Well, that certainly sounds encouraging
However USDA zones don't translate well to our conditions, so there are a few pitfalls. The usual advice is to deduct one or two zones depending on the plant in question, but really there isn't many similarities in weather. Sometimes I think about removing the USDA zone from my profile as it could potentially be very misleading, although it technically is correct. We do have a coastal climate and our summers are cooler and shorter than in the US, and this affects the maturation process of many plants and therefore winter hardiness. Also our winters are probably longer than what you perhaps would expect from an USDA zone 7b. First frost can happen in September occasionally, and for instance a few years ago we where frozen solid from the middle of November to the middle of April. Frost free depth is more than three feet, granted this doesn't happen every year. Add to this the moisture as this is a coastal climate. Moisture during winter is a real and actual problem here for some plants. But, I'm not saying that this wouldn't work and I really appreciate the encouragement
This is a link (in English) to a very experienced grower in our neighbouring country Denmark and he lives slightly north of me, but still in a slightly warmer USDA zone.
http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/Har...
And direct link to specific hardiness data on many species and cultivars here:
http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/Har...
It does look like rain cover is a good idea here, based on what he and other says, but this is only because our climate is so different from most part of the US. I do have a very sandy soil, with 25 feet of pure sand so this is to my advantage and I also have very tall pine trees that suck the moisture out of the soil as well and possibly being able to add natural rain protection. Perhaps if I made a raised bed close by...
If I do try, I might put them in pots at first and letting them spend the winter dry in our unheated greenhouse and try some outside in the winter at a later time. I will absolutely keep you posted if I do any of this and I have already scouted out a few vendors in Germany as these can be a bit hard to obtain here in Sweden, at least from commercial sources.
