Don's climate seems more like mine and since I live at the terminus of the Erie Canal (some of the locks are still there on the outside of town) I reckon we have pretty close weather. I had Rose of Sharon when I moved here 25 years ago. I shaped it like a tree. The only problem I had was it was all the time making seedlings in areas I wanted something else to grow. What I didn't image when I started this is all the different climes. EJ is up there in the mountains at 8000 feet. I don't know what grows at that height besides maybe edelweiss. Since Koi are a variation of carp I would reckon they'd do well there too. They do well here in my computer room. I bought a plastic concrete hod, a small pump and went into the forest fetching rocks to put in it and to surround it. Then I put house plants around it. Looks good and I love the sound of the flowing water. One drawback. Makes me want to use the bathroom a lot.