Fixed it!!!! I had a good case out of nowhere, geographic tongue for 5 years, starting at age 53. I am 60-1/2 now I fixed mine, and it was by accident. I had a cold, and drank Delsym cough syrup. I have always taken cough syrup, no biggie, no issues, but likely pre-geographic tongue. This time, it burned my mouth badly. The geographic spots themselves, most of the top of my tongue, the roof of my mouth, and several spots in my throat. Just one or two sips of the syrup did this as I felt some pain within a day, and I took probably 4 more over a couple of days before I associated the cough syrup with this and stopped taking it. I hated this cough syrup, and thought something was wrong with it. It felt like very severe pizza burns. The pain increased, peaked, and took 2-3 weeks for the pain to subside, but eventually it did. What's crazy is that the geographic spots were gone. A year later they started to come back, and I did the same with Delsym because I still had it in my desk at work, and had the same result. It was during a cold, so I wasn't doing it just for GT, but for the cold mainly, but curious if it would help the GT. As the cough syrup before had such a painful result, I wasn't pumped up about doing this. The associated upper pallette and throat pain were there, but less, on this second time. Since then, I have done this with other cough syrup brands, so there is nothing about that brand, but I haven't compared and isolated the ingredient to know exactly what is doing this. I had a cold last week, and have Equate Cough DM on my desk, and took some sips a few days ago. Some pain on my tongue, and the roof of my mouth, minor, but I wasn't showing any geographic tongue spots. Likely this is nipping it in the bud before it really starts up is my guess. What's kind of key to me, and what everyone in the medical establishment appears to be missing, is that it apparently isn't isolated to the exact geographic spots. When I took the cough syrup "that served as medicine to treat" the GT, it created distinct patches or areas of pain on the roof of my mouth, in my throat and my tongue in general that weren't showing GT. Cough syrup in prior years never caused this pain. Only after the GT, and the pain was on the GT spots, and other spots I mentioned. So they HAVE to be associated, even though they weren't showing spots. That tells me whatever mechanism is present on the spots, is also present elsewhere in the mouth and throat, but not showing as spots. This might not work for anyone else, but I'm darned curious to know if it might. Please let me know if anyone has tried this. This is one heck of a nuisance disorder to have, and the medical communities inability to tell us anything about it is hard to believe in this day and age. I lucked out. Since other people have done other things with positive results, and nothing seems to be universal, probably the same here. But there has to be a link.

This isn't really a trading forum but anyway .... Manuka is Leptospermum scoparium, a pretty common shrub in mild climates. I'm sure you can find it quite easily in commerce in the US. If you were intending to grow it outdoors you might find it unsuitable for your zone. Here is a link that might be useful: Leptospermum scoparium

My all-time favorite honey flavor is Meadowfoam. It comes from a thistle, but I'm not sure if it's any of the thistles that have been mentioned here. I have never been able to decide how to describe the flavor - vanilla comes to mind. The sweetness is the richest to my senses of any I can recall. Only drawback was that it turned to sugar quickly. I used to stock up on it at $5 per 1-pound jar, over 20 years ago, from a seller in the Monterey Calif. area. I can't find it anymore, but truthfully have not searched for it for over a year. I've noticed many mention Tupelo. I occasionally visit NW Florida and discovered Tupelo honey on one trip there many years ago. I have a small jar of it now, emptying fast, given to me recently by a family member who knows how I like different honeys. I'm torn between Tupelo and orange blossom as to which is my favorite honey from the Southern US. Also recently, in the same gift pack, I got my first taste of the white Hawaiian kiawe honey. It's my favorite flavor discovery of this year. I just finished that jar last weekend and am already shopping the websites (one already mentioned here) for a refill. When I was much younger and lived in Southern California, I used to go through 5-pound cans of Buckwheat honey in 1-2 months. It was an acquired taste for me - and remains the flavor most dissimilar from all other flavors I recall. A few years ago I bought a jar of what I believe was local honey at the touristy place in Wall, SD. That flavor was memorable, very sweet, like clover honey which is my "standard," but slightly superior. A few years before that I picked up a jar of sweet honey in Ontario, Canada, and hold many regrets for not noting its specifics. Finally, two distinctive flavors that I enjoy very much are Manuka (from New Zealand, I believe) and Blue Borage.

Since Wellington is on the North Island - I'm assuming that 7.4 earthquake this morning didn't shake any of those tomatoes from your Red Robin, Manuka! A tsunami has now been discounted so you're good there, too. I was recently reading that Early Girl was developed as a tomato which could grow at 40°F. What's that? 40°F = 4°C . . . (NZ may be "seasons reversed" but the US is just "backwards" ;o). Obviously, a really close-to-the-ground plant like Red Robin would have more protection "hunkering down" during cold weather. Can only just imagine this since it's been 40 years since I moved my gardening to Intermountain zone 5 from California coastal zone 9. Frost would still occur in December and January and I remember that it once snowed!! Happy Spring, Manuka. Steve