Just sent you an e-mail. Thanks. dcarpenter

skyjs,how do the arctic perform for you? I see alot of posters on here from zone8 and higher giving up on them because they just don't seem to survive for them(too much heat/sun maybe?) Capoman,the pics I posted earlier are them just budding out.If you look closely you can see the little flower balls forming.See the link below for a picture I took last year and you can see what they look like mid summer.As far as soil PH...well I have never taken my soil to get tested.I can say that I have wild blueberries on my property and have named high bush varieties which do well(Although I do give more love to my high bush berries and give them peat moss and fertilizer for acid loving plants). But the funny thing is, is that the kiwi in the pics is growing in 6 to 8 inches of pure well rotted horse manure.When I built our new deck a few years ago, I made a 4'x8' box frame out of 2"x 8" hemlock ,dug out all the native soil and started hauling trailer loads of manure from my neighbors farm.Filled the box up and plopped the little kiwis in.They grow a lot more vigorously than any of the other kolomikta on my property and just about as vigorous as the argutas.As I stated in an earlier post,I have no dieback on them even though I "over fertilize them".At the same time I took some of that manure and just top dressed the soil around a few argutas to see what would happen,and man they grew ,and grew and grew and didn't stop until frost nuked them in the fall.It seemed like all the super growth they put on didn't know when to harden off so most of it died back anyway(about 8-10 feet)!It was a very good lesson for me. Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg091538118923.html

Actually the hardiest cultivars of Southern Magnolia are hardy to temps between -20°F(-29°C) and -25°F(-31.7°C). But that's for relatively short periods of time (hours, not days). Protection from winter sun and wind are both important in preventing leaf burning. I think winter sun protection is a little more important with this though. Even though a tree might have lots of leaf burning, it often will not have any stem or wood damage. The ideal spot to plant one in a border line area would be against a NW facing wall, which would give plenty of heat during the summer (plus retain some heat longer into the night during winter) and also afford some winter sun protection since the sun sets in the SW during the winter(in the Northern hemisphere). Some people in zone 5 that try to grow Southern Magnolias many times report they act more like deciduous trees in having most all of their leaves burned off during the winter, but releaf out in the spring and bloom, so no wood damage is done. I grow more than 1 dozen cultivars of Southern Magnolia here in zone 6 KS and none have been killed or had much of a problem with winter hardiness. Even the supposedly less winter hardy cultivar 'Little Gem' grows fine for me. I also know of many decent sized trees(30'-50'(9-15m) tall range) in the Kansas City metro area which have been through their all time record low temp of -22°F(-30°C) and the very tough, cold winters of the late 1970's and early 1980's. So, I think in general most Southern Magnolias are zone 6 hardy and a few can make it in protected spots in zone 5. Duration of cold is important as is summer heat. If you live in a colder area with abundant summer heat(temps mostly in the 80's(26°-31°C) or warmer for most of summer), you probably have a better chance at growing Southern Magnolia than an area with little or no summer heat and relatively mild winters.

Sandy Why not start in pots with the types that will have chance to ripen in Zone 5 after a coupe of years maturity in the pots (near a wall with southren exposure). ejp3 mentioned varieties that ripened some fruits for me last year in the 2nd or 3rd year of their lives. I would also add Natalina to the above list. Go to the site below and order some or all of the above if still available: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4541467 Even if you want to try in the ground (and are ready for the labour of love required for covering in winter), it is better to keep the plants in the pots for a couple of years. Enjoy thr fig plants in the pots while searching for methods in the two forums on how to protect your fig plants in the ground in Zone 5 (before you give up on i!).