Dan Allen

Moosage sent

Abutilon theophrasti, more commonly known as velevet leaf.

I agree with Greg, either asimina tetramera or asimina obovata.  There are at least five dwarf pawpaw specifies native to Florida, and I would say that is definitely one of them. Thats about as big as they get. The vast bulk of the tree is underground, it consists of a giant swollen taproot that goes down at least 6 feet. All the florida pawapaw other than triloba have whitish yellow flowers. They are also becoming quite rare due to development.

Its a persimmon. Good find.

I personally don't believe in spraying, organic sprays or otherwise.  I have not had any significant problems with pests. Where my trees are there are deafening hordes of frogs and toads that come out at night and take care of the bugs. I grew beautiful unblemished peaches and plums. The biggest problem with insects I've had is fire ants, and I've found that the old trick of taking a shovel of ants from one hill and adding it to another takes care of them when they are where I dont want them. They fight until they wipe each other out. I have had aphids, but they seem to be more attracted to cowpeas than my trees, and when they showed up, the lady bugs followed. That said I wouldn't plant an orchard of just peaches or just apples, as that would create a buffet for the bugs that like them, I just mix them in to my food forest. I place all the temperate trees on the north side of the property to intercept the north wind, to help them get their chill.

Jason Walter wrote:

Dan Allen wrote:No protection
Apples, anna, dorsett golden, tropic sweet, eine sheimer
Plums, chickasaw, guthrie and odom, gulf series
Native black cherry
Mulberries, common figs, che
Asian and american persimmons
Rabbiteye blueberries, southern highbush blueberries
Mysore raspberry, most blackberries
Peaches, florida king/prince, tropic series, Sam Houston
Avocadoes del Rio, gainesville, opal, lila, mexicola grande
Pecan, dunstan chestnut
Feijoa
Orinoco, ice cream banana
Kumquats, loquats, calamondin, Satsuma mandarin, dancy tangerine
Ugni
Green tea, yaupon holly for caffeine
Paw paw
Pomegranate, hardy kiwi, fuzzy kiwi vincent and tomuri
Jelly palm
Koroneiki and arbequina olives
And more

Marginal without protection, will require protection for the random arctic blast, most years would be fine with maybe slight damage to mature trees
Lychee, longan, jaboticaba, macadamia, pineapple, surinam cherry, papaya, ambarella, white sapote, oranges, lemons, cattley guava, passionfruit, mango

However with hardiness zones shifting north, by the time these trees are mature they might not need any protection other than the rare freak cold event. Also, canopy counts for protection. Live oak and cabbage palm canopy can give a few degrees up to 10 degrees of warmer temps on a cold night, depending on whether its radiational or adjective cooling. Kind of a living greenhouse. Even a lone cabbage palm will be warmer directly under the fronds on the south side of the trunk on a radiational cooling night.

Hello Dan, do you live in 9A?

Are these trees that you have planted and had success with yourself?

How do I find these specific varieties....for instance I would love to have the plum tree. You mention chickasaw, guthrie and odom, gulf series, Im guessing these are the varieties that you know work?

I call local nurseries ect and have asked for specific varieties of plants but I have yet  to find a nursery that knows or seems to care what its selling, they seem to have nice plants and they are well established nurseries but they just simply do not know and sometimes seem as if they dont care either way. Any suggestions?

I type Florida native black cherry and I get zero results, can you further identify?

I already have 3 loquats, you say no protection? I believe my property can get down into the mid or low twenties every now and again. Not sure what the loquats will handle, has your experience shown no protection needed for this tree?

You have a list for marginal, Ill save my comments until I understand better your experience with these trees mentioned above. Thanks very much

I do have all the trees with the exception of che, asian persimmon, mysore raspberry, dunstan chestnut, ugni, yaupon holly, jelly palm and koroneiki olive, flordahome pear, einsheimer apple, tropic sweet apple. I have the florida king peach and the sam houston and many seedling peaches. The florida king peach and the chickasw plum had ripe fruit for me in early April, and the two apples flowered but did not fruit yet. I am not in 9a, my property is at the border of 10a much farther south than Brandon but about 40 miles inland. I also have many more like coffee, jackfruit, sapodilla, mamey, sugar apple, acerola, grumichama, lilly pilly, cherry of the rio grande, coconut etc. Loquats are not tropical they can handle down to the low teens. The guthrie and odom are selected varieties of chikasaw plums that pollinate with each other. Mail order natives carries them. The dunstan chestnut you can get from chestnut Hill tree farm, and the olives can be purchased from A natural farm in howey in the hills. The native black cherry is prunus serotina and grows down through Central Florida in hammocks. The chikasaw plum grows native all the way down the ridge. I have a similar project going on but in a remote, wild area, same beach sand soil, but more like the edge of the everglades than high and dry. A good source for low temp tolerance of fruit trees in florida is growables.com.

Also flordahome pear would do good

No protection
Apples, anna, dorsett golden, tropic sweet, eine sheimer
Plums, chickasaw, guthrie and odom, gulf series
Native black cherry
Mulberries, common figs, che
Asian and american persimmons
Rabbiteye blueberries, southern highbush blueberries
Mysore raspberry, most blackberries
Peaches, florida king/prince, tropic series, Sam Houston
Avocadoes del Rio, gainesville, opal, lila, mexicola grande
Pecan, dunstan chestnut
Feijoa
Orinoco, ice cream banana
Kumquats, loquats, calamondin, Satsuma mandarin, dancy tangerine
Ugni
Green tea, yaupon holly for caffeine
Paw paw
Pomegranate, hardy kiwi, fuzzy kiwi vincent and tomuri
Jelly palm
Koroneiki and arbequina olives
And more

Marginal without protection, will require protection for the random arctic blast, most years would be fine with maybe slight damage to mature trees
Lychee, longan, jaboticaba, macadamia, pineapple, surinam cherry, papaya, ambarella, white sapote, oranges, lemons, cattley guava, passionfruit, mango

However with hardiness zones shifting north, by the time these trees are mature they might not need any protection other than the rare freak cold event. Also, canopy counts for protection. Live oak and cabbage palm canopy can give a few degrees up to 10 degrees of warmer temps on a cold night, depending on whether its radiational or adjective cooling. Kind of a living greenhouse. Even a lone cabbage palm will be warmer directly under the fronds on the south side of the trunk on a radiational cooling night.

Another great native nitrogen fixer that requires zero inputs is the native wax myrtle.

The plant is sun hemp.