Tammy your potted callas were likely forced. I'd just plant them in the garden. They should grow all season and either be lifted after the foliage has been hit with a frost or left alone. Put them somewhere like a garage and once the foliage has dried store them like any other tender bulb or they can be left inground over the winter. I used to lift them but then I noticed that the ones I missed were coming back in the spring so I started leaving them out. You can put the amaryllis in the ground and lift it in the fall or you can keep it in a pot. I'm not sure what you do to make them bloom but I'm sure you can find info online. I have Brown Turkey figs in the yard and some tender varieties in containers. The container figs are fully leafed out. I fight the squirrels anhd birds for the fruit but last year I had quite a bit so all were happy. There's several figs that do well in zone 7 though they should be planted in a protected area.

I do my gardening in a zone 5/6. I have to protect all of the Macrophyllas if I'm going to get any flowers. I would bet that you shouldn't have too much trouble over the actual winter months. These plants can take the extremes of cold that you should be expecting. The real problem for you ( and me, too, actually) is the fluctuations. It's Luis' "ker plunks" that end up getting us. Dirr has said that he sees better flowering in a place like Cape Cod than he sees in Georgia, even though Georgia is a much higher zone. That's because, at Cape Cod, you don't get the ker plunks. The ocean, the native habitat of these Macrophyllas, keeps the temperature moderate. No ker plunks. Being relatively close to the ocean might save you somewhat. At least in many years. You don't need to worry so much about doing something before the first frost unless it happens like tomorrow or something. As long as the weather follows a moderate path into the winter, you wouldn't have any problem at all. I don't do anything here until after the frosts come. The real problem for you, I would bet, is next Spring. That's when the damage is likely to happen. Typical for us people away from the moderating ocean, just like interior Georgia, is for a nice long spell of warm weather in Spring, fooling the plants into thinking that it's all over, with the buds opening up, only to get zapped with the ker plunk that follows. If you want to take your chances and do a minimal amount of work maybe you should consider not doing anything elaborate over the winter, but be ready to run out in the Spring when we get that night or two of cold and cover the plants with sheets of plastic and/or some other insulating material. Nobody said it was going to be easy. Fun maybe, but not easy. Good luck. Hay

No, it's definitely not a stupid question! If winds were calm all the time then you might not need to actually put much additional protection other than some lights , but since winter is often very windy it would never work. You dont have to protect Mule palm fronds for that long though! During the average winter if you protect the fronds of your palm from mid December to late February, maybe the first week of March, then your good to go. They will only be covered 6-7 weeks of the year during the average winter and during winters like this one you wouldnt even need to protect it at all yet since we have not gone below 22F (not sure how cold it got in the hamptons but that's my lowest temperature so far in NYC). You really only have to protect the fronds below 20F and we have definitely not see temperatures like that too much the past 2 years! -Alex

Billy, I have Marseilles White. Is it the Marseilles mentioned in the post you provided? Or could that be another Marseilles, like M. Black? I believe that Marseilles White was Thomas Jefferson's favorite fig tree, and I suspect it did well for him, in ground at Monticello in VA. Maybe it was winter protected or greenhouse grown. I would just like to know for sure if it will thrive for my niece in ground. There's nothing like failure to occur for a novice to consequently develop a, "I can't grow figs.", mind set. Moses