Just came up on all the postings about Hardy Chicago fig not being true to name. I purchased a Hardy Chicago fig from a nursry about 4 to 5 years back. No longer remember the name of the nursery. I planted the fig on the south side of our house in the V where the chimnney is. So it should have more then enough heat. But every year 90% of the figs never ripen. Around the first week of November we get maybe two or three ripe figs. All the rest are then killed by the frost. It's a shame that some wholesalers out there do not care whether or not they are selling a true item or not. I had been wondering what was wrong with the tree. Then when it did not ripen all the crop this last summer, I stated to think it had been labeled wrong. To make matters worst I ahve been giving out cutings to other fig lovers, who now also are thinking they have a Hardy Chicago. I'm going to dig the whole thing up, and replace it with soemthing like Violetta, as soon as I can find a true source of Violetta. Or a fig that is hardy as Violeta and ripens like Violetta in July. I have read that Violetta is hardy to minus 5 degrees and ripens in July. From all the research I have done in the last two years on hardy figs, Violetta appears to be the most cold hardy fig and the earliest to ripen, that I have been able to identify. I'm in a zone 6 in Connecticut. So from what I have read about the real Hardy Chicago, I do not have the true Hardy Chicago. Does any one have any information on a fig called Northland. Such as how hardy it is and when it's main crop ripens? Bob Harper

Edit: I posted the reply in the wrong forum! Doh!! This post was edited by j0nd03 on Wed, May 8, 13 at 10:14

Hi, I know what you mean about the rocks Joe, I live only a couple minutes from the river, and my yard is filled with river rock. I don't let that stop me, the soil is really rich once you take the time to till it and remove the larger rocks. You should have seen the pile I made. I am finally making good use of the rocks this year, I'm using the rocks to build myself a raised bed. I have to cement the rocks together with a form I made, I have one wall done so far. Last summer I found a neat nursery off Rt. 11 in Selinsgrove that is worth checking out, not sure when they'll have their spring flowers in. As far as what plants do I plant, well just about anything, I plan to put in all the ones that you've mentioned. Just bought 4 clematis from Walmart, $4 great price I thought. I want to have a little of everything, go figure :op Anyone's forcythia out of dormancy yet? Anyone have any different variety of forcythia? Looks like the weather should shape up by Wednesday, can't wait til the yard dries up and we can dive into the gardens. Praying For Sun ~Nick

Even though it has been less than 2 weeks without rain with temps in the 80's and a few 90's, it is hard to believe how dry my sandy loam soil can get with sunny windy conditions. My one 7 ft. Paper Birch that is recovering nicely from being planted too deep a few years ago, and raised this spring, had leaves turning yellow even though I was giving it water regularly. Apparently, it wasn't enough to keep the soil moist deep enough to prevent this from happening. A long soaking watering stopped the yellow leaves from increasing in number. My 3 ft. Eastern Hemlock had it's first branch turning brown. I thought being it's second year in the ground, I could cut back on the every 3rd day watering when it doesn't rain, guess not. When you read that Tsuga Canadensis will not tolerate drought at all, believe it. My Black Ash in the front yard, had individual leaf clusters in several spots, shriveling up with no change in color, like it was adjusting to lack of water. So, to prevent further crisis, I'm back to every other day soakings of the new trees planted this spring and the trees that were raised this spring, plus every day soakings of any water loving trees like Red maples as they quit putting out new growth until the watering resumed. And this is all on soil that is a real upgrade (Sandy loam) to the Loamy sand where I used to live. The single biggest factor I attribute this problem too is the lack of shade in my area (due to the lack of any mature trees at all). The mulch makes sure that only the tree gets the water which is a plus but it doesn't prevent the soil from getting sucked dry by the tree in short order. Finally tonight were are getting a nice soaking rain that is supposed to last all night and most of tomorrow, hopefully giving us a couple of inches to penetrate down past the dry layer. Otherwise an inch will help but it won't totally alleviate the dryness. Either way, irrigation will start again in either a few days or a week at the most, depending on conditions of temps, sun and wind.