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Tejocote, cold tolerance and more

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BloomAndSprout:
In the fall I picked up two Tejocote (Craeteagus mexicana) from Wanderlust Nursery; among other things, I intend to try to cross this with medlar to see what kind of result I would get.  (Thank you SO much wanderlust, you released these right when I was really wanting them and asking about them on this forum! But no one else was selling!) Does anyone have experience with these?  What is their cold tolerance?  I would assume, based on the family it's in and its genus/being a hawthorn, it would be at least cold hardy to 6b; sources online are inconsistent and Wanderlust Nursery states 7b, which is normally fine except for the freak winter storms we get that seem to be more common yearly.  I assume my location in Arkansas, 7b, should suffice, but I'd like some more thoughts before I plant one as I could leave both in pots.

How does the fruit compare/contrast with other hawthorns?

In my non-expert opinion, the Rosaceae family has a lot of unexplored potential for crossbreeding, I am probably the only person on this forum to have a Stern's medlar (mysterious hawthorn/medlar hybrid discovered in Arkansas with unclear parentage and origin, probably sterile; not obtainable online and only from one nursery in the middle of nowhere that no longer ships... unless a botanical garden with one helps you out) which is so rare and uncommon that there's no published comparison of its taste to regular medlar. This plant apparently produces a red pome instead of the bark-brown of the standard. Ergo, I think there's fun to be had with crossbreeding these and see what I get.

vnomonee:
I tasted this fruit back in November, found some at a Hispanic grocery store. The fruit is creamy like a guava, but more dense. Reminds me more of a quince than a Hawthorne (I've tried candied Chinese Hawthorne "tangulu" the bigger red fruit variety and that was "better" flavor wise). I wouldn't eat these tejocote raw again but I cooked the fruit in a syrup which softened them and improved the flavor. It has a "festive" taste, I can see these being used to make a mulled cider type of beverage.

I planted all of the seeds outside, I am in zone 7a so we'll see what pops up in the spring. I'm going to test the hardiness, I read they are hardy to 5f but I feel like these should be hardier.

BloomAndSprout:
Yeah, I know right?  They really feel like they should be hardier than advertised. The plant looks like a typical Craetaegus. Maybe they are.  These nurseries all really guess at the cold hardiness of many of these plants...

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