Mirendajean -- I rather expected that Homebase was something equivalent to a big box operation in the U.S. On these shores, I think some of our fly-by-night rose suppliers assign names based solely on color. If it's red, it's 'Crimson Glory'. Yellow? Well, that's 'Oldtimer'. And if it's white it's either JFK or 'Virgo', no doubt about it. Your rose is lovely, but to my eye those blooms bear no resemblance to the red flower pictured on the identity tag. I'm linking to another photo of LS that looks a bit more similar (at least color-wise) to the photo on your plant's ID tag. What do you think? Here is a link that might be useful: Surprise: Another 'Love Surprise'

Vickie, First, the brief melon history lesson: Melons originated in Africa and then came to the rest of the world via trade routes, appearing in Egypt 4,000 year ago and in many other parts of the world 3000 years ago. The part of Asia that includes Iran, Afghanistan, China, Southern Russia, India, Turkey and Japan is an area of great melon diversity. Many melons brought from there to here decades ago are commonly referred to as a Turkish melon or Afghan melon whatever, although I am sure these melons have varietal names. Secondly, a look at the melon family tree: The melon (Cucurmis melo) family is huge with many sub-categories. These sub-categorities are not true botanical subclassifications, but rather just the arbitrary grouping of melons together in sub-categories because they more or less resemble each other. The sub-categories are: --cantalupensis (cantaloupes) --dudaim (aromatic pocket melons) --conomon (Asian melons ranging from bland to bitter) --reticulatas (muskmelons, commonly and erroneously called cantaloupes in the USA) --flexuosus (snake melon or armenian cucumber) --momordica (phut or snap melons, commonly called cob melons) --inodorus (winter melons) Turkish melons? Many of the inodorus (winter melon) group come from the part of the world around Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan, etc. It is likely the melons you brother was described are in this group. Inodorus includes Casaba, Honeydew, Crenshaw and Canary melons. All these winter melons grow in a shape that is more oblong than round. They take forever to grow, which is one reason they are known as winter melons--because they are harvested late enough in the growing season that some can be stored and carried over into winter to a certain extent. They are very sweet, very flavorful and have a delicious aroma. (The aroma is not as pronounced in grocery store melons of this type, but is amazing in home-grown ones.) I have grown several inodorus melons and agree that they are among the sweetest of all the melons. I'm going to describe a few inodorus melons I've grown to see if they match your brother's description of a Turkish melon. One of my favorites is from Russia (specifically the Ukraine) and is known as Collective Farm Woman. It is slightly more round than oblong and starts out a very dark green and matures to a gorgeous golden color rind with green flesh. Amazing flavor. Bidwell Casaba is very oval in shape and is from California's Chico Valley area. This melon is a tawny golden color and sort of football shaped with pale orange flesh that is very sweet and tasty. Crane is oval and somewhat resembles the netted muskmelons called cantaloupes here in the U.S. It has been grown in the U.S. for almost 100 years and is probably a cross of a persian melon and a crenshaw melon. Its skin has the faint green splotches when ripe commonly seen on some Japanese melons. Orange-fleshed honeydew has orange flesh and a pale yellowish rind and likely resulted from a cross between the melon Tip Top and the green-fleshed honeydew known as White Antibes Winter. It is more oblong that round, but only a little. Santa Claus melon is a casaba, and has rough skin and green flesh. All casabas are native to Turkey. Most casabas are oval though a few have more of a pear shape. It holds its flavor a long time in storage. Santa Claus ia a bi-colored Casaba with bright yellow skin splotched with dark green blotches Piel de Sapo (Frogskin melon) is similar in shape and size but its green is almost completely a medium-dark green. It has green flesh, is oval and grows well for me. And, yes, the skin on a mature one does bear a certain resemblance to a frog's skin. Amarillo de Oro is a Spanish melon that has great flavor and a very unusual coloration. When you cut into it, the flesh closer to the rind is green and then it gradually changes to pale salmon sometimes with a touch of white. The skin is a medium gold. The favor is superb. There are a lot of other winter melons that might be the Turkish melon your brother mentioned, but I can't give very good descriptions of the because I haven't grown them all. Seed of many of them are available through places like Seed Savers Exchange and Baker Creek Heirloom Seed as well as at many other seed companies. These include Sweet Freckles (a Crenshaw type), Cavaillon Espagnol (looks a lot like a muskmelon with the netted skin ad orange flesh, but very oval in shape), Kazakh (similar to Collective Farm Woman, but from Kazakhstan), Olivin (a Polish honeydew) Ashkabad (from Turkmenistan, so this one has a true connection to Turkey and it is VERY sweet with green flesh but it is more round than oval), and De Almeria (a white Tendral-type from Spain). I'd go to the Baker Creek website linked below and read their melon descriptions. Be sure to look at all the categories because many of the so-called "American" melons are from the inordorus group but are grouped as 'American' because they've been grown here for a long time no matter their origin. The melon your brother described as Turkish probably resembles one of the melons I described above OR one or more of the melons at Baker Creek (or at Seed Savers Exchange), but you won't necessarily see the word Turkey or Turkish in its name since the entire melon family tree is a massive tree with many branches and growers/retailers often call a melon by something other than its true name. Good luck finding your brother's Turkish melon. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Yes Kristi! I would strongly recommend it. I will tell you how I found this place. It was about 5 years ago. I wanted a banana tree in the worst way. I was coming back to my house with roomate, and he said look! There's a banana tree! I did a u turn on a busy street and flew into that driveway and walked out with my banana tree! That was it, I was hooked to that place. I ave bought my vanilla orchid there, a navel orange tree that didn't make it due to cold temps when our aparment was being remodeled. I got my first mango tree there, it was a Southern Blush. That tree was over 6 feet and I paid $25.00! I also got my giant gardenia tree there. That was also over 6 feet and about 5 feet wide. Now, I can call them up and request any tree I want. I can't wait for January so I can get my red navel orange tree. Jim (the owner)had a tangerine...huge for $75.00. He offered it to me for $50.00 and it had about 7-8 almost mature fruit! I passed on it. I was very tempted but was'nt going to buy it just to buy it. I only have limited space for maybe 2 more trees. I strongly advise calling. If they sell any kind of tropical fruit, chances are you could get another tropical fruit. Good luck!! Andrew

Hi Mareda, I've never heard of that, but it might be happening more than we realize. But I doubt that you would have many berries this year anyhow. Many times, it takes a few years for newer trees to start producing berries. You want them to be using their energy to lay down good roots. Did you feed them all superphosphate? That helps with the roots. And many times, the birds eat the fruit before fall anyhow. The birds around here eat some berries while they're still green! Plus......I would be concerned that the berries that may have been on those trees might have gotten some chemicals on them too. It takes awhile for birds to find birdbaths, and some birds might not like them if the water is moving, or they're too high off the ground, or too low. I would add a few more birdbaths around your yard. I bought this really neat one that has 2 tiers and water sprays out of the top, and not one single bird used it! The ones in my yard that they seem to like the most are the big saucers on the ground, or up on short legs. Actually......what they like the most are puddles! Can you put a birdbath heater in your birdbath this winter? The birds really like that. Many times, water is scarce in the winter, and they really welcome a heated source of water. Be patient with making berries. May I also suggest more bushes......like viburnums, spice bushes, winterberry. Then there's the weeds that they love.......like pokeberry. People don't seem to realize the importance of weeds too. And flowers.....goldfinches love the seeds from the coneflower and butterflies love being on Joe Pye weed. So many choices! Just be careful not to plant exotic invasives. Stick with the natives for your area. Good luck!