Who Survived The Winter

This is my second winter here in North Dakota and my first real experience with anxiously awaiting to see which trees and shrubs survived the winter.  Last spring/summer I planted 8 bare root apple trees:

• 2 Ashmead's Kernel
• 2 Lodi Apple
• 2 Red Gravenstein
• 2 Honeycrisp

Each varietal is supposed to survive/thrive in North Dakota (Zone 3).  Some I admittedly have more confidence in, like the Honeycrisp, which was created at the nearby University of Minnesota, but the others?  I'm pretty sure they'll be OK, but really I just don't know.

We're in the Red River valley in North Dakota.  Essentially the entire state is USDA Zone 3, but along the Red River on the Eastern edge of the state is a bubble of Zone 4 which follows the Red River the entire length of North Dakota.   Theoretically I should be able to plant a Zone 4 hardy tree and have it survive.

The fruiting shrubs I planted are also supposed to able to survive Zone 3 (Red Lake Currants/Ben Sarek Black Currants as well as handful of blueberry bushes).  It'll still be another couple of months before the snow and cold abate and tree buds begin to swell with the anticipation of spring, so I need to be patient.

I did everything I could to help, mulching heavily in autumn the shrubs and staking and wrapping the apple trees to guard against the wind (a serious issue here) and munching bunnies (also a fairly serious threat in the area).  Hopefully everything comes through unscathed and we're able to see apple and berry blossoms come spring.  Fingers crossed.