Though I have finally grown the mentioned trees, it took 3 stacks of bonemeal for one, and 50 bonemeal for another. they are in acceptable growing standards, and it seems to happen randomly. all other trees around it grow normally. only a select few tend to not grow. the image with sapling is where it's being planted the second image is after holding down right click for at least a minute. i stayed in creative because i did not want to waste bonemeal in a survival server.

***and before anyone mentions the lack of space, trees grow with fellow trees, and virtually every tree around the sapling grew naturally. i could have grown the trees side by side if i wanted to, but i needed walking space. i have hundreds of trees in exactly the same growing conditions. there have been only 3 so far that didn't seem to grow until i poured bonemeal on them.

may be a bug, may not be a bug. but if i have to waste 3 stacks of bonemeal to grow a tree, then that's ridiculous. lower the max amount of times it takes to grow a tree.