In my limited avocado experience based on one unknown variety in my backyard, there’s a lot of spontaneous fruit drop when the fruits reach the size of walnut. It’s almost alarming, but I’m thankful that it happens in a way, because if not, I would definitely be dealing with broken branches later in the season.
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I also found that the immature avocado fruits are quite tasty and I can eat the skin, the soft white seeds and the crunchy flesh much like eating immature green almond fruits! I thinned out some overloaded branches and ate the immature fruits. Very tasty! 
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While California Avocado season is coming to an end and will start importing avocados from elsewhere, my avocados are starting to mature! They’re small sized because it had too much fruit set.
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WOW!!! This images are so amazing! I want to start to grow cold hardy avocados in my area. The only one that survives a very big freeze we got was one bacon tree… I hope i can graft some new ones soon! 
I have heard about new varieties of avocado in Mexico, that would fruit several times a year and one that will fruit all year round. One of these varieties would be called wild flower.
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Train Station Duke, Aravaipa, Fantastic, Brazos Belle, Bill’s Duke.
Hi @JoeReal: Can you please share the source of seeds/scions for these cold hardy varieties.
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Besides cold hardiness, one would like to have other features (resistance to soil pests, pH tolerance, rain etc.) for using as rootstock. Which avocado will do best as rootstock in Gulf-coast area?
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What did you use for the rootstock? I’ve got the train station Duke scions but only access to zutano or bacon rootstock.
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Zutano is a very good rootstock.
Yes, that’s true. And for the avocados I’m planting in zone 9 zutano will work perfectly.
But I’m also experimenting with growing avocados in zone 8b. I’d like to get some Duke or other ‘super hardy’ rootstock for my experiments.
I’m growing a Lila in 8b, and when it gets bigger I plan to try cloning it and using those as root stock.
I also have some Mexicola seeds germinating right now with hopes to use those too. Also to plant as a seedling.
If I’m really fortunate I’ll be successful cloning these Oroville train depot Duke cuttings. I currently have them in a peat/perlite mix on the heating pad in the propagation tent. Fingers crossed!
In the meantime I’ll just keep asking around, hoping someone knows where to find these extra hardy avocado rootstocks. Who know? I could get lucky.
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