Zone5 oak in zone8

I was given three white oak acorns from Missouri last year and all three of them sprouted and have been growing in pots. Two of them went into dormancy a little early and one is still leafed out and looks healthy. All three have been partially shaded all summer long. The first two I am skeptical if they would make it next year in full sun (zone8). However I am curious if the third one might be okay. I am trying to decide if I should give it a prime planting spot. What do you guys think? Three zones is a big difference in climate.

E-guy,
I've got zone 8/9 oaks growing in zone 6 - probably a bigger problem than going the other way.
Heck, I've even got a few young Q.virginiana that have made it through a handful of KY winters relatively unscathed.
Your MO-origin seedlings may 'shut down' a bit earlier than local provenance seedlings, but at least they're not likely to break dormancy too early or fail to harden off before fall frosts/winter freezes hit.

Maybe they will be okay. Quercus alba is my favorite oak but it is almost impossible to find a local seed source. They're not that common here.

I would bet on some sort of fungus killing them off.

I don't see why they wouldn't be just fine. Q.alba is pretty common in the area of the state I'm from - Auburn/Opelika - right on the 7/8 interface - less common than Q.nigra & sweetgum, or Q.stellata, for that matter, but hardly rare.

Lucky:

You're slipping; said sweetgum sans spitting.

E-guy:

Second the white oak attempt, though agree that a more southern provenance is a better choice. Give 'em a shot since you got them, and plant more AL types when you find them.

I am beginning to feel the same way about Quercus nigra that Lucky does about Sweetgum. I know they help feed wildlife, but they are often weedy and very hard to kill.

Know what you mean, but at least, when you cut down a water oak, they just sprout up from the stump - unlike the d@mn@ble sweetgums that throw up a veritable forest of suckers from the roots for yards and yards around the original stump.

You do have a good point there.

Lucky_P:
Is it possible that you can post a photo of your Quercus virginiana on this link? I am very anxious to see the live oak growing in Kentucky.
Coleen Perilloux Landry
Live Oak Society Chairman

Coleen,
I don't currently have a photo of the seedling at home - grown from acorns I collected from live oak trees on the Auburn University campus, several years ago when I was back home visiting my parents.

But, I do have photos of a live oak(probably Q.virginiana, but could be Q.fusiformis - I've not really delved into definitively ID-ing it), planted on the campus of the community college, across the street from my office, in 1970 - it is really more of a copse, composed of a dozen or so stems, suggesting to me that it was damaged - perhaps by the severe winter of 1978, and re-sprouted from the rootcollar - or, perhaps it is just Q.fusiformis, which is more likely to form a copse than is Q.virginiana. I've been watching this tree for 8-10 years now, and have observed no winter damage. I does crop lightly, but I'm rarely able to beat the squirrels and jays to the acorns..

Here's a photo of foliage and acorns from the community college tree. I suspect - and I'm no expert - that from the shape of the acorns and the peduncle with paired acorns, it may be Q.fusiformis, rather than Q.virginiana.

Whaddya think?

There's a recently-retired Agronomy professor from main campus at Murray State University(Murray, KY) who has several 25+ yr old live oaks that he grew from acorns he collected in his travels - some from AL and some from TX - and at this point in time, he can't recall which were collected where. I've not seen the trees in person, but have discussed them with him on several occasions at faculty meetings, and he indicates that they've never sustained any significant winter damage.
The TX-origin trees could be Q.fusiformis, which has the reputation of being more cold-hardy than Q.virginiana

What color are the undersides of the leaves Lucky? Are they whitened or just a lighter green than the leaf upper surface? Any signs of any subtle pubescence?

I did find a Quercus alba on an abandoned lot today! I only found two acorns but they were very large and they did sink when I put them in water. Maybe I will have luck with them.

Here's the acorns.

e-guy, I suggest putting your two acorns in a bit of sphagum peat moss in a freezer bag, date the bag and place it in the refrigerator. After they get the chilling hours, (say 90 days), put them in a bit of decent potting soil with the tip up, and you should be the proud owner of two young trees next year. One of my hobbies is growing oaks from acorns. I collect them from nice people all over the state. As long as you have viable acorns, we live in an area where it is very easy to grow young oaks. They love our heat and humidity. By the way, I actually leave the acorns in the fridge until the heat and humidity is up. I propagate all of them outside.

Aren't white oaks supposed to germinate in the fall before cold weather?

Yes members of the White Oak group will germinate root radicals in the fall. So, you can plant out immediately if you provided protection against rodent and deer predation. It's quite easy to keep them in the refrigerator and plant in a pot like peony01 does also.

I decided to go ahead and plant my little Missouri oak. It had great fall color.

Here's a picture of my Q.michauxii. I think it has another couple of weeks yet. This one has grown quickly for me. After three growing seasons, it is about 8ft tall.