the best way to tell?

I'm also wondering if its a suitable plant for SE Wisconsin. Last year it
was at all the garden centers and nurseries, this year - no one carries
it. It says Zone 3-9. The other interesting thing is it says leaves yellow
and drop in fall. My leaves were hardy green to the end of fall and didn't
yellow or drop until into winter. Maybe its suffering from some off
timing??

thanks for any tips!


Steve,

I have a bunch of Clethra around the yard and every year I think they are
dead. They leaf out a good month later than most other woody plants. I'm
in zone 7 and mine started leafing out about 3-4 weeks ago, although spring
is a couple of weeks behind schedule here. Give it a couple of more weeks
and see what happens.

Keith