Buds are very swollen, but won't break.

[sfhellwig]

I put this in general because the tree is collected stock, several years of growing before it will even take a shape. I went on a collecting trip back in March. I brought home a small Black Cherry, a medium cut back Hackberry and this larger cut back Black Cherry with about 4" caliper at the base. The other two swelled and broke just fine, have been growing happily many weeks. But this big BC has me confused. I have ordered bare root trees and watched buds swell only to watch them sit there until the tree had been dead for weeks. But these buds are swollen to the point that I see green. It's almost like the day before they should pop open but they have looked like this for two or more weeks. They're green, so it's not dead. But how do I get it to go ahead and finish waking up? I do not water it regularly because it is not active, but I check it to make sure it is never dry. It is a new collection and may not make it, I am just not familiar with "half" bud break. Should I give it a dose of fertilizer which I am about to do for everything else? I know it doesn't need sweated and it's already in full sun. It was a large piece so it is in a cut down trash can. I wanted it to have room to "grow out" and the roots I had collected wouldn't really go into anything else. I used some of it's native soil mixed with my "nursery soil" so it is well draining but largely organic. I figured it would be better draining and not too much of a shock from it's previous home.

Any ideas? I'm sure it is entirely up to the tree but since I drove a ways and sweated a lot to lift it, I would like it to live.