Fall Buds Set on Skylands Spruce Tree - November 2024

Last month, I posted a couple of photos and details of our new Skylands Spruce tree ( ) in our front yard island bed.  This is a tree that I've looked at for years and finally found one (a small one) that I put in our garden.   I've noted tree buds forming (and setting) on various trees in the Fall/Winter over the years, but the past few years, I've begun to observe conifers a little more closely.  

Here's one that is in the middle - the Dawn Redwood - which is a deciduous conifer tree - a conifer that drops its needles.   This post looks at the buds of the Dawn Redwood.  

This past August, I posted a photo of the 'buds' being set on the Weeping Norway Spruces that I planted last Fall IB2DWs and how I observed them last season turn into new sets of needles.  

I'm learning more and more about the health of conifers and the types of signals they send throughout the growing season - and during dormancy.  This post from the Colorado State Forest Service answers a lot of questions about conifers.  

Is needle drop normal?  (yes)

Do they normally turn brown or yellow in Fall? (yes)  

What about buds?  Do they set buds in Fall?  (yes)

That question about buds and their meaning...I'm starting to understand more.   Have a look at the small Skylands Spruce tree below.  This photo shows these 'buds' that are appearing on the tips of the limbs and appear to point in all directions.  

At first...I thought these buds were the beginning of of 'cones'.  But, that's not the case.  These are the buds for next year's needles.  Like other trees, they 'set' these buds at the end of this growing season and provide that brown, protective covering to shield them from Winter.  Come Spring...they'll burst open and new needles and growth will cascade from them.  

Is this a sign of a healthy conifer tree?  I think so.  But, I'm still learning - every day.