Hi Harvey,
I don't mind at all. Mine are pretty tall now at around twelve feet at the top of the p-stem, and I expect that they would flower this year. None have flowered for me yet, and the oldest ones have been in the ground since June, 2010. From what I read somewhere, the Tanee makes large-seeded inedible fruit, but I can't confirm that yet obviously. I've been pulling pups and large ones off the mats to sell, and so my mats look pretty sparse right now. The wind shreds the leaves badly here. I think someone needs to hybridize a dwarf one of these so that they can be protected from the wind.
I'm glad to hear that yours survived the winter in Zone 9b. Did you have to use any overhead protection? I have a couple people who bought from me who are in Zone 9b and who would be grateful to know how you did it.
This is a recent picture of my mats (please excuse the mess):
Here are two that I sold last week:
Here's another one that I sold the other day:
I do have an AeAe that will probably flower this year. This is a picture of it last June, but it is much taller now with pups coming in:
