I've got a black mission fig that I planted this spring, which is growing really well so far. I live in Knoxville, TN in the river valley at the base of the Smokey Mountains. This area is borderline between zones 6 and 7. I've got an unheated garage and plan to make room to bring my fig inside the garage for the winter. In another tread about growing Apache blackberries in a boderline area, I suggested an idea I plan to use to protect my muscadines vines this winter. I have 3 of them in containers, and they're too big to bring inside for the winter. If you don't have a basement or garage where you can put your fig for the winter, you might try this idea to give your fig some extra protection from the cold. Rose growers in the north have long protected their plants by building a cylinder of chicken wire around the plant and then filling it with dry mulch such as leaves or straw. The top and sides of the cylinder are then wrapped in plastic to keep the mulch dry, with only the bottom portion left uncovered with plastic so that some air can circulate to keep the mulch dry and prevent rot. If you use plastic on the top to keep the mulch dry, you must leave the bottoms uncovered so that air can circulate. Some people say to use burlap or something porous and never to use plastic, but they are often in climates where all winter precipitation is frozen. Burlap would keep snow from wetting the mulch, but would not keep rain from soaking through. Either way the mulch must stay fairly dry, otherwise it will rot the plant you are trying to protect. Southern gardeners have long used this same idea on a larger scale to protect tender hydrangeas and gardenias during the winter. This protects the limbs from cold dry winds as well as keeping snow from breaking the limbs. The biggest problem you might have with figs in a container outside during the winter is that the root ball might freeze in a pot that is exposed to the cold. If you don't have a garage or basement where you can bring it in during the winter, you could dig a hole to sink the pot into the ground for the winter to give the pot some protection from hard freezes. Even if that part of your yard does not get enough sun to be a place you could grow the plant during summer, a protected place on the east side of the house could give the fig a better chance of survival during winter. There is some contradictory advice on what exposure is best. North and west exposures are often bad because of the cold prevailing winds are often from north and west. South and west exposures are often bad because a few sunny days can fool a tender plant that spring has come and encourage the plant to bud out in February. Overall an east exposure during the winter may be the best compromise. The north side of the house can be good, if there is something that blocks the north winds, such as a hedge or fence. I used to live in Atlanta where I grew gardenias in pots on the patio of my condo. Most of the winters in Atlanta were mild, but we could get 3 or 4 nights each winter with temps near zero. On these extra-cold nights, I would pull all my tender potted plants on my patio up against the sliding glass doors. I would cover the top and outer side of the plants overnight with a mover's quilt. The heat that escaped through the glass was enough with the plants covered by the quilt to keep them protected overnight, when other gardenias planted on the grounds would get their end bitten back by the cold. I saw another idea on television that I thought was interesting but have not tried. I was watching 'Gardening By The Yard', which I find funny and interesting. He was doing a show on micro-climates in your yard. He interviewed the head gardener at one of the large hotels in Las Vegas. The guy said that tourist expected to see palm trees to go along with the sun and sand in Vegas, but the desert can actually get fairly cold at night during the winter. His solution to protect his tender palms was to decorate them with small Christmas lights. He said that for palm trees the main protection was needed for the trunks rather than the fronds. He used the tiny lights to wrap the trunks from the ground up to the top. They were really pretty and looked like glittery barber poles. He said that beside looking festive in the winter, the electricity going through the wires generated just enough heat to keep the trunks warm enough overnight when temps dropped below freezing. My guess is that a fig tree would look quite cute decorated white or coloured fairy lights. If you had an extra-bitter cold night, you could cover the lighted plant up with a blanket as well. In the fall most years, we will get a frost followed by a few more weeks of Indian Summer. I always have a large patch of tomatoes in a raised bed that I want to protect for as long as possible. For the past 2 years, I've covered them with a blanket just before dark and put a shop light with 100 watt light bulb shop near the base of the plants. Last fall we had about 3 nights down to 25 degrees, and that light bulb was enough to protect the plants with the blanket until temps rose the next morning. By protecting the tomato plants for 3 night of below freezing temps at Halloween, it warmed back up enough that I had fresh tomatoes for another month. It was really great to pick fresh tomatoes and bell pepper for Thanksgiving dinner. The link below is one I found that has lots of different figs described. There are lots of varieties that are more cold hardy than the Black Mission that is normally stocked by nurseries. For people that have never eaten a fresh fig pulled from the tree, they have no idea how good they really are. I like dried figs, but most fresh ones you find for sale are not very good. Fresh figs pulled from the tree are heavenly. Good Luck with your figs, Greg Here is a link that might be useful: descriptions of lots of different figs, including cold hardy ones

Cold weather citrus info- http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/Citrus.htm Kumquat- http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/kumquat.html Kumquat- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat Satsuma Mandarin- http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/fruit/satsuma.html Satsuma Mandarin- http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/citr_ret.cfm Calamondin- http://www.geocities.com/verymad_scientist/ Calamondin- http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/calamondin.html FRUITING SCHEDULE-http://www.growquest.com/Fruit%20trees%20-20better%20plant/citrus%20harvest%20times.htm I also grow persimmons, pomegranate, strawberries, Rhubarb, Avacado's, a dwarf banana tee, and a dwarft apple tree I got from Michigan bulb(5th yr )and I aso do patio blueberries, and a American Hazelnut tree.

You are invited to our Plant and Seed Swap at the Ecovillage Training Center on The Farm in Summertown, TN June 17th 2006 from 1-3 pm Bring your favorite, unusual, useful, or extra plants and seeds and trade with your neighbors. We are working to increase the diversity and food production of our educational nonprofit site. We are especially looking for perennial food plants including but not limited to Jerusalem Artichoke, small fruit or nut trees, bushes, or vines and what ever you find is producing well for you in the area. We also need herbs including but not limited to creeping thyme, borage, and yarrow and perennial flowers that will attract beneficial insects to our organic garden and add beauty to the area. Donations of plants would be greatly appreciated but are not necessary to attend. We have to trade anti-mosquito plants, spiderwort, iris, oregano, mint, many varieties of bamboo and more. Who knows what your neighbors may bring? Come find out, get some new plants, socialize with your neighbors, find out what ETC is all about, and join us for an afternoon of fun. Tours of the Training center will be available. For more information please visit www.thefarm.org/etc The directions are below. Please check in at the booth in front of the school, and please don't arrive before 11:30am. No trading will occur until 1:00pm. You may eat before hand or bring yourself a picnic lunch. Bring a table and chairs if you like and all the utensils you will need. Please label all plants before arrival. If you still have questions that aren’t answered on our website, We can be reached at 931-964-4474(ask for Wade) Hope to see you there! Directions to The Farm From North: Nashville to Columbia: Take I-65 South. About 30 miles from Nashville, take Exit 53 at the Saturn Parkway. At the end of Saturn Parkway, follow US Route 31 South to Columbia. About 9 miles south at a major intersection, turn right (south) onto US Route 43. Columbia to The Farm: Take Highway 43 South for 22 miles to the intersection with Highway 20 (at Hughes' Grocery), which is marked for Summertown. Turn right onto Highway 20; you are now in Summertown. Check your odometer. At 1.5 miles you will bear right at the Summertown Market. *Two miles further on Highway 20, immediately after passing under some powerlines, take a sharp right onto Drakes Lane at the county line. Drive 1.1 miles, turn right on Walker Ln. where Drakes Lane takes a sharp left, and 0.4 miles later you will see the white gate and brick Gatehouse of The Farm. *If the Gatehouse is open, stop to check in. *Once past the gate take a right on Schoolhouse road and the school will be on your left. From South: To Lawrenceburg, Tennessee: Take the Natchez Trace or I-65 to US Route 64; Lawrenceburg is 17 miles east of the Trace, 27 miles west of I-65, at the intersection of Highways 64 and 43. Lawrenceburg to The Farm: From Lawrenceburg take US Route 43 North. After approximately 12 miles, take a left on Highway 240 at Johnson's One Stop, towards Summertown. About 2 miles later, take another left at the Confederate Monument, onto Highway 20. Follow Highway 20 into Summertown; bear right at the Summertown Market. From here, follow directions in asterisked paragraphs above.

We haven't heard from the OP since his original post, so while he may be one of those who post and then loose interest, perhaps others considering Tennessee fruit growing will enjoy this thread. I'm familiar with many of the posters on this thread, and they all know far more than me. But sometimes newbies can learn from newbies, so I wanted to chime in a bit. I live about 25 min north of Nashville on the TN/KY line. I started my little orchard 3.5 years ago but already had a few fruit trees on the property when I bought it. In spite of my being a beginner with very little knowledge, I have had a lot of luck with some fruits already. One is peaches. The old peach tree on my place was/is an early peach and didn't do much UNTIL I started following a good spray program. At the same time I planted several of my own. I got peaches off of most of them last year, which was just the 3rd year for most (I even got some from 2 year old peaches, but they were bought as large, potted trees). I've had the best luck with Red Haven and there is even a commercial orchard 3 miles away that grows them and does well (most years). I also harvested off of J.H. Hale, Contender, and Elberta. These are the ones you often see recommended for our area (including by the aforementioned UT extension office) and they have done well for me so far. I also have had very good luck with TART cherries (aka pie cherries). I have Montmorency and they produced quite a few in just their 3rd year (but again, they were potted, 5-6 ft trees when planted). These are also recommended for our area by UT Extension. I've planted a few sweet cherries (Bing, black Tartarian, Stella) and while the trees have done great, I have received no fruit and almost all sources say they will not do well here at all, so you probably don't want to waste your time/money on them. Figs have done incredibly well for me, with my best performing being Chicago Hardy and Brown Turkey (in that order). Again, those are the 2 most often recommended for us. That being said, mine were all killed back to the ground in the harsh winter of 2013-14. But amazingly, most came back enough to fruit that very next summer (2014), which some say is unlikely. I have several pears, 2 of which already started producing and one old tree that was on the property already. I don't know what the old one is but the new ones are Bartlett and Ayers, and both have done remarkably well for just 3 year old trees (though large and potted when planted). In fact, based on my experience and that of my neighbors who do almost nothing to their pear trees, Pears have proven to be the easiest tree to grow and produce fruit- by far. My apples were mostly bear-root and have not yet produced, but I will say that my Gala had 85% killed by fireblight last summer. All my other fruit trees are too young to know about so far. I have lots of other types of fruit so it will be fun to see what does well and what doesn't. I admittedly have several that almost certainly won't ever produce, but I had lots of space and it isn't that much money and I have the time so I figured I'd try them and learn for myself-maybe I'll get a nice surprise. They are all rated for my zone, though, so I'm not doing completely crazy stuff like trying citrus or other things not rated for my zone. But as the pros here will tell you, there is a lot more to tree selection that just zone compatibility. For example, I planted 3 appricots and they are rated to my zone but I fully concede that they almost certainly will never produce fruit. The OP mentioned grapes....I must say that I've had better luck with grapes than almost anything else. The varieties that have done incredibly well for me here in TN are Concord, Catawba, and Niagara (white). They were delicious and high producing and a great way to get a substantial amount of fruit in only 3 years. (I even got some in year 2). Anyway, as always I want to restate that I'm a beginner and not trying to promote myself as any kind of expert of even intermediate fruit producer. But to other beginners, you might find that encouraging. I know better than most how overwhelming fruit growing information can be and how you sometimes feel like you will never learn enough to produce anything at all. I've certainly made countless mistakes and undoubtedly could have done much better at selecting and growing and spraying my trees and plants. But I hope I can encourage some of you: even with my lack of knowledge, my mistakes, my confussion, etc, I have managed to pick some very nice peaches, pears, sour cherries, figs, and grapes in just 3.5 years and I really think the coming year will see even more fruit on my little mini-orchard. So give it a try! Its my all time favorite hobby and these days I'd rather be in my orchard than hunting or fishing- and for me that is really saying something! Good luck. This post was edited by thecityman on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 14:35