I haven't worked on the trees much recently, but there have been some insertions and deletions to the collection that I never documented. Check out this monster:

 My spring collection craze culminated in the acquisition of this mountain hemlock. It was a real pain to get off the mountain, but I had help from a friend. It's been about two months since I planted it, in the ground for now, since I didn't have a big enough pot, and it seems to be in good health. Some few needles have been lost, but the entire tree is coming out in new growth, which you can see from the picture.

The other new addition to my bench is this smaller western hemlock, though still plenty big by my standards:

It too is in good health, though I haven't styled it hardly at all, only the most rudimentary adjustments have been made. Several large and unsightly nubs still remain as anchor points, that will greatly improve the tree when removed. Overall though it has great promise, with a large shapely trunk, plenty of foliage, and health growth.

Next, witness a failure and a mystery at once, my poor poor hemlock.

Alas, it is the same tree. During the hot weather I was pleased that, while some of the other trees were suffering, this fellow was putting out new shoots. However, the upper branches died almost overnight, crumbing off in my hands when I brushed against them, leaving only the smaller branches from below. I now wish I hadn't pruned so many of the smaller low branches away.

I'm mystified by this development, because it appeared to be in good health before the massive die-back, and whats more, the remaining fronds have exploded in shoots. Here is a picture of one of them:

I really don't understand what happened, or why.

Lastly, I have some developments on my favorite hemlock. I worried over this tree during our very, very hot spell. I wanted it so badly to live, and it kept looking worse, yellower and yellower. However, it didn't seem to be losing needles, and the needles remained cool and silky to the touch. I wondered then if it was suffering from lack of nutrients. I planted it in largely orchid bark, so it seemed at least sort of likely. To test, I took a good amount of my slow release fertilizer pellets and scattered them over the tray, and in the last week and a half the tree has responded by improving its color. Not all of it is the healthy green I want to see, but I'm hopeful that it soon will be.

One thing does concern me. This tree has not put out any new growth this season. I can see buds on the tips of many fronds, but they lack the silver bulge that heralds imminent growth. I have pinched a few sacrificial buds and found their insides green, but I do not know if any will sprout. Is it possible that the tree never sprouted because of lack of nutrients? Might it yet? My other mountain hemlock only started growing last week. I'm having difficulty finding resources relevant to this issue. I hope that, in the event there isn't any growth this season, the tree can survive until next year. It seems plausible, since the majority of hemlock needles on any given tree are clearly not from the last years growth, but it is not a great sign.