I don't think an evergreen is going to be a complete dormant in a northern garden, so that is kind of a tough one to compare. I grow a few evergreens, and while they look mostly dormant, they have never gone completely dormant. Some of them just learn to deal with the cold and snow, and get mushy, but still have some green on them. Not sure about dormants in a southern garden, but all of my dormants have gone completely dormant, as they should. Scape strength would be a harder one to stick on a plant for me, since I've seen a huge difference, depending on where they were growing. For the most part, the scapes that were strong in Utah have remained just as strong in Idaho. The ones that were weak in Utah are now strong in Idaho. I was in zone 5a there, and 7a here, so I know that made the difference. My way of growing them, as far as fertilizing and watering, are exactly the same, so the only difference I can see is that being warmer is better for the ones that I have. That doesn't mean it works that way for all of them though.
