This seller has some figs I am thinking of getting
http://stores.ebay.com/Wellspr.....ng-Gardens
Varieties are: Magnolia, Tainung, Black Mission, Ischia, and Texas Everbearing. Does anyone have experience with them or have opinions?
You can get no more dependable than one called Desert King. Magnolia is good, but has an open 'eye' and they will mould on you on the first rain, plus ants like to crawl in and out the eye.
If you are starting out, get Desert King first.
I learned that it is best to get starts and cuttings from people who already know what works well in the NW. All figs do not perform equally here. You have to go to central and sourthern California for that luxury.
Thank you PlumFun!
I kinda knew what you were saying... sorta kinda. lol
They have all probably been tried here one time or another. I did come from San Diego and did have a small nursery of sorts out of my crazy yard. My total count of fig varieties there was 11 and my total count of banana varieties was 13 (but this included 2 totally ornamental ones). My all time fav fig is Kadota and my second all time fav banana that will hopefully grow here is Ice Cream/Blue Java.
San Diego is surprisingly cool and moderated temp. and my best luck with figs was growing them in 3 or 5 gal black nursery containers & allowing them to root into the ground deliberately. Indeed, some of them had extra holes punched into them along bottom. The sun on the pots helped to warm them up. This trick would also likely work well here.
I have replied to my own posting just now about bananas & 25 trees in downtown Beav. I offered to exchange for plant material including fig and kiwi and most easily contacted at rickitikkitavi@gmail.com and depending on what you have to exchange... you can get one of my totally outdoors hardy bananas with purple flush under leaves.
You are touching on one of my main weaknesses: That of red and purple leafed plants!
My leeks are purple leafed. My lettuce is solid dark red Romaine, My kale is red/black, my cabbage is of the red variety, I favor edible plums with dark red foliage (they have a good percentage of Myro in them), even red-leaf apples.
Unfortunately, no red leaf figs! They don't come that way to my knowledge.
Kadota works real good in the NW as well. I recommend that one, especially for drying.
Several years ago I aquired a Danny's Delight fig off the internet. The lore says that it was discovered in Michigan. It is always in a hurry to fruit, and lots of them. Seems there are two cultivars floating around, one that never fruits, and one that fruits the second year in the PNW. I have the latter.
Thanks for the tip on letting the pots root to the ground. Now it seems intuitive after you said it!
I have trialed around 50 fig cultivars in the ground here in the PNW, and most perform dismally. There are really only a handful that perform very well, depending on how much heat and light they can get. I have seen figs perform beautifully in Corvallis when receiving reflected heat from pavement in a city environment. I have no pavement or sidewalks, so I need to pick the kinds that truely work for me in a non-city environment.
Purple leaf bannana you say? 
So PlumFun, what other fig varieties besides Desert King would you recommend for the northern Willamette Valley?
I'm currently having a bumper crop on Desert King and Latarulla. My (Verne's) Brown Turkey is, as usual, dropping most of its fruits. Although it still has more figs than usual. Last Fall I spread a generous dose of dolomite lime and gypsum around my fig trees. This year is by far the best fig set I've ever had. Is it possible I actually did the right thing with the liming? 
Or just coincidence? 
Tim, I had forgotten the Verns Brown Turkey. A man I know here grows it against a shed wall, south facing. It sets and sweetens fruit into the cool fall weather better than Negronne, for instance. For him it sets a double crop. I took a cutting from him several years ago, and this summer will be its first breba crop, and hopefully a crop after that. They are white inside and burgandy outside.
White Russian did the same cool-weather ripening one year only, then it refused to fruit in succeeding years, so it came out. Fine for southern Cal, though.
I had something called Golden Italian, which I understand is equivalent to Lattarula, and it did make massive large figs here in Willamette Valley, size of tennis balls, but they would never sweeten up in time before cool weather hit. So it came out. Worked very well in southern Cal, though, which is where I brought it from. I supposedly got it from the very lady that received the smuggled cutting decades ago, from an Italian national who snuck it in via cigarrete package. That was the history she gave me, and she was a nursery owner.
Calcium in the PNW is always a good option. If you wind up putting too much on, likely the next winters 40 inches of acidic rain will leach out the excess anyway.
Chicago Hardy seems to be another winner in the valley. Still observing that one, but seems to ripen fruit into the cool weather.
Pretty hard to beat Desert King for a reliable, stand-alone fig factory!
[quote="plumfun":2lef3yuv]You are touching on one of my main weaknesses: That of red and purple leafed plants! ... Purple leaf banana you say? [/quote:2lef3yuv]
Purple leaved plants are a fav of mine too PlumFun! I left my perfectly good dark purple raddico all winter and let it go to seed now cuz it was so attractive. I will be 'calving' the purple flush hardy banana soon - and a friend wants to help me youtube this exercise.
You have helped me see the light and holding off on getting figs until I can trade with other members. Spent my 'dirt money' on 11 plus bananas etc. to try instead. I will be posting a separate thing about the bananas soon.
Do you come to the PDX / Beaverton area much? My signature now has my email for easy contact I also have 7 plum trees that were grafted for me at Scionwood exchange a few years ago.
You may want to model your purple raddicio after my red lettuce breeding experiments. I simply let many nice plants of it go to seed last summer. Seeds everywhere. Come the fall rains, thousands of little buggers start growing. Come the wintry months and hard freezes, most of them died off. By the time I got around to transplanting some remaining survivors into a straight row, there was only perhaps 30 or 40 individuals who managed to come through all that. Those particular ones will be the basis of this summers seed production. If this keeps up, I might hit on a kind of lettuce that can survive whatever winter throws at it!
Anyway, let some of your better individuals self seed.
[quote="plumfun":3udetd7g]You may want to model your purple raddicio after my red lettuce breeding experiments...Anyway, let some of your better individuals self seed.[/quote:3udetd7g]
You continue to impress me. lol Anyhoot - done this before esp for Monarch Butterfly Colonies with Asclepias tuberosa. I have been told that Monarchs are native here and will establish if there is milkweed avail. Wanna choose the right butterfly weed for Oregon tho. There is a PURPLE native but kinda invasive - Asclepias speciosa. There are several other way cool PURPLE milkweeds offered by
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Everwilde-F ... QQ_armrsZ1
but their stuff is organized by color. Best to use the search for Asclepias to zero in on the intended targets 
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It was great fun hunting for the chrysalis's of Monarchs and taking them up to our penthouse porch to watch them develop. The are clear and start out with 'green goop' and watching the wings etc. in black and orange develop is hard to describe. There are these incredible GOLD DOTS on them too. Some 'Creationists' could use this example to prove that there is a God designing things - but I happen to be more of a Darwinist myself.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=monarch+chrysalis
The caterpillars are way cool with horns and eat ONLY the milkweed. We would hand carry them to another plant that still had some leaves on them... We also offered them to the San Diego public schools for classes and they kept asking for more.
On another subj - I want the 'quick and dirty' of how to have photos in my postings. Can I use picassa? That is the main holdup for my Banana 'Treatise de Cuna'
Rickitikkitavi – welcome aboard! Great banter!! …up in the foothills of the coast range, about 30 miles west of you, I’ve got five mature Desert King’s and two ‘Brown Turkey’s.’ Though both attempt a second crop, they never come close to ripening them -- so I’ll snap them off while harvesting (the first crop) and allow ‘that’ energy to stay inside the plant.
Both are extremely productive and consistent, and the deer won’t touch them! In fact, I’ve never noticed any disease or insect damage in the …19 years I’ve had my oldest. Though I lost some of my earliest attempts at several other varieties back in the 80’s, we’ve not had any 5 and 6 degree lows since then either~
I’m enjoying you guy’s banter so much … I’ve little to add… except: keep in mind, a potted plant will freeze from the ‘sides in’ as well as the ‘top down’ around here. In San Diego you were safe to leave your figs potted… but up here, at least plan on insolating them in some way during the winter months. I’ve actually hand-trucked some potted youngins to ‘holes’ in the garden then ‘planted them’ in for winter… then piled sawdust over them for good measure. Everything’s now free-rooted in the ground.
I’ve started and given away so many of these two varieties of fig I’m ‘known locally’ as a fig-pusher… This spring I planted around 10 cuttings of Brown Turkey and 20 of Desert king, I seem to get an 80% survival rate with basically sloppy care. More people should grow figs! …and as far as those I’d ‘pushed’ on others – they’re getting rave reviews!!
And Plumfun – do you (either of you) have a ‘red filbert?’ …for guy’s as crazy as you I might be convinced to dig a start or two. It’s from the same passed friend, Helen Webb (of Yamhill) who gave me the (best!) Brown Turkey figs… Helen had quite a menagerie! I once arranged an HOS tour of both her place and mine… even some of our old-timers were blown away at her collection of plants. Anyway, though I’ve never noticed any ‘filberts,’ she said they’re red! …The Blue Jay’s get our native hazels …and likely any nuts this (neglected) bush has ever produced. But I just love its red leaves, too!
And speaking of RED (my favorite color), I’ve a few pristine (scion) sticks of the most vivid ‘red crab apple’ I’ve ever seen -- still in the fridge… I’d grafted one on this spring … after ‘promising myself’ I’d stop adding additional varieties to my trees 
It’s from a friends place who spares no expense collecting the most unusual… but she’s forgot it’s name! Its fruit were full-sized apples, same size and shape as a Red Delicious; and of course, Red inside! And get this, I carve walking sticks, and took home a couple ‘up-rights’ I’d pruned for her - and under the skin they were the most vivid red! Beautiful – until they dried… and now look ‘just’ the same as some other apple wood sticks.
Hey – keep it up!
Hey Viron,
Is the red apple good eating? I couldn't tell if it was a crabapple or a full sized apple you were growing. Does it have pink flowers? Mine do. I'm trying to grow Maypole Spire from Nick Bottner. SO far so good. He said this was the only red inside crabapple that was good eating and relatively disease free. He said that most red fleshed crabapples are disease prone. Is this your experience? I love the pink blossoms. Mine is grafted onto flowering quince stock. THe others are shy to grow and one was outgrown by its aronia rootstock. I don't have acres and acres like you so I've got to be more careful about space.
John S
PDX OR
[quote="Viron":1audjd7v]Rickitikkitavi – welcome aboard! Great banter!! … Hey – keep it up![/quote:1audjd7v]
Thx!
Regarding me with an audience - I am reminded of a fav Sat Nite Live personality here... and Viron - Always Remember Doc! You ASKED for it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Katherine_Gallagher
Mary Katherine is a sardonic caricature of an unpopular, teen Catholic school girl. She is prone to comically severe bipolar mood swings, alternately hyper-active and ponderous. She suffered from stage fright, but was also hyper-competitive (she once engaged in a sing-off with Whitney Houston) and egomaniacal, believing she was a "superstar".
Lacking in proper social skills, her most famous trademark was that, when nervous, she would stick her hands under her armpits and then smell them. She would demonstrate this habit to most new people she meets. She also had a habit of flashing her underwear either accidentally or on purpose.
The sketches would usually begin with a school-related dramatic arts function, such as choir practice or school play rehearsals. Mary Katherine would run on stage and introduce herself, and then attempt to participate, hogging the spotlight until she would lose her cool and do something socially inappropriate.
btw - you get only one guess who said - Always Remember Doc! You ASKED for it!
For the record - I use deodorant and don't always do what above character did/does. lol 
" title="Laughing" />
Now... for 'The Color Purple...' Since I am from a special plantation in Mississippi on my Mother's side of the family - we could go there too!
“Hey Viron, Is the red apple good eating?â€
…I ate one… but most wouldn’t consider it ‘good eating’… I placed it on my Granny Smith and will (if ‘the new limb’ continues to develop) use it for cooking and fresh cider! I’ve a good crop of ‘Pink Pearls’ on a one-limb graft that aren’t much for fresh eating (ugly & scabby to boot) so I toss them in the grinder/press and let them provide the ‘tart’ blend – and maybe some color, too.
“I couldn't tell if it was a crabapple or a full sized apple you were growing.†--- Full sized! …Granted, there was a very small crop last fall, but she assured me ‘that’ was their normal size. Conical shaped and ‘red’ as a Red Delicious.
“Does it have pink flowers?†--- it’s actually new to me (the friend, too), but my ‘Pink Pearl†does and I highly suspect 'this one' does, too…
“He said that most red fleshed crabapples are disease prone. Is this your experience?†--- It looked disease-free, to me; the tree was definitely neglected and likely 30 years old. But like I say, there was a small crop, and I kept focusing on one beauty… that I finally bit into. Like I said, not ‘good eating.’
…Maybe I’d better monitor it some more… As I hope to eventually have a limb of my own.
Viron, I would be interested in a start of that red filbert. Got a place all picked out for it! Red is not dead!
As for redflesh apples, the ones that are not like battery acid are rare. Seems like there is a tight linkage between the pigment genes and the tartness genes that is difficult to break with ordinary breeding. If somebody with GM skills could have a go at it, I am sure the connection could be broken.
Can you ask your friend if the name of the apple is "purple wave"? I have heard nicer things about it. Currently got it grafted, we'll see if it takes. Are its leaves red too?
I have around 40 seedlings that arose from around 400 redflesh apple seeds. These 40 have red leaves, and I am told that they are certain to have red flesh. Will be grafting many of them to more mature trees shortly to accellerate growth and fruiting. I wanna see if any of these will be good in this climate! These seeds came from the late Bill Shultz' property when he was still alive. He had quite a menagerie of eclectic fruit too! Now the collection is much reduced as the inheriting son got busy with a chainsaw. 
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Lon, they are only about 50% purple. I will definitely breed towards an all purple population if an individual leans toward that direction. I have seen some come and go over the years, just never really taken advantage of them as my main breeding objective with leeks is for late bolting. But I may have to refine that to colorage as well.
One of your friends has visited my place a few times and he has walked right past them!
They originally haled from the UK, where I am told that gardeners can only trade seeds amongst themselves, as they are prohibited from selling on the open market. To sell publically you have to jump through some gov't hoops, quite unlike the situation in the USA where anybody can sell any seed they want.
So these are regarded as something kind of special, in that they are not seen in the states much, if any, and they are transferred only from gardener to gardener in the UK, never seen for sale.
At the time I first got them and heard of the overseas restrictions, I was glad to live in the USA where such restrictions don't exist.
Add to the purple/red colored plants list:
Red maple
Red chard
Citation rootstock
Red leaved corn
Vietnamese amaranth which has very red leaves, no green.
I've run trials of these amaranth seeds that were 10 years and older and still get 99% germination, even being stored at room temp. They are good to go.
Thanks to Rikki reminding me, also put in some red radichio seed in a garden row. One cannot have too many greens to eat in winter time!
[quote="plumfun":1d32u3f3]You are touching on one of my main weaknesses: That of red and purple leafed plants! ... Purple leaf bannana you say? [/quote:1d32u3f3]
This might interest you
http://cgi.ebay.com/Peach-Tree-Hiawatha ... 0427396369
Thanks for the link Rikki!
I don't do peaches, nectarines or apricots anymore. Too much disease pressure where I am.
The closest thing I have to those strappy red leaves in that link is my Citation rootstock, it is half plum, half peach, and its leaves look mostly like strappy peach leaves. But it never gets any disease. Quite the handsome tree if I might say so. I think it is sterile though, as it only flowers but never fruits.
I think I have read of it being sterile.
Plumfun: “Viron, I would be interested in a start of that red filbert. Got a place all picked out for it! Red is not dead!â€
…let me see if I can pot something up, and make it live… It’s not dead, and it’s red! Listen to any older Sammy Hager..? The Red Rocker 
...I get talking with Shaun (our VP) and we bounce between apples and hard rock -- if not hard cider!
And Rickitikkitavi -- got your invite! Placed it in my archives till I head your direction (with time to spare), thanks. …glad to have you on board!
Thank you right back at you Viron!
I get to divvy up my time between bananas.org, HOS and the rest of life.
Still biting at the bit to get figs and kiwis. Almost bought a 'Champoeg 1919' fig tree from a seller at the Beaverton Farmers Market this past Saturday. He Christened it 'Champoeg 1919' because it came from a homestead there and the tree was supposedly there since 1919. Nice rather cut up leaves compared to most figs and he showed me photos of the figs - very nice with golden honey color. It was only $10 and I will buy one or trade for one soon. I can picture this one coming out to Oregon in a covered wagon - rootball lovingly wrapped in swaddling burlap. lol
Anyone else have experience with, have, or heard of 'Champoeg 1919'?
[quote="plumfun":k47ijgmu]Rikki,
I hate it when sellers are too lazy to get a positive ID on a plant, and take the easy path of giving it their own label or name. Just causes much confusion down the road.
That fig is probably already known by a couple other names. 
[/quote:k47ijgmu]
Good thought there PlumFun. But it probably isn't a matter of laziness in this case. I have seen a lot of fig leaves in my time and this one was unfamiliar to me.
Cultivar identification for apples is probably just as fun or challenging. Subtle differences in banana cultivars also make it hard. I have resisted 'naming' my very outdoors hardy purple flushed nannas yet. " title="Wink" />
I still want a Champoeg 1919 and the colorful and historic label did help sell me on it! In other words I fell for it! " title="Laughing" />
[quote="plumfun":2q45yarr]You may want to model your purple raddicio after my red lettuce breeding experiments. I simply let many nice plants of it go to seed last summer. ... Anyway, let some of your better individuals self seed.[/quote:2q45yarr]
Some of this wacky windy weather has knocked over ALL my flowering raddicio except one plant. One of them had reached a height of over 12 feet. I am staking them and suffering with the ugly weathered look so I can get the seed.
Speaking of wacky weather - some of my Wiccan friends are telling me to prepare for a harsh cold fall and winter. I am getting the same advise from others that pay a lot of attention to what plants and animals are doing. The squirrels are squirreling away and plants are blooming when they should not be.
Idyllwild
simplepress
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Viron
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