Not sure, but some people have good results growing JWP here. Several club members have maintained them for decades. I have killed every JWP I owned, except this one. As much as I like them, I’m not willing to gamble on another.
That’s a shame, Brian. I have about a dozen here in NE Georgia. I do have a higher elevation than you, so that could make a difference.
One thing I have noticed, the trees that are blue when purchased turn more green in my care. Some still stay “blue-ish”, but some have changed completely green. I don’t know if it’s the water, the climate, what I do (or don’t) fertilize with or what. The Kokonoe that struggled at Boon’s and stayed a very stress pale green/yellow has lush dark green foliage here.
So, back when I first started teaching at Plant City, I used to advocate avoiding JWP, in favor of JBP. But now, I heartedly recommend JWP to people living up here north of Atlanta.
One thing I think has helped a lot is the dryer soil mix. I also advocate using Boon Mix for all trees, especially pines. Whereas in the past, people used a mix based upon pine bark. I think the bark based mixes kept the soil too wet for pines. My personal soil mix is Clay King with additional pumice added in (25%).