Here's my winter progression. Paasionfruit fence is completely full. Bananas grew about 15-20 ft tall but got hit by frost so they're ragged right now. I put some big attenuata in my front planter in place of the hibiscus. I cut down my maple tree and am prepping the soil for a mango in its place.
Here's an end of summer pic of the yard, followed by the current state.
I'm removing all of my rock on my dog's side yard. I'm going to prep the soil and add mangoes here. The protection from the house and the block wall provides it nearly frost free conditions. It's the warmest part of the yard. So far nothing has been lost in winter. I even have a jackfruit seedling that survived a 28 degree night that was planted around August.
Name: Mike Hazel Crest, IL (Zone 6a) "Have no patience for bare ground"
Tim your hard work has paid off. The banana will bounce back. Just cut it back. New shoots should be coming up. They were taller than the house. WOW! Around here they get to about six feet before frost and winter come to claim them if they are not over wintered in a warm place. Around here the Ensete (Santa Rosa Gardens) grows much faster than the banana. It complements the banana. Looking forward to your 2019 updates. P.S. you are perfectly normal Keep inspiring us!
Winte results are in! Bananas almost all got frost damage on their leaves, which is to be expected. They're pushing new growth already and on their way to looking good again. Peach flowered and is holding a good bit of fruit. Pruned citrus, loaded with flower buds. All avocados suffered no damage. Little cado actively grew through the entire winter. All mangoes survived with almost no damage with some covering. Seedling even looks good as new. Planted a Valencia pride that I had in a pot outdoors all winter in January, no transplant shock and got through the frosts just fine. It's flowering now! My neighbor wanted to get rid of two dwarf oranges, so I added them to my yard. They were transplanted without too much roots, so I've been worried. One has some leaf curl which I think might be due to a combination of excess water and some overspray of foliage feeding I did a couple days ago. Hopefully it pulls through fine. Passion fruit gave me 3 delicious fruits yesterday, extremely sweet! Only a few most exposed leaves suffered a tiny bit of frost damage, but otherwise still looks great. Added a lemon guava in my backyard from Home Depot, it's holding a bunch of fruit and flowers and looks great. Dragon fruit suffered almost no damage under the canopy of the queen palms.
Thanks for the previous comments, i appreciate them all!
