Hi, I am interested in the tomatoes,peppers, and the gourds. I have some of the herbs that you want and also some hen and chicks. Let me know if this would be a good trade for you, Suzy

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm claiming very little. I am repeating the language that I found in my perusal of seed catalogs and in other literature, such as a book I checked out from the library entitled "In praise of tomatoes", by Ronni Lundy. I'm not claiming my sources are authoritative...I was only trying to get a sense of common usage. I'm not claiming that tiny tomatoes ARE current tomatoes and especially not claiming that they are necessarily Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium. I'm soliciting corrections and addenda. I am trying to use descriptions accurately and as close to common usage as possible. Where there are authoritative definitions I will be happy to mention them. My website is being built up as an encyclopaedic reference on topics such as survival gardening. This has been quite an educational experience for ME. I've had food gardens off and on for my 43 years of existence, and I am still learning so many things the hard way...for example, I bought a "self-fertile apple"--says so right on the tag in big letters--and learned not only that apples are barely self-fertile, but this particular variety is poorly suited to home gardeners. It has been one disaster like that after another. If it would have come down to "survival", we would have starved waiting for my self-fertile apple to bear! >>>The word beesteak has been discussed here and you might find it with a search, but eseentially all it means is a fruit that is longer than wider with few seed cavities and fewer seeds than most. The American Heritage Dictionary simply says "Any of several varieties of tomato having large fruit with thick flesh." In my ignorance, I assumed that size had something to do with the expression, and noticed a large number of modest-sized tomatoes being referred to as "beefsteaks" (Siletz, for example)--hence my suspicion that it is used somewhat loosely as a suggestive sales term. "In praise of tomatoes" explicitly states that beefsteaks are "deep red"!! However, I have not noticed such a usage in seed catalogs. You can see why I might be confused, with such inconsistent usage.

Grace 'Mahagony Rose' is a hybrid of E. fimbriata, so it could be it. And there are few similar looking hybrids (Fireball, Medallion...). I didn't find any mention of leaves drying exactly when new one grows. There isn't that much detailed info available that I know of. Many Echeverias do very similar 'shrivelling up into paper', and I just assumed it to be typical drying up of old leaves (as is same/similar with other succulents). I never considered or noticed that to be when new leaf grows as a replacement at the same time - that is a possibility. I would have to really watch it. (Dudleya on right - often more than 1 leaf at the time). Ps: Andrew posted link to ICN where I found info about shape of the leaves of E.fimbriata.

Austin Not all succulents grow big. Many will stay about 2-4" in diameter, some get bigger but not huge. There are succulents that grow big - but what size do you have in mind? What succulent did you buy that is massive? - could you give name or post photo? 1st looks to be Aeonium Kiwi; that is branching succulent. Healthy rosette could be about 4" in diameter. What it is doing in last photo is more or less the way it grows. There are aeoniums that grow much bigger. 2nd may be Echeveria shaviana. Pics 2 & 3 show it lacking light, in last photo it seems to be better. It will not get huge either, good size is about 4". If it is shaviana, it usually has lots of leaves, slightly 'crinkly' and very nice, purplish color. It could be quite variable plant. If it s growing longer stem, it is etiolated - needs more light. Did it bloom? - do you have photo of blooms? 3rd & 4th I am not absolutely sure of ID (I would need clear close-up, bigger - for old lady, lol). They look like more echeverias, and probably grow similar size as #2. If plants are flattening and loosing color, it is mainly because of lack of light. What kind of light did you get and how far is it from plants? Overwatering is very commn problem. How much do you water and how do yo determine they need watering? Many are more or less dormant during winter - but it all depends on temps they are in. Even if completely dormant, they should receive reasonable light and very little, if any, water.