Hi Woody, the winter is not over yet, We still have a wet spring to endure. The snow and frost is not so much a problem as a lot of water on the root zone.

Yes, thanks to those little sapsuckers, the tree has been severely weakened and is now sadly going to be removed due to the extensive damage from the extremely heavy snow load.

Just missed the car by inches. It did hit the greenhouse but it was the very tip top of the tree. I am glad it came down now instead of years later when it was taller ;-P

No kidding. Mike looked at it out the window from inside the house and thought it would be no big deal, WRONG!

We shall see!!! It is an experiment. It is every cold tolerant but it is the wet that usually gets them in out climate. I have it planted at the dripline of a large water hogging Cedar tree and it is also on a bit of a slope.

Yes and it has snowed some more since then. Mike brushed all of the snow from the table so he could get a more accuate reading of the new snow. Most of the area where we live didn't get this much snow but we are a bit higher in elevation.

Same here Gypsy, Even with the snow, it is just around the freezing mark give or take a few degrees. We got two more inches overnight and it is supposed to snow all week but it will not get very cold. The snow is very wet and heavy which is not very good for the trees and shrubs in the garden. Just last week the plants thought it was Spring and now their branches are breaking under the weight of the snow.