Well, the pomegranite did not make it. It was leafed out and grew over the spring/summer etc. Then at a normal rate, in line with other trees in the area, dropped it's leaves. Thought it was going into dormancy...I had ferns in the same area where the pom was and I covered it with sheets for the first several frosts we had. Then I just let it alone. It died. I thought maybe it was just slow coming back to life and when I recently started checking for life by snipping back gradually, DEAD as a door nail, I spoke to my MIL's neighbor and he said I could take cuttings and even take some of the smaller plants coming up from the roots/base. Which I will do next time I'm there. Is there a best time to take cuttings? This particular tree already is flowering (the neighbors). So is now ok? and how much to cut off, and then what's the best rooting method?

Well........ Not sure about quite a few of those, but I think you'll be fine with the following: Saba Mysore Raja Puri And these are pretty reliable here in zone 7 (and even colder): m. lasiocarpa m. sikkimensis These probably would NOT be good choices: Hua Moa Dwarf Red I'm not sure about the others. Ones that I can recall off the top of my head that wouldn't be suitable in zone 8a would be: Jamaican Red musa beccarii AeAe Cavendish musa zebrina (or Rojo, Sumatrana) Too tired to think right now, but that's a start. And to be sure, none of the fruiting types are really completely reliably hardy in zone 8a without some form of protection, usually in the form of mulch. Species bananas, such as musa sikkimensis, and of course musa basjoo, are hardier on average than the fruiting types.

I think it is great that you are doing these breeding experiments. Cold hardy citrus probably has a lot of work than can be very successful even with relatively small experiments, as opposed to thousands of seedlings to get a new apple variety for instance.

Thanks to all for the excellent answers and observations. My apologies for not responding sooner, but "life stuff" popped up as it has a habit of doing. My original intent with container growing was to limit growth, but all the feedback has given me no end of ideas. As to the Wilma variety, if it does leave some black bits in my guacamole, I'll just leave the cilantro a little more coarsely chopped. Problem solved! I'm not at all put off my non-grocery store varieties. Part of my first job out of college was taking care of an experimental avocado orchard in the Santa Barbara, CA area. It contained several varieties that had outstanding flavor, but couldn't cut it on the commercial market because they didn't "look" like avocados. Thanks again to you all for the great information.