Given that I'm in a climate zone where these things do well, I'm probably not the best person to give advice. But I can endorse the idea of Chilean guava in a pot. Mine was permanently outdoors of course, but it flowered and fruited fine for several years before I was able to plant it in the garden. The flowering is late enough that it won't be troubled by being indoors etc until the frosts have passed, and it doesn't require a long season to fruit. I don't know what level of frost it will tolerate - certainly some, but the places it grows best are cool and windy, so not frosty. There is also at least one feijoa variety that can be grown and fruited in a pot (the self-fertile Unique), but it is probably still too big to be moved inside, unlike the Chilean guava which is small. I don't have the space for kiwifruit or the climate for pomegranate (not hot enough in summer), so I can't help with those.

We are currently working with Nassau and Suffolk County on getting a minimum 5 Acre location for a nursery. We have a 3 acre location being developed in Old Brookville. While there is a trade off between the full root system of an easily shipped 3-5 footer(Trachy), our feeling is that customers will want a legit looking palm asap so the minimum 8 footers make sense. I'm hoping that the palm's maturity will spark quicker regrowth of its root system within a max 2-year period. So during those two years, at least the customer will have a palm of substance to look at and brag about. We will be offering a 1-year guarantee on all palms provided the customer uses our winter wrapping service. We feel the crucial months for protection (before establishment of the palm) will be Dec-Feb...Possibly first 2 weeks in March. Hey, the way I see it, covering a palm in NY for 3 months-to have palms isn't that bad. Our targeted market is pool owners-who are used to officially closing/covering their pools, BBQ, deck chairs....OK, so now include your palms. A ritual they are already used too. Shipping will be choreographed to spend as little time in transit as possible. We are currently speaking with different nurseries in GA & NC. Obviously, dealing with NC would provide us with the closest and most cold hardy of the species. Our goal is to get our nursery up and running ASAP so we can get our 1st generation of NY'ers followed by future generations-hopefully winding up with "New York Tough" lines of different palms species. We will also be test planting Dates, Sabals, Washingtonias, Yuccas and Agaves this spring to see how they cope with the next winter. I'm also going to be getting some Jubaea and Butia Hybrids. We will be experimenting with chemicals, sprays...trying to stay away from anything requiring electrical. One thing we will be working with is Beet Juice. Believe it or not, there is a company that has a patent pending on beet juice as an ice melt. In STL they use it instead of salt to melt the roadways as it is all natural and not corrosive. Can beet juice lower the core water temp freezing point inside a palm? Maybe, wont know until this winter. I just hope it doesn't dye the darn palm red :). Also, purely by accident, I discovered that I have seepage form a broken line in my leaching field where cesspool water is coming up. The grass in contact with that water is lush, growing and green as can be while the grass around it is frozen, brown and lifeless. A fertilizer rich in potassium and nitrogen may do a NY palm well in helping survive a winter. Each area in the US is different, even if they are listed in the same zone. There are Fortuneis on Long Island that are 20+ tall over 45 years old living on Long Island-no protection(Not having anything to do with me...www.nypalms.com. Our goal is to get them through the first 2-3 winters and then they should be able to cope. Butias may require winter protect for 5-10 years or until they are at least 15 feet high. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with other species and sharing the finding with all of you.

They could be needle palms, but I would imagine that they would have to be taking a ridiculous amount of neglect. Most bullet proof cold hardy trees cant grow along the beach (Ive only seen hollies and pines growing close to the water around here) so for a marginally hardy palm tree to be growing well is pretty impressive. Any chance that they weren't yuccas. They are very very popular here (I have seen at least 10-20 species) and they can handle a lot of neglect. A pic might help a lot or at least a location so someone can check them out! -Alex

Rocky is a big puppy to people he knows,or if your with me,he thinks he's a lap dog.Brutis is not as friendly to strangers,that's why he's on a logging chain.He has never bit anybody,I dont let but a few people near him.He is my guard dog,about a month ago two guys was trying to steal the copper from my central air unit and they dident know brutis could reach up to the units.It was about 3am when I heard the dogs barking,and I can tell when there barking at a person or some animal,the barks different.When I went outside to see what was going on,brutis had the two guys pinned in the corner of the fence.He dident try to bite them but he wouldent let them move.He sat there holding them in the corner,if one moved he would growl and they stoped moving.I called the cops and they came out and locked the two guys up.The cops told me,now that's a good guard dog.Some of the cops now want a pup of his,they were scared of brutis,they said that dog has strange eyes,they look straight through you.Brutis is a very smart dog,he knows about 10 commands.I run all my dogs 5 miles a day on a dog treadmill.They love it,the vet said my dogs were very healthy and happy dogs.Times have gotten so bad people will still anything they can get there hands on to make money.It's been going on far a long time in Atlanta,there stilling manhole covers from the streets,stilling from churches.They showed on the news where somebody had stolen all the central air units from a apartment complex.There is a small palm nursery in the next town over that I go to often.Last time I was there billy(the owner) told me someone stold three 25 gallon pindo palms during the night.He knows I sell pitbull puppies,and now he wants one of my dogs.I might trade for another big palm,I love the barter system.Your so right about keeping Uncle Sam out of the picture,they tax me to death already.I have to register my dogs with the city,but not the puppies :)