Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Plants and Gardens #120, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Good plan, Alice!

Czp, your handle is appropriate to your question. You're at least one climate zone colder than I am, so I really don't know how mango trees do in your area. Here's my experience: The two cold winters we had, 2009-10 and 2010-11 my tree did freeze some blooms, and I definitely had smaller crops of fruit. But I still got fruit. I did try to cover parts of the tree with cloth a couple of cold nights, but it was too hard to get it to stay in place. My tree is pretty big, probably 16ft. tall and wide. So, while your tree is small, you could cover it on cold nights to help keep the blooms from freezing.

What I'd do if I lived there is walk around the neighborhood (and watch when you drive) for mango trees with fruit in the next few weeks. Find out if you can what variety does best in your area. A good nursery (not Lowe's or HD or WalMart . .. . a REAL nursery) should be able to tell you, or ask somebody who had a loaded tree if you get the chance. Mangoes are native to India and SE Asia, so they are pretty tender trees, but there are hybrids that have been bred to stand colder temps better.

Then, when you plant the tree, choose the most sheltered location for it that you can. South side of a house is great. Even the south side of another large tree like an oak will protect it somewhat from cold winds in winter. (but don't plant it too close to an oak, you don't want it to have to compete with oak tree roots).

No question, I would give it a try, but do your homework first, find a good variety and see if you have a warm, sheltered place for it, too. Even if you don't get fruit, mango is a very pretty, easy care tree.

The worst thing about them is trying to protect your wonderful fruit when it starts to ripen. Here's the owl DJ by the mango disco. The colored leaves are new growth, it comes out a sort of pinkish color then turns dark green as it matures.

This message was edited Jun 4, 2012 6:39 PM