nyRockFarmer, non-distinct is about what my bad ones taste like. Olpea, I pressed enough last year to make wine and that's about it. Getting that wine transfered out of the primary has been an issue, I may have 5 gallons of apple/honey vinegar by now. I did get cherry and raspberry bottled. I'll be amazed if I get much for apples this year. They're not looking good. Part of the problem is this year's bloom was drawn out so I couldn't spray the apples early enough when I had the energy and ran out of energy before curculio was done. ltilton, cheap generic Walmart ziplock sandwich bags. Cut the same as for apples. I tried it with the whole bottom opened but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I was worried about rot but with none rotting in the bag vs many rotting without I'd say in my yard the bags are the safest bet at least with Shiro. I'll probably approach Santa Rosa with almost as much hesitation if it ever starts putting out full sized fruit and go easy the first year. Maybe start out with 50% bagged. Harvestman, my friend's Methely had plums set, but that's all I know about it. I only made it out there for one spray so he may have been wiped out by curculio. They said what they had last year was good. In addition to spraying I've taken to pruning his tree to get it to shape. Hopefully next year I'll get to try some of his. I know my small Santa Rosa last year were as good as I remember from when I tried them as an organic gardener and stumbled on bagging. This year it has one and had very few blooms, perhaps the long cold winter. Overall I'd pick Santa Rosa over Shiro but those Shiro's I've had that jump into the excellent flavor range makes me think there's something I'm missing either in pruning, thinning or picking. I know I have an easier time knowing when a red one is ripe. Half the time I bring a Shiro in and it no longer looks yellow out of the sun. If I could get all the Shiro to taste like the excellent ones it would be a toss up. This year has been wet (I'm not complaining, the grapes need it to get established). Interesting about AU, Scott. Glad I didn't jump on one of those. Definitely not deep south here. I wish I had more room to give to plums but they're not reliable enough here between borers and frost.

HowdyHowdyHowdy! I haven't checked over here in the LOOONGEST time. Mary posted on the daylily forum about a death in the 'daylily community' and it made me think of you guys! I was actually thinking of this group last week as I was collecting materials to redo my pvc frame and new plastic. (gosh it's that time AGAIN?) I hope all is well in y'alls neck of the woods :) LISA

Hi Montana, Welcome to the Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in the West! We had a pretty nasty winter here along the Front Range this year—in a very strange way! It was TOO warm! Then when the temps suddenly dropped into the single digits a few times you could hear all the semi-dormant plants screaming! Even my normally-evergreen stuff wasn’t “evergreen” this year! And all along the Front Range people have had sections of evergreens (trees!) die off that are gonna take years to recover! The good news is that when stuff like that happens, at least you can come here for some HUGS to help a little—even if there’s nothing we can do to help with the actual plants! We may not have much helpful advice after a hail storm, but we’re all really good with sympathy—since we all Understand! We’re glad you found us! Skybird P.S. If you ever happen to be trippin’ down this way when we have a swap (spring and fall), we’d love to have you show up! We’ve had folks from all over, including the Western Slope and Kansas, but Montana would be a new Benchmark!

Hi there gardnparadise... It does look like it is warming up now and spring is here to stay... Happy gardening!