Blackgum Tree Winter Buds - February 2026

Back last Spring, I planted a very small caliper Blackgum (or Black Tupelo) tree in our parkway in a spot that I had previously planted a London Planetree (Exclamation) that didn't make it.  This native tree was on my 'get to know list' for a while because it isn't *that* common to see, it puts on a great 'fall show' and is shaped right for a parkway tree.  We have a large, mature Norway Maple in our parkway that has begun to decline and will inevitably either suffer some weather damage and crack or die due to root damage/impact from construction.  My plan has been to plant a small caliper tree in the parkway - sort-of *next to* the existing Norway Maple and let it grow up in the canopy of the larger tree. After time, the smaller tree will have a chance to show-off when the larger tree goes away.

The problem with the first tree in this spot (London Planetree) was that I didn't do a good-enough job paying attention to it with water.  These small trees need to be baby'd during the heat of the Summer, otherwise, they will suffer.

I posted about this a few times last year including this post in September when I talked about how the tree suffered some initial die-back (I actually think that the top might have been dead when I bought it, but the tree had not leaf'd-out yet, so I couldn't tell at the time), but after that initial adjustment, the lower limbs had leaf'd-out and the tree *seemed* to have handled Summer.  I mentioned that I had not pruned anything off this tree (then), but that it was filled with lots of lower trunk branches.  Many of which...were 'curly'.  

I also recall that this tree was VERY LATE to leaf-out in general.  Something to note for 2026.

Additionally, I wrote a post showing this tree and the 'Fall Show' in early November 2025.  The first Fall for our Black Tupelo turned out to be true to the tree's description of being one of the "most spectacular and reliable fall coloring trees."

Regarding the health of this tree, I also said this in September 2025: 

I'll watch this (and water it) thru Fall. And, if it comes back in Spring, I'll begin to think about pruning the top to create a single leader.

I appear to be concerned if it will come back for 2026.  Which brings me to the topic of today's post:  this Black Tupelo's tree buds.  

Over the years, I've written extensively about Winter tree buds and have shown a number of our trees and their varying sizes, styles, colors and shapes of their buds.  This post from November 2020 was a real turning point in my tree education journey when I discovered that I wasn't the only one fascinated by tree buds. That's when I came first came across a naturalist and educator named Michael Wojtech who wrote this piece on tree buds for Northern Woodlands Magazine that turned me on to tree buds as a source of fascination.  It was Michael Wojtech's story that then pointed me to this quote from a nature writer named Rutherford Platt who has said that tree buds are “varied as jewelry, in all sorts of exquisite shapes and bright colors.”  I read that and was like:

Since then, I've tried to go out and grab photos and post updates in my own [garden diary] or [tree diary] showing some of the tree buds that are growing on our property.  Here's the full tag listing for all the [tree buds] posts.  

With Spring 2026 being the first Spring for this small caliper Tupelo tree, it was time to add a peek at this tree's buds to the catalog.  The limbs on this tree are still quite small (caliper and length), but all of them are now full-to-the-tips with pointy, cone-shaped buds.  See below for a look at some of them:

As I said earlier, this tree might warrant some dormant pruning in the next few weeks, but I'll also need to remind myself that this native tree *might* be a late arrival to the 'leafing out' party this Spring.