Some nurseries sell special cultivars and it is night and day in production compared to just some common seedlings. Regular seedlings seem to desire cross pollination to get better production, which is still low compared to the cultivars. I've tasted some fresh berries, reminded me of some sweet pepper taste and juicy like tomato, when they dry I think is better taste. You'll probably have to net the bushes, berries are bright and attract what's around. Some people eat the leaves, just a heads up that bunch of bugs out there like the delicacy, too

Hi erierk. Many years ago I gave my figs winter protection, but I concluded that it was a waste of time and energy. If the winter turned out to be excessively cold, with extended periods of sub-zero weather, the bushes froze off above the ground despite the protection. If the winter was mild the bushes didn't freeze off. So I gave up on winter protection. Last winter was the mildest in my memory, and there was almost no freeze-off. And I am getting a bumper crop of figs this year. I have already picked over 300 figs from my two bushes. The highest count I ever had in past years was 130.

ahhhh .. win some.. lose some ... as to ID guessing ... lol .. spend some time analyzing it this year.. and if on any level.. it does not please you ... GET RID OF IT ... when i bought my first house.. and loving history ... i was going to keep everything.. just the way it was .. it was the history of the yard .. crikey on that.. 5 years later.. i finally removed the last freakin nightmare left by the prior two owner.. and that ended up the happiest day in that garden ... moral of the story.. dont waste 5 years trying to make a bad situation better ... ken

Poaky, I have some clumpers and some runners. You really betta be prepared to work if you plant any runner. Of the clumpers, we grow Fargesia rufa"green panda bamboo". It forms a tense grove if given some protections from Summer and Winter sun here in NJ/Zone 7. They were expensive initially, but each year I divided the clumps and extended the wall of bamboo. It is completely non-agressive and has 0% dieback in our winter, and is deer proof. So now there is a solid wall of evergreen bamboo on the eastern border of the house with neighbors (about 10 feet tall). I also have some runners in the back but am ever vigilant to keep them in check. This year was a mixed bag. There are openings in the tree canopy (due to previous hurricane damage), so light for bamboo to expand but there's been moderate drought, so they are kept in check. Besides, I have other weeds from HELL that make the bamboo look like a dream come true! It's all about balance with the running bamboo. They can be very aggressive given good growing conditions and a lack of vigilance. My intent is to plant more TREES in the back and create more shade to curtail (but not eliminate the running bamboo), and my new NEMESIS..., Scottish Thistle (The true weed from HELL). We got rid of a grove of running bamboo only to have this evil plant come out of nowhere to colonize. It's got 6-8 foot stems covered in thorns that penetrate my gardening gloves. I thought the bamboo was bad until I inherited this god awful weed. Now, I am rooting for the running bamboo!!