Well, this is the Citrus forum, so we can give you guidance on your navel orange, but for your pomegranate and your avocado, I suggest you post your questions over on the Tropical Fruits forum for those two cultivars. You haven't told us if you plan on planting these trees in the ground or in containers, bringing them indoors, or outdoors year 'round? If outdoors, you will need to protect your orange and avocado from freezes, so you may need to cover them with frost cloth, making sure it is suspended away from the tree (a pvc frame works well), and then the cloth must go all the way down to the ground, and secured well with bricks or rocks, so it is sealed at the ground to contain the warmer air. Some folks will even string mini Christmas lights (the old fashioned kind, not LED lights) on the tree to increase the heat under the frost cover). I suspect you're right on the border to grow avocados, which, depending of the cultivar, are more frost sensitive than citrus. Make sure you've got your citrus tree planted so you can water in a basin that is as large as the tree's canopy or a bit beyond, with water draining away from the trunk. You can start fertilizing in spring, when all chance of frost are over, and fertilize 4 times a year with an appropriate fertilizer formulated for citrus (higher in nitrogen with micronutrients, which is also suitable for your avocado). I would contact your local ag agency or local Master Gardener's chapter for timing on fertilizing, especially in the late summer, as you don't want to fertilize too late and encourage a late flush that might be damaged if temps drop. And, ask about what bugs or insects are issues in your area, and how to treat accordingly. For me in California, I have issues with snails that I treat with either Deadline (outside my yard, away from my dogs), or Sluggo (where my dogs roam), and Citrus Leafminer, which I treat with either Imidacloprid (Bayer Advanced Fruit & Vegetable Insect Control) twice a year, once in late June, and then again, in late August/early September. I don't really have any other issues, with the exception of spider mites in the later summer on occasion, which I just treat by hosing my trees off really well, and if it is one of my smaller, younger trees, or container trees, spray with an insecticidal soap product. For you, however, you may have different insects in your neck of the woods. And, your ag agent or Master Gardeners can tell you what those are.

Patty S.

Did you check to be sure the avocado you ordered will do well in your climate, and that it doesn't need a second variety for a pollinator? Many do. They get to be really large trees, too. The pom will do fine. A problem I'm having is that the fruit are great looking for a while, then rot on the tree without ripening. Best solution I've heard for that is someone told me to spray with neem oil after they bloom, so I'll try that next year. It seems to be some sort of rot carried by an insect, maybe?

I'm in Houston, similar parallel, and the ones you got all do well here in the ground, and can take the freezes once they're established. Keep them in pots until spring, and move indoors if you have a hard freeze. A few years ago, in two Januarys in a row, we had really hard freezes, with temps into the 20's for a week each time, and some snow and frost. I protected my citrus since they were pretty small, but the people behind me have an orange tree and a lemon, too large to protect, and they were just fine. My lemon was, too. It surprised me that they could take that much freezing cold. I didn't see any citrus in my area that were damaged by the freezes.

First thing is get your own maximum/minimum thermometer; if you are relying on the local television or weather station reports, you could be as much as 10F or more warmer due to microclimates, reflected heat from buildings or concrete, etc. The biggest worry is prolonged cold that cools all of those surfaces. In commercial citrus they run sprinklers from well water during the night freezes; most well water is around 60F, plus, when water freezes it give off heat. In the "olden days" people used orchard heaters and wind machines; but neither does the work of sprinklers.