One easy trick I stumbled upon was to build the simple teepee with wire or tomato cages or anything you have on hand and then drape a tarp (plastic or fabricc)over the teepee and extend it out in all directions away from the plant. If you have bushes or small trees in a row and really big tarp just drape it up and over what you can and then lay the rest of it flat against the ground. The soil will give off heat at night and the heat will collect in the tents made by the small trees. There can still be some frost damage where the leaves touch the plastic but it is amazing how much green you can save.

You're a little closer than I thought. Perhaps you're using the old National Arboretum zone map. I think all the newer maps place KC in zone 6. I've had real problems with apricots and Japanese hybrid plums. I believe K-State Ext. reports apricots only fruit one in five. My Jap. type plums bloomed the same time as the apricots. As I mentioned there are some later blooming Jap. types. Shiro is supposed to do well, but the consensus on this forum is the fruit is pretty marginal (flavor-wise) so I've never been interested in growing it. Emerald Beaut is supposed to be excellent and a late bloomer, but like I said I've never tried it either. My site seems to run a bit warmer during winter, than surrounding areas. An old zone map shows a small circle of zone 6 completely surrounded by zone 5. I'm in that little zone 6 circle. The new zone maps now show everything around as zone 6. The warmness seems to tease blooms out a little earlier than some surrounding sites, so it's possible you may not have quite as severe a problem as I. But I still wouldn't count on dependable crops from most Jap. type plums. Peaches are my strongest interest. You can look at the 2010 peach report for my favorites. I'd recommend picking an early variety, midseason, and late, if you want to have peaches all season long. My pics would be PF1, Redhaven, Coralstar and Autumnstar. If you can't get all those from one nursery, don't sweat it, just substitute another Midwest variety from what the nursery offers. I'm thinking Adams County Nursery has most of those varieties. By the way, when I say Midwest peach varieties, I'm using that term very loosely. Anything developed or tested proven in NJ would qualify as a Midwest variety in my mind. Likewise pretty much anything developed in Ontario will work in the Midwest. They can be recogized with the letters Har somewhere in the name (named after the Harrow breeding program.) Of course any peaches developed in Michigan would probably work. This includes the Haven series (anything with Haven in the name). Paul Friday's releases, which have the letters PF in the name (very creative), and Fruit Acres releases, which have the word "star" somewhere in the name. What you really want to avoid starting out are California varieties, and varieties from the southern states (like Georgia). There are exceptions to this of course, you just have to be pretty careful, and willing to accept you may be pulling those trees out.

just about any type of birch i'm familiar with goes after water aggressively, and their roots can damage anything you happen to like nearby. (correct me on that if I'm wrong) tulip trees are big awesome trees, yes if bald cypress grows well there, perhaps a well-behaved cultivar would be nice for that spot, or even a "nanjing beauty" tree, a hybrid of north american trees, created in china. (I'm partial to bald cypress (2) and nanjing (5) )

Hi Dax, Abies alba (Good I assume) - yep, should be reasonably OK Abies balsamea (Not Bad, Good) ? - yep, suffers from heat/dry soil Abies beshanzuensis (never heard of it) - probably zone 7 Abies borisii-regis (of the better) - yep, should be good Abies bracteata (don't know anything) - zone 8 Abies cephalonica (seen some good ones around here) - yep, should be good Abies chengii (know nothing) - dubious, but maybe worth a try. Probably a natural hybrid between Abies forrestii and A. chensiensis Abies chensiensis ssp. chensiensis (Asian species - but good I imagine) - worth a try, with hardiest northern origins Abies chensiensis other subsps - not hardy in zone 5 Abies cilicica (good - zone 6 though I think) - agree likely zone 6, but might be worth trying Abies concolor (real good - they're everywhere) - yep Abies concolor subsp. lowiana (decent I presume?) - dubious, probably zone 6/7 Abies delavayi (and its' subspecies - zone 5 - ???) - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, extremely wet monsoon summers Abies densa (don't know anything) - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, extremely wet monsoon summers Abies durangensis (?) - zone 7 Abies durangensis var. coahuilensis (?) - zone 7 Abies durangensis var. durangensis (?) - zone 7 Abies fabri (?) - no, zone 7, and also demanding cool, extremely wet monsoon summers Abies fabri ssp. fabri ? Abies fabri ssp. minensis ? Abies fanjingshanensis ? - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, extremely wet monsoon summers Abies fargesii - zone 5, but needs cool, wet summers Abies fargesii var. fargesii Abies fargesii var. faxoniana Abies fargesii var. sutchuenensis Abies firma (I think this would be good but zone 6 which really doesn't mean anything to me anymore - whatcha think) - might be worth a try, but don't be surprised if it gets winter killed Abies forrestii - no, zone 7, and also demanding cool, extremely wet monsoon summers Abies forrestii var. ferreana Abies forrestii var. georgei Abies forrestii var. smithii Abies fraseri (should do decenty well I presume) - short-lived, needs cool summers Abies georgei (Zone 6 - ??? croak or not) = A. forrestii Abies grandis ("I don't think so") - interior (Idaho, eastern WA) origins should do well; avoid coastal origins Abies guatemalensis - zone 8/9 Abies guatemalensis var. guatemalensis - zone 8/9 Abies guatemalensis var. jaliscana - zone 8/9 Abies hickelii - zone 8/9 Abies hickelii var. hickelii - zone 8/9 Abies hickelii var. oaxacana - zone 8/9 Abies hidalgensis - zone 7/8 Abies holophylla - yep, should be good Abies homolepis (Good one) - probably good, though likes fairly cool summers Abies homolepis var. homolepis - probably good, though likes fairly cool summers Abies homolepis var.umbellata - probably good, though likes fairly cool summers Abies kawakamii - zone 7/8 Abies koraiensis (Good ?) - typo for A. koreana, delete from database!! Abies koreana (Does well) - but probably fairly short-lived Abies lasiocarpa (ok?) - but probably fairly short-lived Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica (does very well) - yep, though may be short-lived Abies lasiocarpa var. lasiocarpa - short-lived, needs cool summers Abies magnifica - very dubious, needs cool summers Abies mariesii - very dubious, needs cool summers Abies nebrodensis (recent topic) I forget though.. - maybe zone 6, but worth a try Abies nephrolepis (Good) - but probably fairly short-lived Abies nordmanniana (The Best) - agreed Abies numidica (Zone 6 - whatcha think) - agree likely zone 6, but might be worth trying Abies pindrow seen em in protected Illinois zone 5 gardens) - doubt it, those will be wrongly labelled! Zone 7/8. Abies polita (Good one - Growing in an arboretum in Iowa) - duh?? Abies polita = Picea polita. Did you mean Abies pinsapo? - if yes, likely zone 6, but might be worth trying Abies procera (?) - very dubious, needs cool summers Abies recurvata - perhaps zone 6, but well worth trying, particularly northern origins Abies recurvata var. ernestii - perhaps zone 6, but well worth trying, particularly northern origins Abies recurvata var. recurvata - perhaps zone 6, but well worth trying, particularly northern origins Abies religiosa - zone 8/9 Abies sachalinensis - may be good but probably fairly short-lived (close relative of A. nephrolepis) Abies sachalinensis var. gracilis - ditto Abies sachalinensis var. mayriana - ditto Abies sachalinensis var. nemorensis - ditto Abies sachalinensis var. sachalinensis - ditto Abies sibirica - southern origins may do well, but perhaps short-lived. Northern origins will succumb to summer heat Abies sibirica ssp. semenovii - well worth trying (if you can find it!!) Abies sibirica ssp. sibirica - as species Abies spectabilis - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, wet monsoon summers Abies squamata - needs very cool summers (grows at up to 4700m altitude in Tibet!!) Abies veitchii - worth a try, but probably fairly short-lived Abies vejarii - zone 7 Abies vejarii ssp. vejarii var. macrocarpa - zone 7 Abies vejarii ssp. vejarii var. vejarii - zone 7 Abies yuanbaoshanensis - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, wet monsoon summers Abies ziyuanensis - no, zone 8, and also demanding cool, wet monsoon summers Hybrids . . . should be more or less intermediate between parents Abies x arnoldiana = A. koreana x A. veitchii Abies x insignis = A. pinsapo x A. nordmanniana Abies x phanerolepis (Good One) = A. balsamea var. phanerolepis - the most heat-tolerant form of A. balsamea Abies x shastensis = A. magnifica var. shastensis Abies x sibiriconephrolepis = A. sibirica x A. nephrolepis Abies x umbellata = A. homolepis var. umbellata Abies x vasconcellosiana = A. pindrow x A. pinsapo (though parentage unconfirmed) Abies x vilmorinii = A. pinsapo x A. cephalonica Resin