Rosey, your aunt in Georgia may have a China Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata), which is often called Monkey Puzzle in the South. The true Monkey Puzzle trees don't thrive in our climate, although I know some people do try to grow them! If you can find one, there is a blue form of the China Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca') which is really nice... a great substitute for Colorado Blue Spruce in our part of the country.

I'm growing an indoors banana tree. I grew up in Africa and had one in my backyard (yes, it was very banana-prolific :) so I'm obsessing on how to raise this baby indoors. So far it's doing great, but it's still pretty young. I live in Ottawa (zone 2) so there's no way it can overwinter outdoors. Our summers are very hot and humid, however, so I'm hoping to have it out in the summer months. Does anyone here have any experience,or has even heard, of growing bananas indoors? is

We may be at a similar latitude but our winter climates are totally different. In fact Victoria Canada is milder in winter than Olympia WA. Just because it grows in Victoria doesn't mean it will grow in the northern US. I think the monkey puzzle comes from a semi tropical area so would not mind your hotter summers. It's the winters. That old photo of a mature tree in Detroit is interesting. Now here in Olympia we rarely get much below 25 for more than overnight or a couple days. Single digits and even close to 0 do happen, but not every year, more like every decade. We do not protect monkey puzzle trees here. The shorelines of Seattle and Victoria may not even get frost in some winters. We are a maritime climate, despite the latitude. Sounds like you get a lot of moderation from the Lakes but it won't be the same degree of moderation we get here as you are still too close to subarctic conditions in inland surrounding areas. That's why Victoria and Vancouver are Canada's Riviera, dramatically warmer winters than anywhere else in the country. I second the suggestion to try the Conifers forum.

It's not fall yet...Tropical Storm Irene got to the Great Lakes and said "I like it here! I think I will stay and make these people think they live in Seattle!" Not fall till Sept 21. And the last 70 degree day for the past 3 years has consistently been in mid-November here in the SE corner of MI. The first 70 degree day has consistently been the first week of March. Yes, I am a geek. I keep track. The rain every day from the backside of this storm has made all the plants and mosquitoes happy (baby banana trees all around!) but we're like prisoners! Catching up on last year's House episodes at least. My ceramic work takes double the time to dry- orders are taking a lot longer to do! Looking forward to the return of the rest of our regularly scheduled summer. Till then, I have been collecting branches full of dead leaves to put around my clueless palms (a tad later).