Northern Red Oak Tree Buds - Fall - November 2020

The leaves have come off of our Oak trees.  The large ones have just a few clinging on, but this tiny one that I planted this year is naked.  This was planted back in May of 2020 and seemed to do just fine back in this location.   The larger trees looked like this all the way into December - thanks to foliar marcescence.  That now has me thinking that I should get a post up in the [garden diary] showing the leaves being off the Oaks by late November this year. 

But, back to this small Northern Red Oak tree - and the buds in has set in particular.  Like the other trees in this [tree buds] series, these ones are unique (thanks Rutherford Platt!) and have some unique characteristics.  First, the color - is what I'd call caramel.  Reminds me of the newish high-end vehicle interiors that you are seeing.  Kind of like a brand new, unused football.  They're also pointy.  In the image below, you can see how there are three of them at the tip of one of the branches with some other ones below.

I'm not sure how long this tree will take to be substantial, but I went into things knowing it was going to be a long slog.  Why?  Because I'm taking the advice of Washington Iriving - who talked about those who plant Oak trees do so, not to enjoy them ourselves.  But, for someone down the line.  From my earlier post:

This tree is a nothingburger for us right now.  In fact, it is planted as a sort of 'understory tree' to one of the existing Oaks.  In the hope that as this tree grows and matures, it will match the (potential) decline of the larger Oak.  I am, however, doing everything I can to help keep these large, mature Oaks on our property in good shape.  I've had the arborists from Davey feed them (Arbor Green Pro), tried to help one of them with a growth regulator and inoculated from the Two-lined Chestnut Borer.  

I'll keep an eye on these buds to see if they keep putting on mass this Fall and then, hopefully, they'll spring to life when the weather comes back and this tree puts down even more roots in year two.

With this being the third post in the series, here's my Fall 2020 list of tree bud posts:

• London Plane Tree buds - pointy and sharp
• Greenspire Linden buds - orange and brown and curled up
• Northern Red Oak buds - brown and in triplicate at the tips