Shagbark Hickory Seedling Update - September 2021

Back on Earth Day this Spring, the kids and I went over to Benet Academy and picked up a free native tree seedling from their Environmental Club.  The tree was very small - a little trunk - and a lot of roots.  It was a Shagbark Hickory and I planted it in the backyard.  I then, promptly, forgot about the tree.  I figured it was dead.  Or never alive.  There were a couple of buds on the tree seedling, but I wasn't positive it had any life in it to begin with when I planted it in May.

The tree has done nothing.  The buds didn't open.  The tree didn't leaf out at all.  Here is a look at the tree in the photo below:

The photo isn't great because it is hard to get my phone to focus on the tiny, thin trunk.  Here's an annotated photo (below) with a red line showing the trunk and a few branches up top.  Again...no leaves at all on this tree.

It is dead, right?  At least, that's what I assumed.  But, when I did the whole 'fingernail trick' on the trunk of the tree, guess what I see?  Green.  That (normally) means the tree is alive and well.  See below for a look at the little nick I took of the bark on the thin trunk of the Shagbark Hickory seedling:

You can notice the buds on the tree still present.  But, clearly they didn't break just yet.  Will they in the coming weeks before Fall sets in?  Maybe?

At this point, this tiny Shagbark Hickory tree is alive.  We'll check on it again in the Spring and see if it had enough time to establish itself this Summer to survive the Winter.