they really are not zone 9 hardy trees

9a no...they can make it in zone 9b: as evidenced by the 25' mango tree on the street over from me and the 2, 30' trees at my dad's house...and the 60' tree at his neighbor's house. All zone 9b. Now the one on the street next to mine got nailed, but it is alive and has new growth coming out of it. That said, you're correct. They prefer zone 10a-b, but they can make it in my zone, although they'll get whacked back by these 30-50 year freezes.

Interestingly, my father last a very large African Oil Palm and a Royal Poinciana tree in his yard because of the cold, but his mango trees were completely untouched.

I went to Largo, FL this weekend (over by Tampa Bay), and the freeze/cold damage to the mango trees and palm trees was almost identical to the damage sustained here in mid-north Brevard county, FL. I didn't realize that the West Coast by Tampa Bay got it so bad too.
Happy Easter!

Bluepalm

I work in Tampa. The only mango trees that are alive are the ones protected by other large trees/buildings. I know of many large, some about 40' mangos trees that were killed.

Contrast this to last years pretty cold winter, where I did not even notice leaf burn to the large mango trees.

Its too bad about the central FL freezes. I have bought mangoes from the groves on South Tropical Trail in Merritt Island in the past and last year they had a late-season because of the damage done to the early season trees/flowers last winter. I imagine this year a lot of them might have been totally fried :(

Anyone who's been through that area know how the trees look?

The trees that I have seen on M.I. are for the most part o.k. On the big trees only very minor limb dieback (top 12-15" injured).

im pretty sure my soursop is toast, it was a 6 ft tall whip

It's really a wonder I even have a few mango trees survive and one that's actually blooming! I'm in zone 9a if I'm not mistaken? I just went to check on GW zone finder (USDA)by zip code and it says I'm on zone 9...so what does that mean...9a or 9b what's the difference between 9 and the ones with the letter after?

This was without a doubt the coldest and longest winter in the almost 18 years I've lived here.

Still no sign of new growths on my sweetheart lychee, and only one branch has a few new leaves so far on the very bottom of my Sweet Cliff. I won't cut them down till July just to be sure.

Zone 9a is: 20-25, zone 9b is 25-30. Here's a good link with the zones (and a map):
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-sm1.html

i am in zone 10b and lost a okrung tong mango tree, probably about a 3 gallon size. it was a top tropical tree and had their signature brown coloring. my other mango from Top is my Tong Dam and its not looking to happy either.

Thanks for the link bluepalm!

Mangokush...good luck with with your Tong Dam mango. You sure have some really cool mango trees I've never even heard of before!