Matti, you coming down for the Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest 2008? Some are coming from ONT & may be carpooling. It's Saturday September 6th in Grand Island NY. I'm on my second try here. The first time, they never showed up in Spring when I planted them in November in 12-13" deep containers. Last year I got more and planted them earlier so they take root & get established. Don't remember exact date but maybe August or September to give them some time. I planted 7 bulbs almost 10 inches apart each way seeing that they multiply (in my corn bed dumped on my driveway which I used as an allium bed for this year--12 varieties of onions including potato onions, walking onions & various shallots.) I planted another half dozen or so in a circular pattern in a half 55-gallon drum (plastic.) They started growing nicely last year and returned again this year and divided up (multiplied, maybe 10x.) By Mid-late May, they started falling over, still green but a lighter shade. The tops almost looked splayed out, like an animal laid down on them, though have no pets & live in the city. Then they started drying up. In the ground right now are pretty much clumps of maybe 10 bulbs in each spot, slightly bigger than green onion bulbs, but not round like pearl onions--more scalloped/curved like certain shallots. No green stalks are left on them, just the narrow bulb part with a dried neck on top. I didn't try any except maybe the tops of one or two in a pinch when I needed onion greens for a meal earlier in the season. At least I multiplied my initial stock! Results were about the same for the ones in the drum. I take it they will have to be dug and replanted apart, maybe Scott will jump in here with any do's & don'ts... Hope this helps. Mark

I have never started them early - I plant them directly in the ground after last frost date. In past years certain varieties have put out more flowers than I can keep up with - none did that this year. Isn't Long Island always a little cooler in summer because of ocean breezes? I've always assumed it's a gardener's dream location. And because dahlias seem to be happy in the NW (who isn't?), maybe LI is the next best thing. The humidity tends to hang in the air here (think Louisiana) but refuses to rain. The green parts of my plants appear healthy though, just few or no flowers. Baltimore Cty, isn't this later than normal for you? I'm sure you had some high temps this season.

Hi, The only place I've seen persimmon growing in NJ was in Strawbridge Park along Rt 38 in Moorestown, NJ. It may well have been planted there, though. I'm not super familiar with it - I suspect it's around in south Jersey but I haven't seen it. I might not recognize it at a casual glance, though. I've never seen it in north Jersey at all. Where's the Ridgefield Nature Trail, anyway? I am familiar with with Pawpaw and I don't think it grows in NJ at all - I've never seen it here. It's very common in Ohio where I grew up. Same with Pin Cherry - it sounds like it's commoner in the mountains of Pennsylvania but I've never seen it here. I was a volunteer on the Metroflora project for the Brooklyn Botanic garden in the late 90s, so I'm pretty familiar with the woody plants in the Bergen county area; and I don't believe I saw any of these three there. In fact, I got curious and dug out the 'Woody Plant Workbook' from the metroflora project - it has maps showing a dot in each quadrat where the (woody) plants were found. Persimmon is show as occuring on Staten Island and in Middlesex and Monmouth counties, but not farther north except for one or two places. Asimina triloba is only listed in 3 locations - 2 on Staten Island ond one in Monmouth County. At that point I suspect that people were either looking at planted specimens or mistaking Umbrella Magnolia for Pawpaw - they look rather similar. I know the BBG made a pretty good effort to check on IDs, but they had a lot of volunteers at that point and they weren't all real knowledgable. Prunus pennsylvanica is listed for 9 scattered sites over the entire area - like I said, I believe this is more common farther west. FWIW, if you're not familiar with it, the BBG Metroflora Project is a census of all the plants growing within a 50 mile radius of NYC. They broke the area up into 964 5x5km blocks; the book I mentioned has maps with a dot in each block where the plant was found. It doesn't really have enough info to specifically locate the plant, but it would give you an idea. It's fun to look at, anyway. Sorry I can't be more help. WW Here is a link that might be useful: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Metroflora Project

Lol, I call him Niagara Rob. Either name, it will finally be great to meet! I wrote the following for Mark and everyone over on another forum, but I know some people don't go there. Hopefully this answers a few questions and if makes a few questions arise, great. It is always good to work the kinks out in advance. The cottage is very easy to get to because it is the same exit and direction as Beaver Island State Park. The cottage has lots of space. People can park on the front yard as long as it stays fairly dry like it has been. There is a lot of street parking too. The back yard is huge. You can easily fit a few hundred people. There is a covered porch that accomodates quite a few people. The garage is also clean and normally is filled with tables for parties. There is also a wooden swingset and toys for kids. Beyond the backyard is woods with hiking paths which is still part of the property. There is a fire pit. The cottage is like a small ranch with full kitchen and a couple of bathrooms. There are lots of excess tables and chairs, a couple grills, most all supplies needed for a party. I was envisioning a party advertised here, on GW, and invite local friends we know, but not outside of that being that it is private property. So it would be a party for growers to celebrate their harvest with other gardeners, not people looking for an event to attend. I believe this is how CHOPTAG began. People would bring a dish to eat or other supplies like pop if they chose not to make food, and tomatoes they grew for a tasting. We could vote on them, maybe even by categories. Of course, I will be stealing any ideas I can from the CHOPTAG tasting.(I am going to their party.) Remy