I would think one major problem with Malus la no Brasil would be the heat and lack of a dorment rest period. My wife was raised in Goiania and have never seen any of the Malus family there...only in the far south where it is cooler. Roberto

Schoolhouse, I have a Coralburst Crabapple and I must say that it has grown much bigger than I had thought!!! So the branches are now a little bit too close to the house... sigh... while the shape of the tree, the flower buds and the flowers are great (the flower buds have a lovely coral color, and then the flowers are a beautiful pale pink, so it is very interesting), its flower buds tend to be easily damaged by the late spring frost, leading to poor flowering in 2 of the last 6 years. Also, after it's done flowering, the leaves are rather boring. Even the fruits are rather non-descript. Oh, and it's a magnet for Japanese beetles...

What a beautiful tree! Thank you for sharing the picture with us, blue_yew. Not a tree that will survive where I live, either, but I hope you can keep it - and the others you have - thriving. I have read that, thanks to humankind, it is an endangered species, too. :-( Holly

The 115 year record was in Tennessee in January 2010. At one point it was -13C and three more days reached -10 C and it 0 C or below the whole 10 days. Ponds froze over and main river froze over at one spot which has not happened since 1940. I expected carnage among plants from warmer areas but was pleasantly surprised for the most part. The following summer was dry and hot with 86 days over 32C and some near 37C. So yes we get a lot of heat which is not tolerated well by most Chilean plants including 4 Araucaria araucana which failed here previously. Araucaria angustifolia seems to love heat and has been unbotherd by the drought. This is in the dry upland chestnut, oak, and hickory ecological zone which was left untouched for two centuries but has been devastated by pathogens in recent decades.Overall the climate seems to shifting towards warmer and dryer conditions since the last couple of decades which may leave many native plants not well adapted to the changed conditions.At least 3 native trees died of heat and drought near two thriving Araucaria angustifolia.