i feel your pain. had that happen to my lodi apple then fireblight got in there and killed the tree.
it does feel a bit like a time of reckoning for me as far as zone pushingā¦I am in 5a and now seriously wondering about the handful of Asian hybrids I have, the Korean kaki, etcā¦I also never got JT-02, although Iād like to, now Iām wondering if thatās a foolās errand to chase anything not 100% virginiana, realizing I may lose even those.
i gave up on zone pushing. now i only plant stuff a zone hardier than i am. was tried of all the disappointments.
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Moose, thatās great advice that few of us follow. Sigh.
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Donāt think I lost any apples in pots over winter. Thatās nice.
Pawpaws planted in July also seem OK, despite being tiny.
Hellebores (Lenten rose flowering perennials)ā¦lost maybe half the one year seedlings I put in flats and set the flats outside in the elements. But, Iāll take thatā¦it is 3 years before a seedling ever blooms.) (Deer and varmints wonāt eat helleborusā¦and theyāre pretty, to boot.)
Lost one Jujube.
Lost one peach I bought at a 70 % off sale last fallā¦butās the rootstock has sprouted out in the 1 gallon container.
Three degrees F was our winter low here in my region of Kentucky.
The varmints have eaten all the foliage off my four Hellebores I planted last year. It looks like the crown of each plant is at least surviving. I had them covered with oak leaves over winter. One plant has a couple leaves that overwintered, others just stems left.
I wish I could give up zone pushing but if I only plant stuff rated a zone hardier than 2a I wouldnāt plant a thing 
If I were in a warmer area I would do as you do in a snap, it is good advice.
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Mountain ash is the most common pear rootstock in my area (along with seedling) the scion does overgrow the rootstock(gets larger above the graft) but there are many 80+year old trees going strongā¦im making a franken pear with one and its been working well+mountain ash is a weed around here and even the birds prefer pear to mountain ash!
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I wasnāt aware they did well to begin with in zone 4??
i hear you. you are truly on the edge of the growing zone!
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i never realized you could graft pear to mtn. ash. my property is surrounded with them. i guess i need to get some scions to graft asap! what are some cold hardy pears for z3b?
And my zone pushing has netted me a few successes. Sweet 16 and Chestnut to name a few.
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what chestnut worked for you? i didnāt think they would make it here.
Thanks for that info Carlin, I hadnāt heard much beyond rumor that mountain ash would support pear. Have you by chance tried any Asian pears on it?
Seems that winter is giving us one last hit here
half the yard is snow free finally. had some snow damage but no winter kill.
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Iām guessing northof53 is referring to Chestnut crab
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Yes, sorry for the lack of clarity, my Chestnut crab should bloom this spring, I grafted it in 2014 on Siberian crab rootstock, and another scion on my Prairie Sun tree. But before I get ahead of myself, I bought the scions from Summerland nursery in BC ( which, at the time, was under another name) and it has not fruited and who knows, it could be mislabeled. Because I grafted it myself I do know that it is certainly not the rootstock taking over.
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No Palmer just euros i will try if i can round up some scions next year (the missus likes themā¦im not a fan of the ones iāve had from the store)
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The winter killed half of a smaller sized black currant bush. Love them so much I hate pruning them. When you prune them hard, you lose one good year of blossoms.
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