Most Extreme Plant Hardiness Zone Stretching/most out of zone plants grown in your area?

[Hemlock140]

I am forced to cheat, since I like tropicals and do bonsai, I have Bouganvilla, Hibiscus and India Banyans but have to bring them in for the winter about late October.

[North 42]

Here in Windsor Ontario, zone 6b, we can grow Southern Magnolia, some specimens are over 15 ft tall and do not defoliate in winter, Hardy Silk Trees (Albizia julibrissin), hardy bananas, Fig Trees (many not protected anymore), and Windmill And Needle Palms (with some protection) and Paw Paws, which are native here and grow well. Seems like more southern plants are able to grow further north with our warming climates.

[Icy Tea]

I was out raking leaves today and I took stock of what plants are still hanging on in the garden. We had a few upper 20 degree nights but mostly its been in the low to mid 30s with some frost.
The verbena is still doing very well, its nice to see the purple red and white flowers still looking vibrant.
Daisies still look good, they're a nice yellow autumn color with the brown and orange chrysanthemums.
Snapdragons still have a bloom or two.
Gomphrena is looking faded but still has some color.
Some begonias still look okay but the impatiens have had it.
The red and blue salvia are about done bloom wise. I'll rip them out when we have a true killing frost.
On Impatiens. At the start of the season the grower had a notice posted saying that Impatiens have powdery mildew and would likely die. They were pushing disease resistant New Guinea Impatiens and begonias for in the shade. No mildew ever showed up and the ones we planted did okay. Was that real or just a false panic?

[J&Em]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

I was out raking leaves today and I took stock of what plants are still hanging on in the garden. We had a few upper 20 degree nights but mostly its been in the low to mid 30s with some frost.
The verbena is still doing very well, its nice to see the purple red and white flowers still looking vibrant.
Daisies still look good, they're a nice yellow autumn color with the brown and orange chrysanthemums.
Snapdragons still have a bloom or two.
Gomphrena is looking faded but still has some color.
Some begonias still look okay but the impatiens have had it.
The red and blue salvia are about done bloom wise. I'll rip them out when we have a true killing frost.
On Impatiens. At the start of the season the grower had a notice posted saying that Impatiens have powdery mildew and would likely die. They were pushing disease resistant New Guinea Impatiens and begonias for in the shade. No mildew ever showed up and the ones we planted did okay. Was that real or just a false panic?

There was a discussion here back closer to the beginning of the season. The grower was being very responsible, and not all growers were, so be happy he /she was.

It's very real, and you are lucky and probably one of the last people to have impatiens that didn't get infected. It's been amazing how fast the disease spread once it was detected and a lot of greenhouses stopped all production. Once a plant in your garden has it all of them will and it stays in the soil (number of years it stays viable are unknown). It infects the wild cousins of impatiens (sometimes known as jewel weed or wild balsam), but apparently New Guinea and SunPatiens are immune. Several research facilities are trying to find resistant varieties to replace the standard varieties. For now, not getting them is probably the best idea.

Here's one of the better articles about what it is and its spread worldwide: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/...rden-impatiens

[EugeneOnegin]

Soursop is hardy to about zone 10, maybe even 9b if it's protected, so 11b is not out of its zone.

I have a few fig trees and Asian/American hybrid persimmons in 6a in southwest Indiana (recently reclassified from 5b). They've survived 3 winters so far, the figs tend to take some damage in the spring. They come out of their dormancy when it gets warm and grow like crazy, then a late freeze comes and they lose all their leaves and some of the branches. Sometimes they die back all the way to the ground, but the roots never die and they come back. Hopefully they'll develop some more cold tolerance as they get older.

I've heard a lot of stories about really big, old fig trees surviving in places like Chicago. That's where my varieties supposedly came from, they're Chicago Hardy figs.

[kinkytoes]

Originally Posted by EugeneOnegin

Soursop is hardy to about zone 10, maybe even 9b if it's protected, so 11b is not out of its zone.

I have a few fig trees and Asian/American hybrid persimmons in 6a in southwest Indiana (recently reclassified from 5b). They've survived 3 winters so far, the figs tend to take some damage in the spring. They come out of their dormancy when it gets warm and grow like crazy, then a late freeze comes and they lose all their leaves and some of the branches. Sometimes they die back all the way to the ground, but the roots never die and they come back. Hopefully they'll develop some more cold tolerance as they get older.

I've heard a lot of stories about really big, old fig trees surviving in places like Chicago. That's where my varieties supposedly came from, they're Chicago Hardy figs.

I have a chicago hardy fig, too. I have only had it a year. The figs dropped off this year as soon as it got cold. Do you get any fruit from yours?

[EugeneOnegin]

Originally Posted by kinkytoes

I have a chicago hardy fig, too. I have only had it a year. The figs dropped off this year as soon as it got cold. Do you get any fruit from yours?

Yeah I get two crops, the "breba" crop comes early in the Spring on last year's growth. It's usually very small, only a handful of figs since most of the previous year's growth dies back in the winter. This crop is normally much smaller anyway, even in warmer climates, and isn't as good of quality as the main crop in the late summer/early fall.

I haven't ever lost any of the main crop due to cold, but sometimes the plant will drop figs because of stress (drought, insects, etc.). The Chicago Hardy figs are decent quality, but not as good as many less cold hardy varieties. That's the tradeoff for the better cold hardiness.

I have another variety that's not as cold hardy, I can't remember which cultivar it is right now though. I keep it in a pot and then move it to an unheated basement when it gets cold. It produces a heavier crop because I can move it in and out to avoid getting set back by late freezes. Figs grow like gangbusters once they break dormancy. I can take it from the cold basement and move it into a pitch black closet and it will grow a ton of foliage without any light at all.

Some people in colder climates will actually dig a pit and lay the fig tree down in the pit, then cover it with dirt or leaves for the winter. When spring comes they dig it up and replant it. Or you can put a cage around it and fill the cage full of leaves. Or just mound up a bunch of leaves around the base, and then you can put a tarp or blanket of some sort over that to insulate it if you want. If you're really serious about your figs you can hang Christmas tree lights on it and run them during the winter to keep it warm.

Another option is to try to grow it to a large size in a pot for a few years and then plant it outside permanently, since larger trees tend to be more cold hardy.

[new2colo]

Here in Phoenix I see plenty of people trying to grow Ficus elastica or what's commonly known as a rubber tree. Another tree is the Delonix regia or the Royal Poinciana. Both are tropical trees and require quite a bit of water. The central areas of Phoenix seem to be able to support both, but the outlying areas are just too cold.

[kinkytoes]

Originally Posted by EugeneOnegin

Yeah I get two crops, the "breba" crop comes early in the Spring on last year's growth. It's usually very small, only a handful of figs since most of the previous year's growth dies back in the winter. This crop is normally much smaller anyway, even in warmer climates, and isn't as good of quality as the main crop in the late summer/early fall.

I haven't ever lost any of the main crop due to cold, but sometimes the plant will drop figs because of stress (drought, insects, etc.). The Chicago Hardy figs are decent quality, but not as good as many less cold hardy varieties. That's the tradeoff for the better cold hardiness.

I have another variety that's not as cold hardy, I can't remember which cultivar it is right now though. I keep it in a pot and then move it to an unheated basement when it gets cold. It produces a heavier crop because I can move it in and out to avoid getting set back by late freezes. Figs grow like gangbusters once they break dormancy. I can take it from the cold basement and move it into a pitch black closet and it will grow a ton of foliage without any light at all.

Some people in colder climates will actually dig a pit and lay the fig tree down in the pit, then cover it with dirt or leaves for the winter. When spring comes they dig it up and replant it. Or you can put a cage around it and fill the cage full of leaves. Or just mound up a bunch of leaves around the base, and then you can put a tarp or blanket of some sort over that to insulate it if you want. If you're really serious about your figs you can hang Christmas tree lights on it and run them during the winter to keep it warm.

Another option is to try to grow it to a large size in a pot for a few years and then plant it outside permanently, since larger trees tend to be more cold hardy.

Nice. Thank you for the information. We did have about a month of abnormally dry weather. I assumed it was the cold. It was probably the drought. I have a Chicago hardy, and I think if they can survive in MI...LOL they should be fine where I am. I don't have any plans to wrap the fig. Hopefully it has a good enough root system by now to survive another winter.

In spite of losing the figlets, it did grow at least a foot this year.

[EugeneOnegin]

Originally Posted by kinkytoes

Nice. Thank you for the information. We did have about a month of abnormally dry weather. I assumed it was the cold. It was probably the drought. I have a Chicago hardy, and I think if they can survive in MI...LOL they should be fine where I am. I don't have any plans to wrap the fig. Hopefully it has a good enough root system by now to survive another winter.

In spite of losing the figlets, it did grow at least a foot this year.

These were actually in southwest Indiana. I just moved to Michigan, but it's the same hardiness zone anyway due to the lake effect.