I have several "very warm spots" (microclimates, actually) near a metal sided building, facing due south.
I am in eastern NC, zone 8A - but that does not mean we are immune to freakish cold snaps!
I am eyeing these tropical peaches... they are self-fertile, so they would prolly bloom at a time when no pollinators are active- and we DO actually have warmish spells in Feb...
I am wondering if I grew them in an espaliered manner, up against a cattle panel, say .. a foot off the building..do you think they would bear in June, like they say? wouldn't it be WONDERFUL to beat the odds against Jap. beetles, and everything else that wants to eat peaches??
or do you think I should plant something citrus-y there..
I had even thought of an avocado. Hmm.
wondering what to put in this spot..
Little late with this reply, peetzmom, but better late than never... I say give it a try! Some years ago I was enjoying a particularly delicious Tangerine on my back deck, spitting the seeds over the rail and not even thinking twice about it. Then I thought, dang, this is one good-eating thing---wonder what would happen if I tried growing some of these seeds? So I did. They all germinated. Now, the Literature on Citrus makes it very clear that Citrus don't breed reliably from seed, so I didn't hold much hope for success, but hope springs eternal (especially those inflicted with gardener genes). Last year, I got 5 truly delicious Tangerines from one of the plants I still had planted in a pot. Early last year, I planted it in the ground, figuring that would be the kiss of death. It wasn't. It grew 15' tall in one year, and had 40-50 delicious tangerines that we harvested in mid-November. And I think the secret was the micro-climate. I planted it on the Southeast corner of the GH, thinking that would benefit the most from the lo$t heat of the GH...in essence, a mini-microclimate. Don't have any idea if that thinking was correct, but we sure enjoyed the harvest! So try it! I have to confess, I'm old, and not interested in the new "technological revolution", so I have no idea how to post pictures of that tangerine tree on here...my wife may know how to do it... But in the zones we live/garden in, microclimates are worth paying attention to...
I stopped by my favorite nursery today and there was an avaccado tree! Lived through last winter in a container and did just fine. I was flabbergasted. Apparently it is the Gainesville variety and it was grown from a cutting from a tree in Charleston, SC. Parent tree is supposed to be enormous and the owners pick the fruit from their second story balcony.
A little research today and I learned that this variety can really handle the cold - if acclimated carefully. I am ready to try one.