North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Dan Sorensen <dan.phantom@westpa.net>]

I was going to suggest you try MSU, since that was growing in East Lansing, 
but it probably won't make much difference.  The original plants there, 
which I believe are gone now, were planted in a south facing U shape formed 
by the Botany building there so they were in a well protected area.  In 
fact, there were also two A. chinensis (I think the name has changed since 
then---the fuzzy kiwi) growing there as well though they weren't nearly as 
vigorous and probably never fruited.

I haven't seen any significant difference in spring frost resistance among 
several hundred seedlings and named varieties  I've observed over the 
years.  There may be a degree or two of resistance to the Issai variety, 
possibly because the leaf is hairier and may trap the warmer air if the 
below freezing temperatures are of short duration, but the production and 
poor quality of the fruit would dissuade me from bothering with that variety.

Remember too Mike, the younger plants tend to break bud earlier.  Once they 
get older and more massive, they tend to be a bit slower to leaf out and 
more likely to miss the late frosts.  At least that has been my 
experience.  Most of my plants will probably be dormant for another 3 or 
four weeks.

Don't give up on them because of this unfortunate experience.  When you get 
fruit they are worth it all.

Dan

At 11:07 PM 4/6/2003 -0400, you wrote:

> We have frequent late frosts here too.  Can you or anyone else suggest which
> varieties are the latest to leaf out?  I'm determined to grow some kiwis
> here.
>
> Mike Levine
> Ann Arbor, MI
> Zone 5b

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