My Chicago hardy was killed back to the ground (combination of first year rooted cutting-thanks @TNHunter for the cutting to root) meaning the tree hadn’t started to harden off prior to our first frosts and a particularly long cold spell in January for my Zone 6b/7a place).
But it’s come roaring back this year so far growing about 3 feet as of now (despite being nipped again by late frosts when it first started to push growth above ground in the spring) and has set little figlets that are about pea-sized now, so I’m feeling cautiously optimistic it will do better this year as it starts to become more established and settle in.
That said, I also planted it a lot deeper than anything else I’ve grown (when I planted it in ground last may I set it over a foot deeper than the soil line the cutting was rooted at, leaving just the tip of the rooted cutting above ground precisely because I know I’m zone pushing and keeping the roots warm enough to live will be imperative). So that and locating it near an old concrete block structure may have eeked out 1 or 2 degrees more warmth than it might otherwise have been inflicted with.
