Planted with some overhead protection, you will be amazed at how well they do. I have had several different types of p. edulis do exceedingly well for me......they usually live 3-4 years before some sort of root rot kills them for me. I've had purple possum, black knight, and a frederick....the frederick is much more cold sensitive. Jene's tropicals sells purple possum and will send you a good sized plant. I was accustomed to getting 100 to 120 fruit a year off of each plant. If you can keep your vine out of the wind with some overhead canopy ( but still getting 6= hours of sun) you'll soon find yourself loaded with fruit. BTW, I am 130 miles NORTH of you in Coastal Chatham County, Georgia, 10 miles east of Savannah and only 6 miles south of South Carolina as the crow flies.

Thank you so much! I used to live in that area and it is surprisingly mild there. I need to stop by Jene's next time I'm in the tampa area. Thanks again...

I'm growing both P. edulis 'Nancy Garrison' and 'Frederick'. We hit 26 or 27 last winter. Neither is in a particularly protected area. I threw some plastic over Frederick during our cold night/morning, but it was probably a little too late. This was a plant in a pot, and the major growing tip was fried. After a few other problems--snails, squirrels, etc. the plant was in bad shape but now it looks great, although set back quite a bit.

'Nancy Garrison' suffered little damage--none to the growing points, possible minor damage to the oldest leaves, but I'm not sure. Regardless, it didn't slow it down. I bought the plant last summer in a 4 inch pot from Grassy Knoll and it now has about 50 fruits.

'Nancy Garrison' is supposed to be one of the hardiest cultivars, although there seems to be some disagreement out there--but it's known there are some incorrectly labeled clones out there that are not 'Nancy Garrison'.

1990 had by far the coldest weather in California in recent memory--it generally got about 20 F in the South Bay. Apparently 'Nancy Garrison' died to the ground, recovered and fruited that year. I don't know if the plant in that story was Nancy's own--but I understand she does live in San Jose.

Here are the temperatures reported for San Jose over a period starting December 21st 1990 (high/low). These are at the airport, which is a little milder than most areas:

37/28
36/23
39/23
44/24
52/27
57/30
54/32
51/33
51/28
50/28
53/30
53/32

The parent of Nancy Garrison was apparently an old plant that had been growing for many years near an abandoned barn--so it was likely exposed to quite a bit of cold over the years. I have no idea where either of the two plants were grown, but we are generally zone 9b.

If you are interested in cuttings for postage let me know. Seeds are fun, and unlike a lot of plants should give you quality fruit. I assume they take a year or two longer than cuttings to bloom/fruit. A named variety guarantees that you get high quality fruit, and in this case probably an extra couple degrees of cold tolerance. I would say the cuttings are neither hard nor easy to root (although I did try in November or December--and I think I got 100%). Bottom heat helps a lot.