Thanks for the update Cameron.

I wondered how that project had worked out.

Look forward to the planting part.

Barb

No problem!

Jim, I already have a small pond 😆

Tim, I lost several plants due to low light through the winter, as well as the loquats due to a cold winter. There was one small loquat surviving in the fall, but it was crushed by workers. I'll have to see if it resprouts in the spring.

Here's what I did with the lower half of the bed.

I was only planning on keeping one MP tree for myself, but another looked too damaged to sell, so I planted both. I don't have high hopes for the sickly one (further back, towards the bed), and am not even too sure about the healthier one after the absolutely brutal winter that NS has had. Time will tell. Either way, with their thin branches and the position of the bed, at this point they won't be blocking out much sun from the cactus area. I'll plant a couple things in between them, and if one or both die, I'll plant even more. Here they are shortly after they were planted. You can see that I used granite rock around this portion of the bed, so it looks a little different than the cacti area:

And again:

Both trees were fine, and did not seem to need any support when they were planted. However, in early December, hurricane-force winds (you can judge by my broken fence and deck) knocked the trees over. I managed to get them standing again, but this was followed by a quick drop in temperatures, plus low temps of -23 C (-6 F) this winter. I'm sure that the roots have been damaged, so spring will show whether either of them have survived:

That's it for now!

Hi Cameron

thanks for the update. I'm glad you planted 2 Monkey Puzzle trees. I hope they get through this cold winter. Mine has some bronzing leaves but should be OK.

Do you have any positive surprises after the past two cold winters??

Tim, one positive note would be the hardiness of the fuzzy kiwi (A. deliciosa). They survived cold temps last winter, and hopefully this winter as well. I remember Igor posting a photo of his vine which I believe took -25 C or so. Many online sources only rate them to zone 7a/b.

how large are those kiwi fruits?

I planted a kiwi in early October.
No protection.
That'll be quite the winter test.

Barb

Tim, this is the same species commonly seen in grocery stores. Hopefully my plants will fruit this summer.

Barb, what type of kiwi did you plant? They like a fair amount of water in the summer!

"No name" brand, Cameron.
I've planted it under a trellis near a door.
Hopefully I'll remember to give it a bucket of water a day; no sprinklers there, facing south.

If it's not already a dead stick after this winter. 😉

<a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/10318163936/" title="022 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src=" " width="375" height="500" alt="022"></a>

<a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/10318116374/" title="023 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src=" " width="375" height="500" alt="023"></a>

Barb

This is Actinidia arguta Issai self fruiting variety.

Appreciate the ID.. 😀
Thanks.