Shade from your Texas sun will be a MUST for all of your
small
trees. Even if they didn't dry out, the summer sun could
heat up
the pots so badly that you would cook the roots -- and if the
roots were damp, you'd par-boil them. Last year, our club's
April show was held in sunny 90-plus-degree weather. It is
always outdoors (alas) and trees in dark pots really
suffered. I
had a bald cypress grove there and I blame the loss of three
trees over the winter on that early exposure to heat.

On the subject of cooking your roots:

On a trip to visit Nick Lenz with our club, I noticed pieces of
wooden boards propped up against all the pots in his collection
of trees. When asked what they were for, Nick said to protect
the pots from the sun. I thought then that it was a good idea.
This way if you wanted the tree to get sun but didn't want the
pot to heat up you could just shade the pot. I realize this
would not be good at an exhibit when on display but it should
work good for any tree in your yard no matter what the size.

It's a bit hard to imagine that the sun would ever cook anything
up in THAT neighborhood. I know, heat is relative to what
preceded it, but . . . WE travel up there to cool off in the
summers, while YOU come down here to warm up in the winters.

Down here, those who don't have sufficient shade use aluminum
foil -- shiny side out -- to keep pots cool in summers. Ugly as
sin, but effective. Shade, however, is best.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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