Ada, I either do grow or have grown many of the flowers you listed, so here's a few comments. Amaranthus--I grow many kinds and they all sprout easily and grow well, even in areas where the yucky, heavy, red clay soil has not been improved at all. Most years my various amaranths reseed. Angelonia--performs very well even during the hottest parts of the summer. Black-eyed Susan Vine--grows well, self sows abundantly, and I've had the same results you have with the various colors. Butterfly Weed--grows very well here and truly is a butterfly magnet. We have them growing wild in the fencelines here near us. I have grown them in my cottage border too. Calendula 'Flashback' and the other calendulas I've grown have done very well. They are supposed to be more of a cool-season flower, but some years they have made it through most or all the summer as long as I have been able to keep them well-watered. Cleome 'Violet Qween'--grows fine here although it doesn't seem to reseed as prolifically as Rose Queen. I just grow taller flowers in front of it to hide the naked stalks, esp. as the summer goes on. This year, mine continued blooming in late November or early December because they were in a spot near the house where they got a little water every occasionally and sunlight/heat from a southward-facing wall. Cosmos--I've grown 15 or 20 kinds of cosmos here in southern OK and they've all grown more or less equally well. I haven't had any powdery mildew problems with them here, but then I don't have much rain or high humidity most years. Echinacea--grows well but not necessarily long-lived in my garden. Any individual plant may last 3, 4 or 5 years, but not forever. It tends to be our occasionally very rainy year that gets them, but then they are always planted in fairly unimproved clay soil. (I save the heroic amounts of soil prep for the veggies.) Gaillardia--At our house, it does best if I plant it in well-drained, compost-improved, sandier loam and not in the heavier clay. We have gaillardia here by the acre in our part of Love County, so I don't plant it much. It does, however, come up here and there from wind-scattered seed. Gazanias--Quick and easy from seed and tolerates really hot weather. Geranium--I grew them the first couple of years we lived here, but they really don't like our hot, dry summers so I haven't grown them since about 2001 or 2002. They always look great until late June or early July and then the struggle with the heat begins. Gomphrena--I've grown several kinds here, including Strawberry Fields, Purple Buddy and QIS Mix. My Strawberry Fields self-sows and comes up in the gravel driveway down by the road, about 200' from where I originally planted it. Some of the darker purple ones reseed also, but the paler lavender or lilac-colored ones have not reseeded. I get better germination when I presoak the seed for 24 hours before planting it. Heliotrope--I love the smell, but it does love our dry heat, so I don't grow it here. Hyacinth Bean Vine--I've grown these every year since we moved here, and for quite a few years before that. I love them, and they are edible, although I don't think they are as tasty as many other agricultural beans. Mine have reseeded for the last 4 or 5 years, so I don't bother saving seed to replant any more. I probably get more compliments on these plants than any other single plant I grow. Impatiens--Grew lots of them in Fort Worth, but only grew them the first year here. The wildlife ate them all to the ground, and I haven't grown them since. Larkspur--I've grown Imperial Mix for years and they reseed every year. Haven't tried the one from Park's that you mentioned. I have them in several places around the yard. Millet--I've from the Foxtail, the purple ornamental ones, and the common ones that sprout from henscratch that the hens and wildbirds miss. All grow equally well. If you have a problem with stink bugs in the veggie garden, plant millet close to, but outside the garden, as a trap crop and kill the stinkbugs when they flock to the millet. That way, you won't have to spray your veggie crops with anything. Nemesia--I don't grow it here because it doesn't handle July and August well. Nicotiana--I've grown every one of them that you can find seed for, and they grow great here. Langsdorfii likes a little more moisture and afternoon shade than sylvestris. Some nicotines reseed for me, and some don't. I've had them come up in the middle of pastures from seed blown from the garden, and they were some of the best-looking ones ever, even though they got no supplemental water and no care. Petunia--I'm just about done with all the standard petunias. They just struggle too much in July and August. There's two exceptions: Mexican Petunia and 'Laura Bush Pink' wild petunia and 'Laura Bush Purple' wild petunia. As far as I know, the Laura Bush wild petunias are only available as seed from Wildseed Farms in Texas. I raise mine from seed every year. They grow just fine in the heat, although they do best if you cut them back hard once or twice during the summer and let them regrow and reflower. Mine were in bloom from April through December, and even reseeded, both in containers and in the ground. I grow them in well-amended clay soil in full sub. I've grown plenty of other petunias from seed over the years, and had some of the Wave petunias in handing baskets on my wraparound porch for several years, but they just don't like our July/August heat in Love County. (Most years it is a fairly dry heat.) Rudbeckias grow better for me if I put them in the one bank of sandy soil that runs across our property. They've never done as well in the heavier clay soil I have on most of the place. We have native ones that grow just fine here, but a lot of the cultivated ones don't do quite as well. Salvia 'Victoria' grows very well. I haven't planted any in years, but the ones I planted in about 2001 or 2002 reseed every year and do just fine. Very long-blooming here. Bloomed into late Nov. or early Dec. this year in spite of some pretty cold nights (down in the teens). Sages--Most of the sages don't do well for me unless I put them in raised beds in very well-amended, well-drained soil. The exception is Texas Hummingbird Sage which grows very well despite the heat, gets huge, is a butterfly and bee magent, and reseeds everywhere. Sunflowers--I grow gazillions of them, and like to color-code them to the season--growing the paler yellow, peach and lime ones for late spring blooms, the golden yellows and orange (Soraya) for summer blooms, and the red, gold and orange (and bi-colors) for the fall. If you have a lot of sunflowers, you'll have to watch for the black-and-orange caterpillars that like to devour their foliage. Verbascum 'Southern Charm'--only did so-so here. It may not like my heavy clay or my hot summers, but my grandmother always loved verbascum and grew it in her sandier, more well-drained soil in Texas. Verbena bonariensis--a longtime favorite and it reseeds all over the place here most years. Some years I have to pull up hundreds of them because they come up as thick as grass if I didn't deadhead early enough the previous summer. These even come up in the middle of the pastures. I have the best luck surface sowing it outdoors in a covered container (winter sowing). Since it reseeds so prolifically, I've only grown it from seed twice here, and I wouldn't have planted it at all the second year if I'd realized how much it would reseed from the first year's plants. Vinca--I grow it every now and then, but not most years. It has a lot of disease issues here so I usually only grow it every 2nd or 3rd year. I grew it more when I lived in Texas and had better soil. It is really easy from seed though. Zinnia--I've grown all kinds of zinnias and they are my favorite flower. I like 'em in all sizes, shapes, and colors and they attract billions of butterflies. I've grown the entire 'Profusion' series ever since they first came out, and this year I'm going to add the Knee-High ones and the new double ones. They grow insanely well here and the only trouble they have is the occasional bout of powdery mildew in wetter years. I've never met )or grown) a zinnia I didn't like. I grow a large cottage border around the perimeter of my veggie garden and in various other areas around the yard. Because we have a large property, I only grow plants that are pretty tough and fuss-free. If they need pampering and lots of special care, I don't bother with them. Most of what I grow reseeds, although every few years I bring in new batches of seed (maybe the same flowers I already have, but in different colors, for example) to shake things up a little. It sounds like you have a lot of fun flower-growing planned for this year. Dawn

The broad-leaf evergreens on your list aren't going to be more wind tolerant than hardy conifers like pines and arborvitaes, which have needles and scales instead of conventional leaves in the first place as an adaptation to severe weather. A general pattern in the major horticultural crop production area of the Willamette Valley is (except for hardy hybrid rhododendrons) to grow broad-leaf evergreens in containers, overwinter them under plastic, and to grow deciduous and coniferous stock in the ground, in open fields, because most of those can take it (there are even exceptions in both of these last two groups that get winter protection, either because they are inherently less hardy or because they are being grown in pots instead of as field stock). Note that stated hardiness for plants usually refers to those examples growing in the ground, and not in containers. Studies of hardiness in containers has produced a pattern of potted stock tending to be roughly 20 degrees F. less hardy on the ground than in it. So theoretically a glossy abelia for instance that dies to the ground at 0 degrees F. growing in the ground might do likewise at 20 degrees F. in a pot. Today I saw some named cultivar dwarf Mugo pines maybe about a foot or so across that were $145 each. Speaking for myself at least clonal woody plants in particular are starting to be priced out of reach, in many instances. Of course, it's all relative - when the same item was 1/3 or 1/2 that much I probably would have thought it too much to spend at that time also.

Thanks... I'll keep my optimism and hope for the best for my Arbutus marina. I've picked a spot in full sun (of course) with good drainage, etc etc. I've given up on the native Arbutus (at least temporarily). I've tried several times and have had limited success, though I've never had one die due to harsh winters. They always seem to die in late spring / summer / fall, for no apparent reason (which the native Arbutus is known for). The last one I had lasted for 4 years. It was a nice looking, healthy little tree and then, poof, it just decided to die in mid-July. I hope you have more success than I with that that one. I am (probably temporarily) content with looking at the huge healthy native Arbutus across the street in my neighbour's yard.

The below is an archived compilation of posts I have put together from various different places, relating to gardeners trying to grow hardy varieties of citrus in the Pacific Northwest region. I'm hoping putting it here will help save it for posterity. The following are posts recovered from the permies forum: nancy sutton Location: Federal Way, WA - Western Washington "Well, just for giggles, I've got yuzu growing happily in a spot outdoors, sorta sheltered from the northerly wind, here in our 7-8 zone, gets down to 25F on short occasions. No fruit yet... but it's only been ..? 2 or 3 years?" https://permies.com/t/16891/permaculture-projects/lemon-trees-montana Ben Zumeta (March 2018 ?) My best friend from childhood's parents have a lemon tree in their yard in NE Seattle. It's at least 15yrs old and seems quite productive and healthy. He is a lifelong orchardist and vintner though and may have used old farmer magic. ...in terms of the happy lemon in Seattle, beyond good ol farmer magic I would attribute its success to being about 2/3 of the way up a SE facing hill with a house above it to the NW. The bottom of the hill has a grocery store parking lot and large arterial covered in black top, and this undoubtedly radiates heat. It also probably likes the boner view of Mt. Rainier. Marco Downs I heard recently that Dave Boehnlein got a Yuzu harvest from a tree he planted in a parking strip in Seattle, no special earth/stone works, but lots of feeding and watering. I haven't seen many posts from him on this forum lately but I know he's pretty approchable. From what I've seen, yuzu and other (semi)hardy citrus can grow leaves just fine, which can be wonderful for cooking, but getting the fruit to ripen can be tricky. https://permies.com/t/82882/Yuzu-Western-Washington Frank Cordeiro "My Yuzu limes have survived three days of 10 degree weather with just some minor stem damage. It is producing lots of good fruit with no freeze damage the last two years. I use my trifoliate orange to make a household cleaning solution by soaking cut up and squeezed oranges in white vinegar. I am in Southern Oregon. Most years we hit 10 degrees in winter but sometimes a bit lower... " Matt Hedlund February 2018 "I too live in Seattle and have a cold hardy citrus collection of my own. In the ground i have: Indio Mandarinquat Owari Satsuma Kuno Wase Satsuma Nagami Kumquat Fukushu Kumquat Marumi Kumquat Calamondin Chinotto Sour Orange Bloomsweet Grapefruit (kinkoji) Yuzu & Poncirus trifoliata To date, these have all seen 18 degrees unprotected with no damage across the last 3 winters." https://permies.com/t/74712/Hybridizing-cold-hardy-citrus-grow dawn shears Location: Gold Beach, Oregon (south coast, zone 9b) "I was super tickled to find meyer lemon trees growing well, outside in my new community on the south Oregon coast. Come to find out lots grows here that does not even grow well in many places in northern California... They call it the "banana belt" of Oregon and it's something like climate zone 9b in a little sliver on the south coast..." https://permies.com/t/69696/Lemon-trees-Montana-anyplace-cold This post came from tropicalfruitforum.com: jim VH Vancouver,Wa. zone 8b "Yes, My Sudachi and Yuzu easily survived 8F (-13.3C) in January 2017 in Vancouver Wa., just across the Columbia river from Portland Or., with only minor small twig damage and about 20% defoliation on each. The Sudachi appeared to have a higher percentage of small twig damage than the Yuzu. On the other hand, the Yuzu is a much larger tree, and size does matter." ================================ This is an archive of selected posts taken from a thread titled "hardy citrus, after the freeze", which appeared on the (now defunct) Cloud Forest Gardener forum, and discussed growing citrus outdoors in the Pacific Northwest: ____________________________ jim Location: Vancouver Wa. Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b Dec 02, 2010 Well, it's been over a week, enough time to evaluate the damage. While this freeze was not particularly severe compare to last year (48 consecutive hours below freezing with lows of 23F(-5C) and 17F(-8C) this year compare to 117 consecutive hours below freezing with four consecutive lows a degree around 11F(-11.6C) in December 09) the earliness of the freeze probably affected the plants a bit severely, since as Eric of the Dalles/gorge pointed out, plants have not had as much time to harden off compared to prior years. I have a number of unprotected citrus that I'm evaluating for PNW hardiness, as well as some in christmas tree light heated mini-greenhouses. The greenhouse protected citrus were undamaged, fruit and all. In fact, it looks like the LA early Satsumas ripened a bit more, and may be ready by new years. The unprotected citrus: Yuzu- the tips of the second growth flush were nipped back an inch or two, not surprising since the second growth flush never hardens off. This is comparable to previous years, except last year when all the second growth flush was killed. Unprotected Changsha- slight tip dieback. This particular Changsha is the sole survivor of 23 unprotected seedlings I started out with two years ago, and survived (barely) last Decembers freeze, sort of unnatural selection of the hardiest variation of a random population. Indio Mandarinquat- It's toast; white bark and dead leaves to the graft. Oh well, I was wondering where I was going to put the Kishu mandarin I'm protecting in a pot indoors. Citrumelo- fully hardened off. No damage. It only had one growth flush this rather cool year. Thomasville citrangequat seedlings- there are six in pots. The pots are set in the ground with soil to the top of the pot, to protect the roots. Three of them show some damage- slight bark whitening, tho the leaves look OK. The other three seem undamaged. There's also a one inch tall Sudachi seedling, which appears undamaged. _________________________________ Las Palmas Norte Location: Lantzville, Vancouver Island Climate Zone: USDA zone 8b Dec 02, 2010 My (potted) citrus had no issues with the last cold spell. They are in a large 1,000 square ft coldframe (polytunnel - British equivalant) and the smaller ones where just gathered together in the center area - no heat. I'm not sure of the temps in there but outside the coldest night on Nov.23 was -8.3°C (17°F). Atwood Navel Changsha mandarin Owari satsuma Yuzu Ventura lemandrin Sudachi Meyer Lemon 10° Tangerine ... and several seed grown mandarins My biggest problem was scale insect on some of these and now a black sooty mold has formed. Looks like a big maintenance issue come spring, should they make it. Cheers, Barrie. _____________________ jim Location: Vancouver Wa. Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b Dec 02, 2010 For an unprotected in-the-ground citrus, the Yuzu seems to work in the Portland area. My Yuzu has survived the last three winters unprotected. Part of it's hardiness, I suspect, is that it;s grafted to a true poncirus rootstock, giving it early dormancy. I haven't seen any problems with soot or scale. Perhaps because it's been outside, the rain washes off sticky sweet that causes sooty mold, and the freezes kill the scale. It's available from One Green World nursery, although I suspect, based on last years results, the 0F degree hardiness they claim may be overhyped. Also, it's actually used in cooking by the Japanese, although a lot of people don't care for the taste or texture. There are hardier citrus: the poncirus or trifoliate orange, the citrumelo, the citrange, etc. but most people can't stand the taste (although some are able to eat Citrumelo's, cutting out the sections like a grapefruit, which it resembles, making sure none of the bitter peel oil gets into the fruit. When or if mine sets fruit, I'll test the hypothesis). The following, somewhat more edible citrus may be as hardy, or hardier than the Yuzu, particularly if grafted onto a poncirus rootstock: Taiwanica lemon (seedy but edible, and, being a lemon, it will ripen here) Thomasville Citrangequat (some people don't like the taste, the one I got from Stan McKenzie tastes great, like a lime) Sudachi ( the one I have tastes fine to me, and it's used while still green, so ripening is not an issue. The ten degree tangerine, from Las Palma Nortes list, may also be hardy enough, and maybe the Juanita tangerine, but I haven't tried them (too many citrus, not enough room, or money) There are also things like yuzuquats and razzlequats and a host of other hybrids, enough to drive one mad _______________________ eeldip "George in Portland" Climate Zone: 6/8b Dec 02, 2010 i have a poncirus in the ground, and its been great. pretty close to my house, in the winter the contrast against the wall is incredible. stole that trick from the chinese gardens. it hasn't flowered yet though, making me sad... _______________________ John S Climate Zone: USDA8 Dec 06, 2010 Don't buy a 10 degree tangerine. I think it makes it in SC because it gets so much heat that it can lose some. Mine died here. I waited to put it out until it was bigger, and it still croaked. I'm being a little conservative on my citrus. I will put my yuzu out eventually but I wan't it to grow up. Flying dragon and Ichang lemon the only ones out all year and they're fine. John S PDX OR ____________________ jim Location: Vancouver Wa. Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b Dec 06, 2010 John, it's good to know about the 10 degree tangerine, something else to cross off the list. People who try out these different varieties help everyone else; out motto 'we kill exotic plants so others don't have to'. Even the Ichang can be iffy, mine was killed by last Decembers freeze, even though my grafted Yuzu survived. My guess is, the freeze came after a fairly warm November last year and sap was still flowing. When I inspected it, the bark was split and peeling, I'm guessing the flowing sap froze. The raging east winds probably did not help. If it had been grafted on Poncirus rootstock like the Yuzu, it may have gone dormant and survived. ________________________ John S Climate Zone: USDA8 Nov 27, 2013 I love this thread. My yuzu died last winter, then regrew from roots and is a small bush again. Jim, I love your idea about growing it on flying dragon rootstock. Maybe I'll try to bud it this summer (2014). I have been almost killing my citrus for years. I love to see the experiments of others to see if I'm on the right track. John S PDX OR _________________ jim Location: Vancouver Wa. Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b Nov 22, 2014 This is an update of this thread about the travails and joys of growing cold hardy citrus in the PNW, detailing the outcomes of nine unprotected citrus during the winter of 2013-2014. Last winter was characterized by two significant Arctic blasts. The first began Dec. 5th 2013 and ended Dec10th and was characterized by 113 consecutive hours below freezing, one low of 10.8F (-11.8C), one low of 13.6F (-10.2C), and four lows in the low 20's. Daytime highs were in the mid-high 20's on four of those days. This freeze also had strong east winds of 20 mph with gust to near 40 during the first couple days. The second blast began Feb. 4th and ended Feb. 9th 2014 also with 113 consecutive hours below freezing. The nighttime lows were not particularly remarkable (for Portland), with three around 19F (-7.2C). What WAS noteworthy was a period of 36 consecutive hours where the temperature never rose above 21F (-6.1C). Daytime highs were also low-mid twenties for two other days. The compost pile indicator shows that the ground froze solid to a depth of 12-15 inches during each of these two extended freezes. Four of the nine unprotected citrus survived these two freezes: Yuzu on Flying Dragon rootstock: 30% defoliated, one small twig died Citrumelo on Flying Dragon rootstock: 20% defoliated, no small twig death. Thomasville Citrangequat on Flying Dragon rootstock: 100% defoliation, 30-40% small twig death First of twoThomasville Citrangequat seedlings on its own roots: killed to the ground, regrew one shoot in late July The following five unprotected citrus died: Troyer Citrange on it's own roots: This was the rootstock of the Kishu mandarin that died the previous winter. Small 5 YO Changsha tangerine on it's own roots: This was the seedling that barely survived four nights near 10F in the of freeze of Dec. 2009. Not this time. Two freezes in one winter were two much for it , I guess. Large 9 YO Changsha tangerine on it's own roots Second of two Thomasville Citrangequat seedlings on it's own roots Sudachi on Carrizo Citrange rootstock A few additional observations All of the five citrus that died looked pretty good until the weather warmed in late March, whereupon they turned brown and died. In fact, I was able use the wood in February to graft the two Changsha's and the Citrangequat seedling onto Flying Dragon rootstock, indicating the wood was still alive. Second, none of the Citrus showed any signs of the bark splitting that indicates sap was flowing at the time of either of the freezes. Clearly they were all dormant. Apparently, then, on the five plants that died ,it was the roots that were killed when the ground froze to a depth of 12-15 inches, i.e., the citrus themselves were top-hardy to 10F, but not root-hardy. The one Citrangequat one it's own roots that survived perhaps had a deep root that somehow survived, the root possibly protected by some Lingonberry plants that were growing fairly close to it. This, then, seems to be a second mechanism whereby Deciduous Poncirus rootstock improves the hardiness of those cultivars grafted onto them. Not only does the rootstock cause the tops to go dormant, protecting it from bark-splitting death, but it also gives it a set of freeze-proof roots. I was a little surprised that the Citrange died. It is reputed to be hardy to zero Fahrenheit. But then, Portland is a "hard" zone 8. Freezes here can last for up to two weeks without the temperature exceeding freezing, whereas in the South and Southeast, where most observation come from, temperatures of near 0F are often followed by rapid warmup above freezing in the following day or two. Base on observed damage, the Citrumelo is somewhat hardier than the Yuzu. Both can probably take a few more degrees of frost, possibly to 5F, or even lower. Both are hardier than the monofoliate clone of Citrangequat that I obtained from Mckenzie farms. The two Citrangequat seedlings appear hardier than that clone- both had some bifoliate and trifoliate leaves. Only one of the Citrus -the Changsha- was grafted. The Sudachi was a rooted cutting. http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/gardening/hardy-citrus-after-the-freeze-t70.html ===================== This was posted on the former GardenWeb: pablo2079 January 18, 2007 I'm in Washington State... have had a Changsha and Meyer Lemon outside for about 4 years. The Meyer gets hit pretty hard in the winter, but the Changsha seems to be a real winner. Been down to 14f this winter and it's still looking good (the Valencia seems to have bought the farm though).