Suzi, I hope they work out. Tucson really isn't the right place for them, although my neighbor had a couple of huge Zutanos until last year, when he decided to cut them down (they were declining). Sounds like you're in Avocado heaven!
BLB, I'm not interested in battling beetles either (I keep trying, but for some fruits it's a lost cause). I hope there aren't any around here that eat avocados!
Gina, I knew there had to be a word for it, so I googled "snake phobia", and it sounded so esoteric I couldn't resist using it. Glad your case of it sounds particularly mild. When I was a kid my mom took a very dim view of my interest in snakes, and certainly had no desire to even touch one--but eventually she became quite fond of a pet kingsnake and reached the point that she even enjoyed holding it. You never know!
Ruben, that's certainly bad news! I hunted all over before settling on these, and they sounded like the perfect solution! I sure hope I have better luck, and maybe I will because it rarely even drops below 28F in my yard--but it can happen. I intend to use a trick I read about, where you plant them in a very deep hole and then gradually (over three years) raise the soil level until the graft is a few inches below grade. The idea is that if the tree does get killed in a hard freeze, when (and if) it resprouts, it will be from the grafted part. Sounds good anyway! Have you gotten any fruit from the Lula rootstock growth? If so, how is it?
I'll wait until spring to put them in the ground so they'll have a full season of growth before the cold weather hits. They'll be a few feet out from a south-facing wall, but it's free-standing (not part of the house) and won't hold much heat. Guess I'd better take advantage of your misfortune and rig up a cover and heat source for those cold nights--just in case.