Hi Manny,
Well you have an interesting collection of plants going there.
By my experience, it is too early to know what has made it. You have to wait and see if the new growth is supported.

This year I tried hardy banana and a couple of standing cypress seedlings. Can't tell if they made it or not. Although the standing cypress has green leaves on it, it looks droopy at the base and I suspect I will have nothing from it. I also left my spanish lavender outside this year and it seems to still be alive. If it does, I will get more. I love the flowers.

If you find a source of Edgeworthia with orange flowers,'Rubrum' or 'Dragon Lady', let me know. I have been making an effort to get as much Winter color as possible.
I am definitely interested in getting the O. fragrans with the yellow or orange flowers for its evergreen nature. I am in Zone 7, so the plants you are concerned about should do okay here, if they survive with you. Pushing the limits, like you do, makes your gardening just that more interesting to you and others. Keep us posted.

Loretta:
Yes, you are right; until new growth begins one cannot know whether the plant will make it. I am not that impressed with gardenias (in my garden) so if they go I will just have room for something else.

bogturtle:
I have O. fragrans aurantiacus the orange flowered form. They only flower after many years. We shall see. If you are interested in winter color, you should try hamamelis. My Jelena blooms from Jan to March (a bit over 2 months). The plant is quite small and spreading so it does not make a big show (yet?).

Pontesmanny,
I was curious as to which camellias you have and how they fared now that it is spring.
What else do you have blooming through late fall to early spring?

Sheila

Camellias came through unscathed although the weather was not good for japonicas. My best this year is Kumasaka which is a late bloomer. Rosa Knockout blooms until frost and I have a hamamellias xintermedia Jelena that blooms from mid Jan to early March

Illicium 'Woodland Ruby' and I. mexicana came through their second winter with only slight leafburn in a non-sheltered location. Manglietia insignis, Parakmeria, Choisya ternata (green & 'Sundance') had only moderate leafburn. Choisya 'Aztec Pearl' was undamaged. choisyas are ready to bear their fragrant white flowers. Edgeworthia papyrifera flowered profusely. Cyrilla arida and C. 'Small leaf' were burned with some dieback. Green Loropetalum chinense had about 50% burn and the bronze/purple forms were (as usual) 90% burned with minor tip dieback. Even the less hardy Loropetalums flower and increase in size each year. Cornus kousa angustata had it's usual foliage burn at around 10. Green and variegated Ternstroemia is in good condition. Daphne odora in several spots had some burn and partial flowering Ilex buergeri had only partial leafburn-better than when I used to protect it.

I got Sweet Olive Osmanthus fragrans from Monrovia near Princeton, NJ. Sale's personals there said they have experience of growing them in NJ but according to the InfoLbel attached to the trees, USDA cold hardiness zones required is 8-11. My question is if there is anyone out there who have successfully had Osmanthus fragrans survived winter? pontesmanny, how are your Osmanthus fragrans doing now?

My Osmanthus has not bloomed but it has kept on growing. They will probably grow in a greenhouse just fine.

pontesmanny

Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus grows slowly, but has survived lower single digits about 8' from the SE side of the house.

Osmathus fragrans thunbergii had been in bloom in it's second Fall here, since late September. This is zone 7, and it is protected from morning sun, so it has shown no leaf burn. My Edgeworthia has it's second crop of buds, being in it's second Fall here, but the first here were blasted by last February's cold, having got that far. The Cyrilla's never have bloomed and showed severe leaf damage, but have re-leafed out to face another Winter.

Cyrilla is tardily deciduous. One of mine flowers. 'Graniteville' has not.

Edgeworthia bloomed last year - just two buds though (although very slight fragrance). This year there are four. Cyrilla has never bloomed but it is relatively small.

pontesmanny