Hi bucky130, I can see a few fruits on it. Unfortunately the top 18-20" of it is dead and did not leaf out and will have to be cut off. So even an unhealthy 1/4" branchless whip of an Illinois Everbearing will fruit but 14-15' trees in other varieties do not? Looks like I purchased the right variety. Sure wish I had purchased a nice size tree from a different nursery. With our long seasons I'm told a Mulberry can grow 10' in one year. I was hoping for a tree that would do just that to shade my garden from the afternoon sun. Instead I will have a fruiting bush or at best a tree that will be 10' shorter at the end of the season than I had hoped. If the BR tree does not readily adopt a tree form and get at least 4-6' tall I will be purchasing another IE this Fall from a nursery other than Burnt Ridge. A 1/4" caliper whip is not a normal size variation for a tree described as large. None of the trees they sent me are thriving. I have 1-2" new growth on the Methley Plum they sent me. Of the four trees they sent me thats the tree thats doing the best. Trees I purchased from other nurseries already have 2-3' of new growth. Even trees I planted after my Burnt Ridge order have much more growth than the best tree purchased from BR. I don't think I will ever order from them again.

Laura: My experience with Green Gage may not be typical. I think the tree came from Millers in NY, and I do not know the rootstock, which they do not specify unless asked. Nevertheless, it is well sited in excellent soil, and I have been pruning and shaping it for years, while watching little clusters of blooms in spring that seldom set fruit. One year it actually did have 3-4 plums, but they fell victim to surface mildew. This season it had more blooms than normal, and appears to have set some plums, but the jury is still out until they begin to really grow. I am sure they will be delicious plums if I ever get some. In contrast, a Japanese/American hybrid right nearby, actually a few years younger than the Green Gage, is covered with little plums, and will require extensive thinning. I am not really the expert to ask on plums. I pretty much like them all. Maybe your Stanley will surprise you next season, and it is a great plum for canning/preserving, but a little interior pruning in late July/early August can't hurt to expose the interior to more sunlight. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Wow - I guess we have been very lucky with our pumpkins! We started ours on a whim (had a package left at our house by the former owners, and thought it'd be fun to see if they grew) by seed in small peat pots in the garage back in May, and they took off like crazy. We planted them in the ground sometime in mid-late June. They were the first of all our plants to really take off once in the ground as well. As far as I know, my husband hasn't done anything special to care for them. We have a soaker hose for the entire garden, so they get the same amount as all the other plants. He uses some kind of organic fertilizer for all the plants, but not sure if he's used that on the pumpkins since they have been so prolific on their own. Our garden gets sun for most of the day - about 9am to 5pm. And it gets the heat as well. Wish I had suggestions/answers as to why ours have been so successful. Maybe it's the wasps/bees we have - I have a bunch of bird houses that I hung on the fence behind the garden, for decoration. Couple of weeks ago, when my husband was putting some nails and strings on the fence for the gourd vines to grab hold of, he discovered that the birds didn't like them, but the wasps sure did - they started to swarm him as they didn't like him being so close to their "nest"!!! Needless to say, we sprayed the houses well with some wasp spray! Marj

I have had my miracle fruit here in CT for 5 months, and the only browned leaves were the original ones it had when I received it. It is small, but has really bushed out nicely. A MF grower in costa rica suggested a potting mix of 40% peat, 40% perlite, and up to 20% used coffee grounds. I use a mild fertilizer every 2 weeks or so, and give it early morning sun, shaded from the harsher sun later. You might want to at least consider adding perlite to your mix for better drainage. As for winter treatment, I am keeping my MF and several small seedlings on a heat mat, in a large container full of pebbles + water, with a sheet of thin plastic to hold the humidity/warmth in. So far, the humidity never goes below 50%, which aint bad for up north in the winter! Sun rooms can be very dry, so pay attention to that. Good luck! --Rr