Michele, I don't think these will do so well for you. I am passing them along because it's too hot and humid for them here. I'll send you some stuff in your coming trade envelope more appropriate for our climate, OK? So windclimber, this package is for you!! I have sent you a message.

I know this thread's a bit old but I have had some personal experience with Sequoia "Hazel Smith". I live in northern Indiana and I was able to obtain four plants from the Crowfoot Nursery in Oregon last spring (2018). Now this year (June of '19) three of them look pretty good. One died but I don't think it was from the cold. But here is what is really interesting: They were shipped to me before the grafts had completely knitted and I was told to leave the root stock on there for last year's season. Over the winter (we had BRUTAL one), the root stock shoots were completely killed - dead as a doornail. BUT! The Hazel Smith graft was still mostly a healthy looking blue green. So, based on this evidence, I have concluded that "Hazel Smith" is cold hardy and able to withstand zone 5 temps. (I had -22°F at the end of January for two days in a row! That was NOT the "wind chill" mind you but the actual outside ambient temperature. Wind child was in the neighborhood of -40--60° below. So, for you Sequoia freaks living in zone 5, my advice is "to go for it". Regards Fred M. Cain, Topeka, IN

I was able to get about 75% of the garden planted during a dry spell. The remaining 25% have been waiting for a week now (mostly transplants), but the rain has kept the garden too muddy to plant. Lots of rain today, and more forecast for the week ahead, so those transplants will need to wait awhile. My home garden dried out just enough today for me to walk in it without getting muddy feet, so I was able to pull out about 1/2 of the hundreds of maple seedlings... before the rains moved in again. Fortunately, the rains we've had here have been soakers not flash floods... the plants already growing (both at home & in my rural plot) are looking healthy. They'd be healthier if we could get a few days of sunlight. I'm counting my blessings, though, last year the rain was non-stop until July, and only about 1/4 of my garden was planted.

MaryMcP, you make important points. Soil temp can be a killer, especially in hot climates, because in hot climates. our tomato growing season is short. By late June, I'm all done for the summer. I chuckle when I hear northerners taking pride in getting their first tomato by the Fourth of July. Getting tomatoes in the ground outside for us is a race against the eventual heat. That said, the Syngenta tool says that the average soil temp in Phoenix on March 1 is 60F. Pretty much like for me. So some years are harder than others. As to why folks don't start new threads, and instead glom onto archaic ones, should we suspect it's shyness? Now, I answered that original thread because I didn't notice that it was old. Is this your question, or someone else's question? Some resurrected threads here are old enough that the people that started them are probably well composted.