North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["V. Michael Bove, Jr." <vmb@teakettlefarm.com>]

We're in 6a and have tried a couple of things not on your list with  
varying success.

- Fuchsia magellanica (not just an ornamental, it has edible fruit  
though we've never gotten any) does fine here with no protection at  
all. Some years it dies nearly to the ground but shoots up quickly.

- Tri Lite peachplum is supposedly z7 but it has fruited fine in our  
orchard for a number of years with no injury

- An unnamed citrandarin got through a couple of winters with only  
burlap to keep off the wind (some branch dieback), before it succumbed  
to a run of below-zero nights.  I've never had a citrange or ichang  
lemon make it through even one winter.  In general with the citrus  
hybrids I think what you need to look for is those that lose their  
leaves and go totally dormant.  There's a citrumelo variety I have  
potted that reliably drops its leaves in November before I put it in  
the cool greenhouse for the winter, but I've never gotten around to  
rooting a cutting and trying it in the ground.

- Small-leaf tea (not off-topic -- an edible oil comes from the seeds  
-- supposedly 6b or 7) makes it through the winter with no protection  
and a tolerable amount of branch dieback, but it never gets big enough  
to be interesting. The main problem is that it seems not to like our  
summers, which tend to have one month with 10+" of rain and two months  
with 1-2".  We have a lot of other camellias that do much better.

Best,
Michael Bove
Teakettle Farm, Z6 (MA/RI border)

On Dec 8, 2010, at 2:09 AM, Steven Covacci wrote:

> This thread concerns Zones 6a through 7a...
>
> Zone Range Limit: Date-Palm, Pomegranate, Strawberry-Tree, Fuzzy- 
> Kiwi, Japanese Persimmon, & other??? semi-hardy subtropics (Zones 6a  
> through 7a)
>
> WITHOUT (much) winter protection, how far have you been able to push  
> the USDA zone range limit for the following fruit types?
>
> Please be sure to sub-divide zone ranges into A & B, actual lowest  
> minimum temperatures the tree/shrub was exposed to, die-back to  
> roots vs winter injury,
>
> 1. Date-Palm (Phoenix spp.)
>
> 2. Pomegranate (Punica granatum): hardy cultivars
>
> 3. Strawberry-Tree (Arbutus unedo)
>
> 4. Kiwi [non-hardy: fuzzy-kiwi; Chinese gooseberry) (Achtinidia  
> deliciosa)
>
> 5. Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki): hardy cultivars
>
> 6. Princess persimmon [diamond-leaf persimmon] (Diospyros rhombifolia)
>
> 7. Afghanistan fig (Ficas afganistanica)
>
> 8. Edible fig (Ficas carica): hardy cultivars without protection
>
> 9. Chinese pistachio (Pistacia chinensis)
>
> 10. ANY OTHER alleged (with inconsistent hardiness data) semi- 
> hardies (Myrtus/Ugni molinae, Feijoa sellowaniana, others?)
>
> Thanks,
> Steve Covacci
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