Part I
It looks as if my gamble to save a highly-prized Rusty Blackhaw tree (Viburnum rufidulum) may have worked. Of course, I won’t know for certain for another year, but I’m attaching before and after photos, along with what I did to try to save this treasured tree.
I planted two Rusty Blackhaw trees in 1995, of which only one survived. This is not unusual. I’ve transplanted seedlings/offshoots of my tree for a local public park, nursed them for a year, turned them over for planting and had only about a 50% success rate. This tree obviously doesn’t appreciate being moved.
Bellaire is a little bit south of the normal east Texas habitat for this tree, but because it’s so highly prized by birds, I tried growing it anyway. I’ve really loved its spring bloom, glossy green leaves, fruit for the birds, and then yellow foliage color in the fall. I am attaching a picture of the tree in bloom spring 2008 - 6 months before Ike.
