nanners,
I placed one order with those folks, well over 12 years ago, and vowed 'never again'. I did not get any of your aforementioned varieties, however. I did get 'Black Giant' mulberry, which is nothing more than a non-descript row-run M.alba seedling, producing bitter little fruits that are anything but giant - but they do ripen from red to black. It worked well as a diversion crop to draw birds away from the cherries and strawberries, but it's going bye-bye this year.

I do have a buddy in NV who bought a number of figs from 'em and actually got some decent plants, though I don't know if he got Patrick's Supergiant - I know he had 'Mystery X', which he sent wood from one time.
Another buddy, in NJ, bought one of the 'Cannonball' black walnut seedlings. Still hasn't borne nuts yet, so who knows - will seedlings of the Cannonball tree produce nuts that are as big - and are the nuts themselves really big, or do they just have a really thick husk on them? Then, even if the nuts are big, what's the kernel %? He sent me some scionwood from it a couple of years back, but who wants to graft an unproven seedling BW - especially one from an outfit who's just as likely to have sent you just a run-of-the-mill BW seedling as one that actually descended from the 'Cannonball' tree(if such an entity even exists!)?
Cold-hardy bananas? I suspect they're just Musa basjoo. Hey, I've got one growing here that was sent to me by a friend who's got it growing in MI!

That's what I wonder, are they just inflated claims in the first place, beyond mistagged or poorly grown plants? The (former?) owner of the place certainly has a real interest and some reasonable knowledge of fruiting plants judged by his writings there and elewhere. It is suspicious though that I see, for instance, no mention of "Columbus Red" on Google anywhere else. Other nurserys such as your friends the Britten's (sp?) do a real service in tracking down good noncommercial selections and making them available to us all. If the plants described for the Georgia nursery are reasonably close to reality they would be fun plants to try in dooryard settings, but who wants to take the risk?

"The great masses of the people...will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one. Mein Kampf, I, 10

Overt exaggeration? The folks at TYTY? "Overt the top!!!"
Wow! It's been a while since I 'visited' their online catalog. They've updated some of the photos. A lot of 'em are still really creepy, with sleazy 'models' and artwork clipped from old Maidenform bra ads, etc., but that girl peeking out from the 'Pindo' date palm(or is SHE the 'date'?) doesn't look too bad - she's a real Butia!
I kinda miss the photo of their gardening expert - the kid in the sagging jeans and wife-beater T-shirt with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

That Japanese Purple Greek Persimmon? I'll eat my shorts if that thing hasn't been painted. It's TOO purple!
And, on the chestnuts page, they start out with a big photo of a nice collection of horsechestnuts/buckeyes - Yum-my!!!
I don't know about you, but I'd be a little concerned about that huge, 'elephantine' root system they describe for the 'Georgiana' dwarf chinkapin! It sounds scary!

Please, if you really feel desperate about wanting to order these fantastic items from them, go lie down for a while 'til the feeling passes. Or, send the cash to me, and I'll throw some dry, dead, rootless cuttings into a box and mail them to you, and you'll get the same feeling you'd get opening your package from 'the nursery'.

gonebananas:

Agree with the ancient wisdom of Gene Washdc, and Lucky's view of the Butia girl. However, they seem to have gotten the wrong size for the top part of her bathing suit. If they can't get a thing like this right, how can they be expected to deal with complicated matters like plants?

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

You made me nostalgic for their weird website, so I took a walk down memory lane through their fig section. I began to worry they had lost their bloody skull & fig photo, but there it is in the last variety. Their photoshopping reminds me of 1950s monster movie film-making. It would lose something if it weren't so poorly done. Luckily, I saw plenty of commentary about them before I ever might have ordered from them.

Oh I know all about the nursery and would never order a thing from them, and the bizarre website makes me suspect a herb nursery of sorts, but still my wonder is, do those selections exist at all and are they anywhere near what is claimed? For instance, how large is the quince, does the red pear have half a chance in a warm moist SEUS climate, are several of the bananas selections actually from plants that have fruited under protected SEUS conditions? Certainly all are possible. All might have been found by an enthusiast who has been in the business for decades. If they had anything I was really interested in I'd go by there while in the general area and select the plant myself. I'd at least reduce the shriveled dead part of the risk. But if these selections existed, say the Columbus red pear, I'd think I would have heard of them through pear enthusiasts in the area and I never have. Still and all, I haven't heard of all of Just Fruits pear selections outside of their advertising either and they are totally legit. Maybe I'll go by for a visit and ask Ms. Pindo to show me around.

I have heard of the Austin (but not Mays) Dewberry. The Austin Dewberry is supposedly a better selection (there is only one other named variety among Dewberries that I have heard of, though.)

I'm certainly not ordering anything from them, though.

~Chills