As long as the next several weeks show no major cold snaps forecast I would say you are fine in zone 6. In my climate I can prune apples most weekends in the winter, and I am usually chipping away at it over the whole winter (the job is about 1/2 done for me now). We did get a little cold snap recently but the 10-day low now is 31F and I will probably get some pruning done this weekend. If anything below 10F is forecast in the long range I will not be pruning. Scott

Here's my report guys! Sorry couldn't find the thread, been looking to add this in for a while :) --- I had tons of dieback on poms and figs this year. The pom that came out the clear the winner in my yard was Lyubimi/Favorite which was about 3.5 feet tall no blossoms yet. Salavatski was 7 feet tall and has had blossoms for 2 or so seasons. This was the first winter I left it and Lyubimi completely unprotected. Salavatski had done great in prior winter with minimal protection. This winter like everything else in my yard, it died back to ground. Lyubimi had at most 5% dieback and was also completely uncovered. It is now leafed out everywhere looking happy. All others were much younger (about 1-2.5 foot tall) and it was their first winter outside so they had light to medium protection: Died back to the ground, but growing out from ground: Kazake, Suhr anor, Gissorski Rizyovi, Vksuyni, Saveh Paradise Nursery, Parfianka. These young ones did not seem to make it, at least no signs yet: Desertnyi, Al-sirin-nor (was sick before winter from transplant shock), and Austin (was sick before winter--I keep replacing it, it keeps doing poorly, it seems very sensitive to rainfall, it sheds its leaves before any others when there's torrential pours--could be the spot it is in but I don't really think so...) The only small young one that only had 50% die back and did not die all the way to ground was Entekhabi Saveh. I had been very impressed with Salavatski in the past so I'm not sure. To be precise, my "Salavatski" is Russian from Edible Landscaping, but I bet it is the same. Some other cool traits about Lyubimi over Salavatski: classic bright red color rind instead of tan pink, seems to leaf out earlier (almost 2 weeks?) and get it's season started faster. I think Lyubimi has more medium sized fruit however, while Salavatski can give large fruit. Otherwise I gather they are similar in terms of being hard seeded and having classic sweet-tart flavor juice, although I've never tasted Lyubimi. I see promise for Entekhabi Saveh as well, and am rooting for the others to recover well. Not really sure why my Salavatski did not do so well when Lyubimi was able to. Perhaps it was the spot, but if anything Salavatski is closer to a wall.

Supposed to get down to 46 here tonight. I'm not bringing anything in, not even the birds. They have a covered cage to go into. I know I should bring in the orchids, but I didn't find out about this until after dark, and I don't have any lights in the back. I'm not going out with a flashlight to bring in orchids. I don't have that many anyway, and they're all under the oak trees, so they should be safe. They survived 38 degree weather last year when I had to work until 11 p.m. and didn't get them in.

Digdig, if any of these magnolias croak we won't replace them with more magnolias. I think you're right in that they won't bounce back fully. The other tree that was recommended for a lollipop form was a portuguese laurel. May try a Euc neglecta if the space is open, need to find out what kind of root system a neglecta forms over time since this is a raised bed. The little blue Euc gunnii snapped about 2" from the ground. Wonder if it will grow up from roots. Was young and small but such an exquisite color. The huge curly willow in the front has innumerable large limbs snapped at the tops. Only a tall bucket truck can reach those. It used to be a magnificent tree, the largest curly willow I've ever seen. Willows tend to grow back but this one has some sort of wilt problem in spring. It has lost so much bulk that all the trees under and around it will now get a lot more sunlight. Have 4 Oregon myrtles (slow growing) along back that I'll transplant to spots where other trees died. Won't be buying many more trees, except the tight columnar Norway Spruce Cupressinas to replace squashed arbor vitae. Had a sweet broom that was getting really big. It looks fried from the deep freeze. Wonder if it will sprout back from wood. Bamboo, lots snapped. Ppl say bamboo is indestructible but I've had trouble with mine. It was already here and tends to shear off about 11' up from the ground in wind. Bungeed it to house but it isn't right, isn't thriving. Yellowish, should be green. Cannot yet get to back of yard, silver dust leyland laying down, a bit uprooted, will have to be re-planted. Yard guy supposed to come tomorrow to help me. Arbutus marina croaked, as did a golden chain tree. Will not buy a staghorn sumac or forest pansy redbud. Will leave more space in yard. The sun beating down here in the summer is so fierce it's hard to imagine having too much shade, but hopefully trees will grow. 3 years of my life totally dedicated to these trees, and it looks like a war zone. And this morning I looked out the window and saw a retarded neighborhood cat climbing to the top of one of the young horse chestnuts. It had already tried to climb the spindly Cyprus Cedar and broken off 2 main branches. If not ice, the damn cat. The neighborhood has a few big old strong trees but this cat is obsessed with damaging the trees in my yard.