Zone-pushing guabiju (Myrcianthes pungens)

[swincher]

@Paul

Did you have any hardy avocados out in the open during this frost period or all were covered?

I left a few uncovered, and posted some photos of those here a couple days ago:

The great Seattle cold-hardy avocado trial

Most of the damage will not be evident yet, but even so it’s pretty clear all exposed avocado tissue is pretty crispy. It’s possible there’s some life in the roots, but with how hard the ground feels, I’m not holding out much hope. [PXL_20240114_180039459] [PXL_20240114_175926100] [PXL_20240114_175731950] [PXL_20240114_175658481] This one got a spare terrarium as a frost cover, but now it looks to be entirely encased in ice: [PXL_20240114_175957324] The big box is icy too: [PXL_202401…

All uncovered avocados look very, very dead, at least above ground. Even if the hardiest really can survive 14°F, I don’t think that means without serious damage, and I don’t think that means tiny trees like these. And not for such a long duration of cold.

@Phlogopite

I’ve been at the edge of my seat for days! Fingers crossed, and squarely, irrationally, and emotionally invested

Well, it got down to 20.5°F (-6.4°C) last night, a few degrees colder than forecast, but once it gets above freezing today it should stay there for at least another week or two, to the end of the extended forecast and hopefully beyond that. So I’ll be removing fleece and inspecting things this week, “stay tuned” for more updates ! But don’t get too emotionally invested, most of the trees are probably dead above ground, even the covered ones. But there could be some pleasant surprises.