I think the info luis_pr provided was more than I could about camellia heat tolerance. All I can add may not even be related, but I have a former coworker who grows tropical fruits in the outer suburbs of Houston. He and his wife told me they are aware of the spring blooming camellias but didn't recall ever seeing the fall blooming ones. Just not noticing, or are they genuinely less common? I have been in SE VA and NC much in the fall, but I feel like sasanquas seem less common in those areas, too. Which is a shame: Sasanquas have a reputation of being more sun tolerant up here, too, and for example...at the 'Chesapeake House' I-95 rest stop, there used to be Camellia sasanquas in full sun near the entrances that were sometimes blooming as late as Christmas. A sign to northern travelers that you'd entered the geographic south, if not quite the political south. ;-) Alas, they were all torn out and replaced with hideous "eco" landscaping a few years ago when the MD I-95 rest stops were rebuilt. Natives only, decidedly uninteresting ones, too, and even planted in a way that just made them just look like weeds!

igolfchip, you said originally that you're "not the biggest fan of evergreens." I take it from the context of the rest of your messages that you meant that you don't especially like conifers, i.e. needle- or scale-leaved evergreens. Obviously, if you do want to make sure your plants have leaves year-round, then what you want are evergreens. But it sounds like you prefer broadleaf evergreens, rather than coniferous ones. That's fine. There are lots of great broadleaf evergreen plants that grow well in our area and make terrific privacy screens. Frankly, though, if you have a sunny, dry-ish area and want a plant to grow quickly and densely to 10 to 30 feet but only encroach 3 or 4 feet into the yard, that mostly means conifers. There are a number of species and varieties of cypress, arborvitae, cryptomeria, and others that work really well at doing exactly what you're looking for. If you really insist on using broadleaves, though, realistically you'll probably have to accept a good deal of maintenance in the future in the form of trimming and pruning to keep them within four feet of the fence. bumblebeez suggested the 'Chindo' viburnum, which is definitely a beautiful plant and a tough, hardy, vigorous screening plant, but keeping it as narrow as you need it to may be a considerable challenge. At least, though, Chindos have a generally upright growth habit, so they can be pruned heavily to keep them from getting too wide without disrupting their natural form. That's not as true of some of the other popular broadleaved evergreen screening plants used around here, like ligustrums, waxmyrtles, and various hollies. But, unless you're committed to regular and frequent trimming to control breadth of spread, you maybe should really consider conifers. If your apprehension is based on over-exposure to junipers, leyland cypresses, and the ubiquitous loblolly pines around here, maybe you'd like cryptomerias better. I think they're really pretty, and they definitely have a different "look" than some of the other conifers mentioned above. Two cryotomeria varieties: 'Yoshino' and 'Radicans' are commonly available around here as screening plants, and should fit your site needs quite well. One other thing I'd like to mention: if you're willing to do a little hunting, you might be able to find another excellent broadleaf evergreen screening plant, which is the 'Carolina Sentinel' holly. It's got the typical lush, prickly evergreen holly foliage and bright red berries in the winter, but it naturally grows in a distinctly narrow, vertical, upright form that might work well in your situation. Unfortunately, though, it's not a very common plant yet, and finding some to plant in your yardÂespecially in a size larger than a 3-gallonÂmay be very difficult. Good luck. Anyway, I hope this helps. If you have any further thoughts, please share them. Thanks.

...and even paper birch constantly gets an unwarranted and undeserved rap for "having problems". No, it's a lusty, fast-growing early-succession species which asks for little other than full sun and moist soil. Easy as pie, but if you have a stressed-out specimen and you're in the home range of BBB-bronze birch borer-a native insect pest of some birch, your tree could suffer. But the fact it's already predisposed to trouble via being stressed out indicates mistakes on the part of the grower/owner, not an intrinsic problem with the tree itself.

I have 'Vincent' fuzzy kiwis that have done very well up until this past winter and the winter before. No matter how well I protect it the main stems get split when we get really cold. 'Vincent' is supposed to be one of the most cold hardy forms. The fruit is smaller than grocery store fruit and a bit more yellow in the flesh but it tastes the same and you get a ton of fruit in the fall. The main problem with them is that you have to store the fruit for months in cool temps with high humidity in order to finish ripening them. They are too hard and too sour otherwise. But you do end up getting to eat "fresh" kiwis at the end of winter and into the spring. I just finished the last of last falls crop. I have Annas and Ken's Red hardy kiwis also. Annas has done very well. You have to really watch the fruit and harvest immediately when they just start to ripen otherwise the wildlife gets them all in one night. I have pawpaws that fruit well. They're not named varieties but are the cross bred children of named varieties. Easy to keep happy in damp shade but all the fruit is ripe around the same time and you will get sick of them after the first week. They taste best fresh or frozen. Cooking them ruins the flavor. I am making more room for figs and I already have like ten bushes. Too easy to grow and easy to dehydrate and easy to snack on all year. They are easier to manage if you prune them to stay small. I have wild hazelnuts/filberts in the woods beside my house but there are only a few plants and they are never covered with nuts. I have a variety of muscadines, some came with the house and are ancient, some are the newer varieties. If I can get my hands on the new seedless one I will have to murder one of my vines to make room for it. I love them but get a headache if I eat too many - just too much sugar. I grow table grapes but they are really iffy in this area. So far 'Fredonia' has stayed alive but it is starting to show signs of disease. I'm trying 'Victoria Red' and another disease resistant new variety, it will be a few years to see if they will live long enough to fruit. I've got an 85 foot row of blueberries. I just mix them up and hope for the best. It can take hours each evening to pick all the berries. I never run out of frozen blueberries though. I have pineapple guavas, some I grew from seed - they are huge but seem to require hand pollinating in order to get fruit. One bush that I bought is in another part of the yard and I get plenty of fruit from it. The fruit taste richer if you let it ripen and fall onto the ground. They make a great tropical tasting jam or fruit leather. I have an assortment of haws or hawthornes. None of them are very big and so far no berries. They're not in my way so they are safe for now. I have one Medlar - cute tiny tree with cool looking fruit but the flavor is boring. Don't believe everything you read about them. I have Cornus mas - all from Edible Landscaping up in VA. they fruit. I make jelly. it isn't super special, but they do fine in the shade and few other trees will. On NCSU campus they have some that have huge berries - the flavor is so so. I also have a big greenhouse where I grow a ton of tropical fruit trees - ya gotta keep growing even in the winter!!