George Stancliffe

Alcina posted:  "....Normally his trees are flowering by now. I do hope it's not terminal news...."

If he piled Wood Chips 12 inches high (or higher) around the base of his Avocado tree(s), he will likely save the tree from being killed altogether.  It will at least pop back up from the base.  

I did that to 3 Avocado trees that I planted outdoors last Summer and they all "survived" the winter, even though the tops died off.

--George

I live in Vancouver, Canada.  My friend eats lots of Avocados and tosses the seeds into the compost in his back yard.  Some of them sprout, but when Winter hits, they die.  Except that he has 2 baby Avocado trees that are now 3 years old that have survived their entire lives outdoors, unprotected in Burnaby, British Columbia, CANADA.  It has reached -8°C (18°F) a few times in the past 3 years.

over 90% of all Avocados sold in Canada are of the Hass variety (which is 61% Mexican and 39% Guatemalan).  So, if you simply plant all the Hass seeds that you get in the supermarket, you'll end up with A FEW Cold-Hardy Avocado trees.  Probably 3% to 7% of them will be cold tolerant.  So be sure to plant 20 seeds or more to ensure that one will survive the first winter.

Here is an article on  a strategy that you may find useful for growing your own Avocado trees:

https://georgestancliffe.medium.com/the-b-c-avocado-project-670ed22a74d7