It's about 3-4 years old in the picture and had been chopped twice to induce the taper. Just about anything that's perennial and looks like it will make a trunk, I look at with the 'bonsai eye'. All my display containers with flowery stuff in them, as well as all the garden plantings .... even houseplants benefit immensely from the pinching/pruning techniques that thicken the plant or let air and light into the interior. The attention to form and the guidelines we use in building our trees readily apply to other plantings and make a big difference in their appearance. Most people realize even nonbonsai plantings are special in appearance because they don't appear to have the same growth habits that they are used to seeing in their own plants that have received little/no attention, and usually don't realize that there might have been a considerable amount of consideration given to improving the appearance. Sorry - I got off track. ;o) I was clearing out the containers ion the garden one year and there was a snap that had grown kind of thick and woody. Instead of the compost pile, it went in a pot & I nursed it through the winter & started to build on it in the second year. I give away a lot of plants like the one in the pic after figuring them out, but I've had that one for about 7 years or so. I should have repotted it last year, but I didn't, so it wend downhill over the winter. I repotted it a few weeks ago, and it's just warming up here - showing new growth. I had to prune it back quite a bit & I'll have to rebuild it, but I'll see how it responds to the repot. I can't imagine they would be all that long-lived. I've had several that were 5 years old when I gave them away, but this is the oldest I've had yet. It's just your every day snap that you get 6 to a cell pack at the greenhouse - nothing to stop you from building one. ;o) I have some volunteers in a permanent planter that has several volunteers in it, so I'll probably be digging one or two up in Aug. ..... keeps me off the streets and out of the bars. ;o) Al

"Strangest".... That's pretty funny, as I am the only one in my entire neighborhood that grows *ANY* fruit at all.... The neighbors look at me like I am some sort of anachronism for growing a little garden and some fruit trees.... But... The "Strangest" of all the common stuff I have is a cider pear, a Citation Rootstock peach/plum that had the graft die, an American Purple plum seedling, and a roadside dug-up seedling peach. My Purple and black tomatoes probably classify as what folks around here think is weirdest... They look and say "But... It's rotten!" On the sugar cane thing - if you poke around and ask the old timers at the feed stores - you will find that most farm families in the Deep South used to raise their own sugar cane for sweetening things.... As Jolji said - you bury them over the winter, then dig them up and plant them shallow after Easter... This year, I want a Jujube and a couple filberts... In years past - people expressed wonderment at my Vanilla orchids... Thanks

Nice to see you check in treefrog and thanks again for the seeds,i have 2 of the goosecreeks growing now from seeds you sent and one brandyboy. Im surprised i havent read no where on this site or rthe other of anyone growing florida pink. These huge, 2 to 3 lb fruits are a gorgeous light pink. Extremely juicy, sweet and crack free, Florida Pink out-produces most plants in our garden. With very few seeds, huge production and great flavor, it is a favorite for cooking and fresh eating. Setting fruit well in hot areas, this beautiful tomato will be a fine addition to your garden. thats what laurel says about it. rowdy red is another i think will do well im growing. Named by Gary Ibsen, the seeds of this variety came to Gary from tomato breeder, Archie Millett, who crossed his favorite tomato varieties over many years to finally produce a disease resistant tomato with intense flavor. 'Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red,' is an open-pollinated tomato (78 days to maturity). The tall, indeterminate, plant produces lots of 2-inch (6-10 oz.), deep-red, round fruits with a subtle point on it's end. Fruit has robust, 'not for sissies,' bold, tomatoey flavors, with a firm, juicy flesh, that invites snacking in the garden, cooking, canning and seed-saving. Its fruity sweetness is perfectly balanced with plenty of acidity, earthy nuances and complexity. kirk Here is a link that might be useful: laurells tomato plants

Update on my Black Krim and Cherokee Purple that I planted based on your recommendations! These seeds were planted on June 2 and they went in the ground about two weeks ago. BK on the right, CP on the left. Nice blossoms growing in on both although as of yesterday I had not seen any baby tomatoes peeking out from the flowers yet. Two extra Black Krims that came up were potted up unto 10 gallons. Doing nicely...though I attempted an experiment on them by using azomite and mycorrhizae in one pot (the right one). It's a tad behind if anything though both have about the same number of blooms forming. I have one CP left (the third seed never did come up) that's in a 1 gallon and suffering. It was the smallest so I let it be for awhile but now it's budding and having a hard time. I hope to get it into the ground later today but am messing with my planting bed and waging war or roots about as thick as my thigh. My guy bought a chainsaw LOL, so hopefully it comes out today and the CP can go in.