I live in Beltsville, in the DC suburbs. Here are my thoughts. Hopefully Jellyman and Scott Smith can reply to your post too, as they have more experience at this. Apples: I've done well with dormant lime-sulphur oil spray + a couple of sprays of Surround, followed by bagging. I grow Williams Pride and Enterprise; I've also some heirloom varieties, but they are too young to report on. Both WP and Enterprise are mega disease resistant. Williams Pride is tasty but very early; must be refrigerated to keep, but you will only get a few weeks. Probably fine for applesource. Enterprise ripen later (October) and keep much longer. Liberty would be another good choice. These are all good apples if you wish to avoid spraying for disease. Pears. I grow Seckel. No problems with fire blight. A little brown rot last year and some codling moth. In general, pears are not hit as hard with Plum Curculio as apples, and you might get away with a few sprays of Surround and then benign neglect. I know my neighbor's Bartlett were hit hard with fire blight, though. I would recommend looking into Asian pears too. Sweet cherries: have not grown myself, but my neighbor has, and has major problems with rot in Maryland. You would need to spray with fungicides. I only grow sour cherries, which usually do ok without sprays and, in my book, are a more versatile cherry (cherry brandy, pies, drying etc.). I grow Montmorency and North Star, but I'd also try some of the Eastern European varieties now available, such as Ballaton. Cherries must be netted, or the birds will get them. Plums -- Scott Smith can help here. I grow the Euro prune plum Stanley; needs spraying for curculio early on. Does not seem to strongly attract the other main pest, Oriental Fruit Moth, later in the season if you have the much preferred nectarines or peaches also growing. I have had more brown rot and splitting this year with recent heavy rains (occasional heavy rains are a real problem in MD). Quince: I have an Aromatayna. Serious problems with galls and some fire blight. I suspect this plant was diseased when I bought it. This is probably going to be a problematic fruit -- a pity. Medlar: have a couple growing. So far no problems with insect pests or disease. Heavy rains cause splitting, but as the trees get older this problem seems to be diminishing. A pretty tree and Medlar jelly is very tasty. Juneberries; I have Regent from Edible Landscaping. Slow grower and has got rust. Fruited last year and fruits are interesting - sort of like a blueberry with an almond after taste (from seed). Juneberries are probably worth growing, but do some research on varieties. I suspect Regent is not a particularly good variety. Figs: take a few years to start production. In early years need to be covered in winter (caged with leaves or straw around them). After a couple of years mine have survived MD winters without protection or significant die back -- but try to plant in a protected south facing area. I have Celeste and Brown Turkey. Celeste is much superior in flavor, but has smaller figs and not as many. Definitely worth growing in MD. Hardy Kiwis: probably 3-4 years before fruit. Must buy male and female. A little tricky getting started, but once they get going, pretty bullet proof. Need a trellis or some sort of structure to grow on. No spray. Blueberries: grow well, few pests, provided they have acid soil. I've had mixed experience with varieties. Jersey, for example, is a poor choice. You need to net blueberries against birds. Raspberries are pretty easy, but here too variety choice is important. The much touted Heritage has been a dog for me. Asian persimmons, both astringent and non-astringent, are my choice for a no trouble delicious fruit, and I would highly recommend them. I have no experience with Jujubes or paw paws. The jujubes I have tasted at Edible Landscaping did not taste good (I'd love to know of varieties that do taste good off the tree). I've tasted good Paw Paws, but not grown them. They are on the list of future things to grow. Other possibilities: blackberries, provide a trellis, prune and they are trouble free. Che fruit from Edible Landscaping; so far no pests. Elderberries: no good for fresh eating, but excellent for jam, wine, syrup for flu. A greatly underrated fruit. Goumi: grow well, but must net to keep birds off. They stripped mine well before they were close to ripe. Gooseberries: a trouble free, underrated fruit - highly recommend. Currants: relatively trouble free, though tend to get mildew later in the season. Grow well in filtered light area. Send me a personal email if you'd like to discuss these things more or come out and see what I am growing.

I bought some T&M seeds just for the fun of it, and followed the instructions: Pluck off the orange fluff, put in moist sand, and put in absolute darkness in warmth. I had six out of eight seeds germinate, starting about a month afterwards, and going on to about three months. Plumeria gets quite large, up to about ten metres (30ft) or so, if I remember correctly, but can be kept smaller in pots. They take at about four years or so to start flowering, from what I've read. They are easy to germinate, though. I just stuffed the seeds upright, half-buried (just the seed part, not including the wing), into the soil, wing-side up, and they germinated in a few weeks. Be very careful, though, the stems of the seedlings are extremely fragile, I've found. A bit of shear pressure on them, and they snap easily. Pecans, I have no experience with. Palms, I haven't germinated, but I had some seeds someone gave me, and he said you just put it in some moist soil and wait for a couple of weeks, and they'll germinate. Good luck!

Nancy, I'm in a different zone, but thought I'd mention a few roses.... Mme Pierre Oger and Reine Victoria are lovely tall growing Bourbon Roses . For Hybrid Perpetuals, Mrs. John Laing and La Reine. Blush Noisette is a wonderful rose. I've been very pleased with it in my garden setting. For Austins, Mortime Sackler is a lovely rose, resembles a Noisette. Eglantyne, Sharifa Asma, and Evelyn, all beautiful Austins. Miss Alice is a lovely compact Austin, very good repeat bloom, might work in a pot.

Thanks everybody for sharing your experiences! My conclusion is...you folks definitely need some more Hoyas/Dischidias! Therefore, I highly recommend going to visit Kartuz Greenhouses down in Vista. It's definitely worth the trip. His online catalog really does not adequately represent the great variety of tropical/interesting/unusual/rare plants that he grows. Plus, his prices are really reasonable so you can get a good collection going without having to pay an arm and a leg. If anybody is interested...I also posted this thread in the following places... Garden Web - Hoya Forum - Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias Growing on the Edge - Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias PalmTalk - Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias? Flickr - Epiphytes Group - Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?