Hey you guys are being too gentle with the fig trees in winter. I'm 40 miles South of Oklahoma City and I cut mine back to about 18" as soon as I'm through picking the fruit (usually after the first frost.) I have not covered mine in the winter but it is facing South and is planted next to a metal barn that probably reflects a lot of heat. This is one I got from one my Dad had at his place just East of Ada, OK. I just dug up part of the root with a couple of branches on it and planted it. He always cut his back in the winter. Mine gets to about 7-8 feet each year and bears at least 50 figs. The key is plenty of water. I'm going to take plantings off mine this winter and have more next year. I do have the problem of a lot of small ones left at harvest because of the short growing season. Maybe I'll try a few of the new ones in a small greenhouse.

Glenda, I do think the folks on the Ozark forum are nice too. Sometimes I pop over there to read and see what's going on, but as you noted there are a lot more ornamental gardeners there and more edible gardeners here so I mostly post here. (And I grow tons of ornamentals too, but there's not as much to talk about with them since they're all well-established and I'm not constantly adding new ones.) The whole edible gardening trend is on a huge upswing and I believe one reason is because folks are beginning to understand that there is a true difference in fresh, homegrown produce and produce that's traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to reach the grocery stores. I are SO GLAD you and other Ozarkers come and join the conversation here as you all enrich our forum so much with your knowledge, experience and photos. Y'all, I don't think I've ever seen a rude remark here either, and even if I did see one, I'd try to assume that the poster was just having a bad day or a bad week because I'd know that's not the usual behavior of that person. I've also noticed everyone here avoids 'hot topics' like global warming or politics or whatever which is just fine with me. (Anyone who wants to discuss those can go to the 'Hot Topics' forum and debate with the folks there all they want.) I know that we often stray off the subject of purely gardening topics and discus other issues like weather, wildlife, birds, farm animals (well, gotta get that manure from someplace), putting up the harvest, sewing, fire danger, etc. but anything like that is still a part of our lives as gardeners here in this region of the country. Another thing I'm really proud of is the way that so many gardeners here share seeds with one another year-round via the U.S. mail and at the 'Spring Fling' seed and plant swap, and for folks who live close enough, even in face-to-fact visits at one another's homes. In the perfect gardening world I envision in my mind, we'd all live in the same town in the same semi-rural neighborhood with plenty of room for our horses and cows, goats and sheep, chickens and guineas, etc., and with tons of space to grow anything/everything we want. We'd run back and forth from one yard to another to "look at this" or "check out that". We'd meet in the summer on someone's patio for a cookout or just a tall glass of iced tea. We'd only have good weather, beautiful ornamentals and edible plants that always produce an abundant crop. However, since we all can't live in that one perfect neighborhood together, we've built our own gardener's virtual neighborhood here and it's almost as good as being together in the same town. Dawn

Thanks Jen Rick

I read back far enough to find where the returning announcement was made, and Moni now I'm relieved it wasn't something with your daughters or granddaughters that called you home. Of course I'm sorry your relationship disappointed you...he's not a smart man then ;0) You were, and are, a woman to be treasured. You're going to be OK, better than OK. I wish you nothing but the best in everything.