I have tried some of the currants recommended for Zone 9 (most are not) and the only one which has been successful is the 'Crandall' Ribes aureum, which resembles a black currant, but with a different flavor. Sweet enough to eat from the bush when ripe, fragrant flowers in spring. There are some native California currants and gooseberries, but I don't think they are very palatable. Why not grow things that people can't grow in other places -- subtropicals, yellow kiwis, etc. Can you grow Natal Plum where you are? The best varieties have fruit that resembles cranberries or lingonberries a little in flavor. Or how about musk strawberries instead of lingonberries? Of course, everybody always wants to grow the things that do well somewhere else.

Pretty much what the above posters have said. All in all, pretty trouble-free. I haven't found them to be nearly as long-lived as 30 years, more like 10 or so, so I think it's a good idea, as they get a little older, to bend a couple of branches down and root them, so you can have replacements just in case. Um, currant pie is heavenly.

Thank you all! Yes, it's hardwood. Had a hunch to keep it in the fridge but keep it outside now,...it probably shoots out and die,..I'll try the next batch in the fridge. Have cut a few other cuttings with a little of the old wood attached,...as I have seen in a you tube video, he then just planted them in the ground. I placed mine in a bag and try at room temperature. Had a hard time to find this thread [twice], but found it on Google, didn't know I put it on the rose propagation, I was going to put on the plant propagation, ...I'm pretty sure you guy's know it all anyway. Tony, ..you did very well! can you buy a little mister propagation greenhouse or have you build it yourself?

Two good books which have many varieties (no book has them all): Carolyn J. Male, 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden Amy Goldman, The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table ========== You may also want to look at tomato databases such as: Tatiana's TomatoBase -- 2,537 open-pollinated cultivars, no hybrids; usually multiple comments and pics: http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Main_Page Cornell's Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners -- 764 popular varieties, both hybrids and open pollinated; brief info: http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/mainSearch/showAll.php?searchCriteria=tomato&searchIn=0amp;ID=&refineByID=&sortBy=variety&order=ASC&subSort=Update+Results Dave's tomato page -- many, many varieties for the home gardener, but not much info: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/finder/cultivars.php?sname=Tomatoes&choice=A NC State's tomato lists -- mostly commercial varieties, but many are grown by home gardeners: http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/vgclintro.html Vent Marin's Passion Tomates (if you read French) -- 12,563 varieties, with varying amounts of info: http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/vgclintro.html Heirloom Vegetable Archive -- a few hundred (?) varieties; brief info with very helpful pics: http://sev.lternet.edu/~jnekola/Heirloom/tomatoesA.htm Tolle Tomaten (if you read German) -- list of varieties; also a search engine with links to other tomato databases: http://www.tolletomaten.de/index.php Tomato Site -- factual info about 200+ popular varieties, mostly OPs, about half with photos: http://www.tomatosite.com/index.php?PR=_listat_pr&NT=Database&NS=Alphabetical_List