hrhcsh.... Thanks for the quick pics...and thanks for giving me some details of your growing conditions. My tree and yours look just about the same. Big, light green leaves that sort of "cup" towards the top surface of the leaves, seem so similar. May I ask where you got your tree? There cannot be too many of these trees around. If it's the original "German Black Giant"/"Grosse Schwartze Feigue" ("Giant Black Fig")it came from Stuttgart, Germany, not too long ago. Some say it's a "Brown Turkey" variant, but some say it is distinctly different, and sweeter. Time will tell. I have a single stem tree that's about 4 ft. tall, and it is a very vigorous grower. It sprouted figs a the end of July...too late in my short-summer climate for them to ripen, so I pulled them off. I've read that as young fig trees put on some age, and settle in, they will start to push figs earlier in the season, and they will ripen earlier. So....there's some hope for me...but, in the future. Next year, I will re-pot my tree into a large, 18 gallon container, and let it do its thing. In the past, I neglected to do this as a routine, but now, I top dress all my trees 3 times/season with a handful of granular limestone. Figs hate acid soils and many fertilizers turn soils too acidic, and the trees and figs suffer. Now with the limestone dressings, my trees have improved greatly, the leaves look a lot healthier, and the quality, and the flavor of my figs has definitely improved. Good luck with the "GBG" fig. Next year you will probably see some big differences. Photos of this variety on the Figs4Fun Forum, show this to be quite a prolific bearer. Thanks again, for the information. Frank

Jan I put one on the (door prize table ) that was about to bloom. Don't know the color red or white. It is not called hardy but they are outside at our place. I cover them with pine straw after the first frost and plant a little deeper than the ones in pots. If you got mine it was dug up from my front yard and potted. Norman

Never heard of them before. Are they a regional thing? I'm so bad with names, I can never remember anything if I don't write it down, but anyway, one of the big national brands had a "sweet & hot" or maybe it was "sweet & spicey" pickle that I bought a few times that was great. I loved that "bite" of the hot pepper with the sweet pickle but I haven't been able to find them for a long time. It must have been a short term thing they were doing or maybe not everyone liked them as much as I did and they stopped making them! Since this "wickles" brand isn't available here (and what a great name that is lol!!) does anyone know of a bigger brand that makes a sweet pickle with a hot or spicey bite to it? Maybe I'll try making my own! I'm planting cukes for the first time this year and I chose a pickling type because I want to start canning as well and decided that along with jam, making pickles would be a good entry to the canning world. Thanks! Lisa

Hi Mama. It wasn't me, but there are some interesting sights there. I love seeing the baby elephants, or baby anythings and greatly enjoy the big cats. Not so much the monkeys, I'm not a fan somehow. I watch it in winter, this summer like the last several years I've been focused on the Katmai (Brooks River Alaska) bears when I have time and can view. That's coming to season's end soon and I'll be back to more exotic animals.