I don't think there is quite a definitive answer on that, but it is said (an article in Goodfruit) that it ripens further north than was previously expected, It gets pretty good here in Z6 in a normal season. Spring was late this year so I will get an idea how it might do in a typical season in Z5. Won't know till Nov. It can take a very hard freeze. Last year 25F didn't hurt it as far as I could tell.

Ah, for a good real spring after real winter!! Here, the rains have all but gone, one or two more light ones, and nothing till October. I am in a new garden this year, and inherited copious amounts of crocosmia and wild cyclamen. Will thin the bulbs in fall as it's prolly been 20 years since last done.......My calendula seedlings and sweet pea have all come up and been potted out. The annuals allysum, lobelia, pansies, impatiens are all still alive too, and some are actually looking happy. I'll have to move some to shadier places once the real summer bake sets in. The first year salvia indigo is looking pretty pleased, and the gaura shows promise. I am only growing native herbs this year, ones suited to this mountain. Rosemary, lavender, wormwood, lemon verbena, mint, wild thyme: the sage died and the basil is endangered by the snails. I emptied a HUGE bag of dirt that has been happily cooking all year down to some of the best stuff I've seen in years in Haifa. Good soil here on the mountain is a treasure. No place to put a veggie garden, if we stay in this house I may get to it, and am still searching for a decent place for a compost pile. Next project - the vacant lot attached to my house. Covered in weeds and vines, littered with years of glass and construction flotsam, when it dries in the summer sun, it becomes a haven for snakes,etc, and impossible to uproot in the rocky, hard soil. Now, in the Spring, is the time to pull them out roots and all, 5 feet at a time. Call me crazy, but I like weeding, even the big monsters, and I get great satisfaction from clearing a space. See where the mountain insists on being, see where there are pockets of soil, see where there are nests. I've even been known to sweep the mountainside, but that's another story........ Batya

If you should come north again try the coast from Boston north. In Boston you have the Arnold Aboretum, Elm Bank - home of the Ma. Horticultural Society; west of Boston there is Tower Hill Botanical Garden in Boylston. One hour north of Boston is Cape Ann with Essex - a whole town full of antique shops and seafood restaurants; Gloucester- fishing/art; Rockport - full or art galleries and shopping. 40 minutes north - Newburyport, where every shop and window in their renovated downtown has an enormous window box - hanging baskets everywhere. 20 minutes north to Fuller Garden (North Hampton/Rye, N.H.) - an American Rose Society test garden with a magnificent perennial garden, Japanese garden and sculpture garden - on the ocean. 15 minutes to Portsmouth,Strawberrry Banke, Prescott Park garden.

Why not just call and get prices and see if the prices are different at the differen stores. While there are a few manufacturers that require you to vivist the store, most can be quoted over the phone. Even fabric samples can be mailed to you, why go unless you need to see something and then you need to call to make sure they have it