Morning, Karen, yep, the seller did boast, 'in a good way,' but he was comparing the size of his plants to other papapa sellers. Most papayas are sent as seedlings, 5-7" tall. With the root stock and trunk, the papaya, I bought was 20"+. Karen, we'd have to sell our house and cars to pay for a 20' papaya tree and shipping, lol. I've eaten papaya, few times considering cost, but didn't notice an odor. It's actually a very delicious fruit. Papayas here are over-priced and unripe. After a few days, like most other fruit,' they go from unripe to mold. Did you get lost because the Botanical Gardens was large? That'd must have been scary, 'since you were a kid.' In IL conservatory's, it'd be difficult getting lost, lol. Karen, there are different papaya varieties..some grow much taller than others. Some reach 30'. One reason I bought this variety is it only gets 8' tall, so does well in containers. The reason fruit trees are grafted: Grafted are hardier, more disease resistent, tolerant to colder temps, and flower/fruit quicker than non-grafted trees. Wow, playing house w/Hibiscus flowers. Much nicer and cleaner than mud pies, lol. Sounds nice. Good memories. I'd love to see SA, but it's not in my cards, (or bank account) either. We only travel to US states when there's a funeral. In fact, we've never been on a real vacation. When our son graduated boot camp, we flew to GA. Guess, you can say, that was our vacation. :) Using papaya seeds as a laxative. Does one eat the seeds, as is? Interesting. God really knew what He was doing when He designed the world. Foods can be used for more than eating the meat. Anyway, yep, the break is in the un-ID'd rootstock. No it can't hurt to try, but after looking at both plants, I'm not feeling very optimistic. Tropic, like you, I too grew up loving plants. My aunt and uncle had a farm in MI. We'd visit on weekends. At 5-yrs-old, I recall gazing in the fields. Greens as far as the eyes could see. The scent was so comforting. Spying corn growing from a stalk was amazing. They also had farm animals, but I was too young to remember. At 11-yrs-old, upon my request, my dad bought garden seeds which I sowed in the back yard in Chicago. The corn ended up being horse corn, lol. I had no idea carrots and onions grew underground, so never found them. lol. But, the tomatoes grew large and tasty. Also had a 2 or 3 watermelons, 'our dog ate them,' and 3 pumpkins. I removed pumpkins in early Oct, but carved too early, so by Halloween, the pumpkins ended up in the trash. Mush! Funny, you liked rice plants. Mind if I ask where you grew up? For some reason I assumed rice had to be grown in water?? lol. Never saw a rice plant. 4-yrs-old, not only taking an interest but attempting to sow? rice seeds! Hardwood cuttings. Tropic, the only part that can be rooted, if possible, is the papaya trunk. Amcour. Howdy. Growing outdoors they might break from winds like Karen mentioned. The only reason my papaya broke is because winds knocked it down, 'long drop.' From the starte I doubted papaya would ever grow huge fruit, lol, but who knows, right? Mini fruit would have been nice, even if inedible. I don't know anything about the life of a papaya, 'in the ground/hardy areas,' but even if the tree died after fruiting, fruit falls, split, and out pop seeds. In warm climates, the seeds would root on the ground, and start over. Voila, new trees. This is all speculation, but isn't that how most trees produce? BTW, if my papaya lived 10-yrs, I wouldn't have considered it short-lived, lol. Thanks everyone, Toni

Paul:Black Mission proved to be less hardy for me too here in New Jersey. Because thre are more than one strain of Black Mission,This year I Traded cuttings of Black Mission,with a handfull of other Gardener,in order to grow them side by side and select a strain that is hardy,in colder regions. Black Mission is in my opinion a group of superior high quality cultivars. The chalange is to find the most cold hardy strain. LSU gold proved to be more cold hardy than Black Mission ,and has a future here in zone 6b. To Gene:I would like to point that your H Chicago from Ed. Landscaping ,is not Identical,to Hardy Chicago I kept from Hartmann,s plant co. The difference is that the HC,from HPC,is more vigurous,and with absolutelly no sign,of Fig mosaic,at all. I grew them side by side,and at the end I kept the Hartman's plant co.,specimen. As for the being very precocious,with branches too havy of fruits,that is,an exageration. It is an acceptable first choice cultivar from people living outside ideal climate for growing figs,That is true. It is also reliable,and ripe figs every year,here,unlike other more exotic plants,that end many season with green fruits,and that is another reason to grow it. One have to have only a couple to keep up with pruning them as they do not produce well when growing out of proportion,and especially when having dense branches. And it can be done when one has a couple of trees,but when one has 50 of them,then it is a lot of work,to keep up,too much for older people ,with dissabilities, like me. Best Regards VS

Okay, so I'd rather hear Brown Turkey was at least nice, but obviously we need a better variety. I fell in love with BT when I saw an old one healthy as a horse and bearing tons of fruit alongside a home that had been abandoned for decades, which is why I grabbed one when I saw it instead of doing my research. Celeste is another old-timey one I know does here, but a respectable North Georgia nursery offers Alma and LSU Purple, and I was wondering what you think of them in comparison. We do now have a south-facing retaining wall to set one by, and Violette is apparently small enough to tuck in anywhere. My husband Alex decided he liked the sound of that one, Gene. Brown Turkey will almost certainly stay in place, though. Alex is the real fig-lover in the family, so he can fuss over the others while we both watch the birds hopping around in and enjoying BT--which is one reason why I put him there anyway. I was hoping to see my husband rushing out to save his ripening figs from my armchair, but oh, well. I'm going to pass on getting any more fruit trees from Home Depot so I don't have to wonder about the plant itself. Since it's a little late to put in marginal stuff this year, I've signed on to the e-mail at Paradise and hope to shop their last mail order next spring. I know you guys must hate losing a fig nursery, even one oriented to a coolish climate. Thanks VERY much, Rosie.

The way I see it, is that all the 'common figs' (Ficus Carica) varieties are more or less the SAME as far the USDA Zone (Minimum Winter Temperature) goes. Some may be slightly different, e.g., I observed that Petit Nigra (and similar), are more prone to winter colds. On the other hand Hardy Chicago has been touted to rebound from any winter kills and produce fruit the same year (this does not mean that it any hardier, just that it rebounds quicker than others!). My understanding is that for Zone 8 (and hotter) figs trees need not be winter protected, while for all those in zones 7 (and colder) do. Having said that, there are other factors that determine whether a certain fig cultivar performs in your area or not (e.g.,humidity). What I quoted before does not come form my experience. I was just quoting Ray Givan's (a GA fig expert) suggestion for the 4 top figs suitable for various US regions for those fig starting people that are somewhat confused (like I was, and possiblty still am!). For the sake of completness, here is Ray's recommendation. My Ray's booklet is old, if anybody has a newer edition, or knows otherwise, please stand up! Here are the 4 best figs recommended by Ray Givan in his booket (not on the web site)... Ray is a famous GA fig expert. http://home.planters.net/~thegivans/ Ray Givan's top four FIG picks for various areas of the US 1. Northeast (warm humid summers; cold winters) -- Brown Turkey, Italian Everbearing, Mission and Kadota. 2. Southeast (hot, humid summers; mild winters) -- Celeste, Brown Turkey, Nero and Conadria. 3. Midwest (hot, humid summers; cold winters) -- Brown Turkey, Hardy Chicago, Mission and Kadota. 4. Northwest (cool summers; wet, cool winters) -- King, Latarula, Adriatic and Osborn Prolific. 5. Southwest (warm to hot summers; wet winters) -- Mission, California Brown Turkey, Brunswick and Kadota. Hope this helps in you picking your perfect fig to enjoy... George (NJ).