Hi I would put it in the ground asap. Put it in a spot with good sun and drainage and add as much organic matter as you can then mulch it to hold in the moisture. Keep it moist not wet and you will be fine. Once it starts putting out new leaves fertilize it regularly as long as the temp stays above 70. A nice pile of leaves around the base will be all you need for your freeze days. Your challenge will be water once it gets going... this forum is almost dead go to bananas.org if you need more support...

Hi Pinar, I'm also in northern California just north of Santa Rosa. In my previous home, we had a Podocarpus between us and the neighbor and it only gave so-so privacy. We then planted a red oak that was fast growing and had very large leaves, but the squirrels wouldn't stop girdling it and we had to remove the top 30 feet that had died. I'm now in another house in the same town, and have a privacy problem with a two story addition going up next door, so I'm planting two Chinese lace bark elms. We researched for four months looking for the ideal tree, and found and there's no tree that will check all the boxes, but the Chinese lace bark elms came the closest; the only negative for us was the maximum size which can reach 50 feet tall. It's fast growing, tolerates short periods of boggy soil, is drought resistant once established, isn't picky about your type of soil and has few pest issues. I see that you're looking for an evergreen and the Chinese lace bark elm may or may not lose its leaves depending on your climate. There's one in my town that must be 60+ years old and in January it still has most of its leaves. Several of these trees were planted in the Kaiser parking lot in Santa Rosa a few years ago and they quickly grew to provide shade with dense growth of narrow leaves that flutter in the breeze. They're beautiful.

Stan, Don't believe everything you see on television, especially with regard to average winter temps in Capetown and the Cape of Good Hope. They can and do get some frost there occasionally, as they have varied microclimates due to elevation and topography. wind is also much more a factor there, and weather is very inconsistent on a day to day basis as they do get cold fronts off the Antarctic as well as the Atlantic. From my observations of what is growing well in Capetown, I would say the climate is most similar to San Diego in general, but with more winter rains, and 80F is not a typical long term average daily high in winter there. I visited over a 6 week period in the Western Cape in August/September, and the weather was very much like what we get here in the SF Bay Area in mid to late spring. You needed a jacket on many days, there was typically driving windy days alternating with warmer ones, and there was snow on the mountains in back of Capetown above 5000 foot elevation, although it didn't last for more than a week at a time. Even the subtropical parts of coastal eastern South Africa can also get the occasional frost, and has, so don't believe that it never gets down to freezing along the coast from perhaps Port Elizabeth west to Capetown. As you get to Durban and points east/north, it is distinctly subtropical with no frost, unless you get inland and up into the mountains. Not really safe to generalize about South Africa unless you live there or look up the climate records... And Capetown does get their local equivalent of Santa Ana winds which result from compressed, heated air descending from the interior mountainous plateau when they get offshore wind conditions. The hot drying winds or the cold onshore winds can be really hard on gardens in Capetown, and large leafed tropicals that need lots of water fair poorly there in such events, and water is costly to provide.

Hi, Just to give an update on my planting plan -- after extensive research, considering factors like cold tolerance, taste, oil content, A/B type for pollination, and fruiting months, I have formed a tentative plan to plant: 1 Stewart 1 Mexicola Grande 1 Brodgen 1 Lula 1 Fuerte By the data I collected this combo of trees can give me almost year round fruits. I will plant them in a cluster, about 20' from each other. I plan to also build a simple greenhouse during winter months for the young trees. Fuerte supposedly can tolerate only low as 28F, but I want to take a chance on that one due to the good taste. I think I have all bases covered. Thanks for the tips and any additional advice is of course appreciated.