I bought these late in the growing season last year. I had heard to plant trees in the colder months. It was bitter cold last winter and the trees died...or so I thought. At the first sign of spring I had brand new tree stalks right beside the old ones. They grew taller than when the old ones in just a week. I have two. One is in bad soil and one is in good soil. You can almost tell no difference between them. Best money I have ever spent.