Anyone ever hear of such an animal?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WZ0HEY/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thetampabaych-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B003WZ0HEY

Fanicks' Blue Giant, but not Blue Ischia.

Last season or season before it escapes me used edible landscaping VdB picture and i notified Edible and the ebay listing and soon it was taken down.

Then it popped back up again a time later then was taken down again i see now a different picture they list this time around on ebay same garden center.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Ischia-Edible-Fig-Plant-Ficus-carica-Sweet-/110786118163?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19cb5e0213

on daves webiste out of 227 reviews they have 105 plus 90 something neg and 28 neutral.

If it were me i personally would pass as my plants have to come from a reliable source.

They have a lot of different plants for sale. They have used all sorts of photos from many sources, Edible Landscape, Figs 4 Fun, etc. They have a very bad, unapologetic attitude about using other peoples stuff, so I refuse to buy from them. When they have used F4F pix that have used pictures not of the variety being offered. You cannot assume that any picture or info they use is accurate.

I wrote to the Attorney General of Ohio, but they declined to take action until someone actually purchased something and complained. They were not too interested in defending intellectual property.

Yes Jon your jogging my memory banks i recall in past email to you of an incident and posted the pictures here on forum comparing them side by side 1 from ebay and same one from your websight .

I doubt there here now as i deleted 99% of my photobucket pics for personal reasons.

Amazon takes these kinds of issues very seriously.  A message to them would help keep others from being cheated if anyone has time.

Go for it Rcantor, my patience has worn thin.
Time to pass on the torch to the newer members.  ; )

So this is the tree I ordered from Hirt's Garden Amazon page. Does anyone know if this is a "Blue Ischia"?

Twobrothers
i dont think anyone has grown it large enough to get ripe figs to try and identify it but it might be hard even then cause you need something concrete to compare it with.

With some hard to find types be careful as I have seen a few folks say i got this from so and so who got it from so and so and then it winds up eventually on ebay or gets passed or sold but sometimes that person down the pipeline was someone that came and went just like the wind that said yeah this is the one.
Don't believe everything you hear.

This is just 1 example some figs are not true to there name.

i got a hardy chicago from hirts and its great. dont ucd have a blue ischia, i know they got the black one.

UCD has White, Green, and Black Ischia. out of those, White is the only one that i know will grow reliably. Black Ischia has history of being a poor grower. i had same issue with their Green Ischia. however, their White Ischia is doing amazing. will have to taste the fig to see if they are worth growing. per jon's update on one of the post, the taste on Whtie Ischia should be good.

Blue Ischia is a synonym of Black Ischia/ Ischia Black. Not saying that the one from Hirtsgarden is either variety just that they are documented to be the same. Good luck!

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/anyone-heard-of-hirts-garden-6061298

blue, black or neither... that fig tree looks pretty cute and nice. Beautirul leaves. I got a HC from them and  it is sleeping now, but it was pretty cute with leaves also.   Good luck there- and if you don't like the figs, you can always graft others into it!

 I sent Hirt's Garden an email asking about the ischia blue and I ended up with no answers.


Email to Hirts:

Henry Castaneda <twobrothersgarden@gmail.com>	Mar 23 (2 days ago)
to Matt

Matt Hirt	Mar 23 (2 days ago)
to me

Henry Castaneda <twobrothersgarden@gmail.com>	Mar 23 (2 days ago)
to info

Annette Tirrell <ATirrell@noursefarms.com>	6:33 AM (13 hours ago)
to me

Very sorry,  but we do not grow anything like this.  Our products are strawberries, raspberries and asparagus roots. We can not help with this request.

Nourse Farms, Inc.

Henry,
I'm impressed you even got a response from Hirts. I have asked about a couple of the grasses I have bought from them and absolutely no communication came back from them. They seem to sell quite healthy plants but have zero customer service.

After reading how they have pilfered from Jon in the picture catagory and selling questionably named plants I think I will have to pass on their offerings in the future.

Please keep us posted on how your "Blue Ischia" is doing.

The bureaucrat's salute:

    Just wanted to share my own experience with Hirt's Gardens (it was actually a positive experience)...Experience # 1...about a year ago I purchased a White Ischia fig tree for $6.50...and as stated above, it was a small tree, in a small pot(but for 6 bucks, I wasn't expecting a whole lot more)...the main thing is that they sent me a healthy tree, that has grown from a 3 or 4 inch tree into an 18" tree that has already leafed out for this season...when it was sent to me it was packaged and protected very well...so no complaints there.   Experience # 2...  of course, this year I couldn't resist the advertisement for the "Blue Ischia" fig tree(is it blue?..is it black?..is it ?..well you get the idea)...so I bought one and it arrived at my house in 3 business days(priority mail,there idea not mine)...the packaging, and protection was excellent, with the pot taped and covered to contain soil...it was completly surrounded by packing peanuts...and they also included a heat pack to protect against unexpected cold snaps...the tree and pot were small(as expected), but there seemed to be a lot of tree in the pot, so upon further inspection (eg. up potting) I discovered that they had shipped two seperate trees in the same pot...they were growing in something similar to a root riot cube, but different...so I am now the proud owner of two "Blue Ischia" trees(I think)  :)  :)    ...as far as customer service, I have never had to contact them, so I'm not sure of that aspect of their business, and I know that some members have not been serviced well by that department...but so far they have treated me well, and I am a satisfied customer. 

Hey Pete,
My Green Ischia is the most vigorous cultivar I've ever worked with. I have Black cuttings T've yet to set up and I've never tried a white but I have traded, sold, given away, etc. dozens of Green Ischias and have never gotten anything but great reviews. It is actually the fig variety that started my move from apples, etc. to figs.

Your picture looks more delicious than any I've seen of this variety. I'm going to have to reconsider these.
How is the taste?

If ripe they are great.

The picture on Amazon does not match what you're getting. The picture is not a picture of the Blue Ischia plant you're getting. The plant you're getting is a tiny plant in a 4" container.A couple of months ago, I bought the Blue Ischia and it looked like Henri's. I also bought a Hardy Chicago and Genoa Purple from them on Amazon. All three plants were attacked by Bugs Bunny. The Hardy Chicago was totally destroyed and the Blue Ischia is still clinging to life and trying to recover after I fenced my pots. I'm waiting to see if the Hardy Chicago will come back from its roots. As to the Genoa Purple, I was impressed by the size of that plant and will see what kind of figs it will give in the future. It seemed to be growing like a shrub rather than a one trunk tree and despite being shredded by wabbits, it is still doing ok.
I bought from them several other plants and cannot remember ever receiving a sub quality item. As far as communication is concerned they apparently have a high turnover and lots of online business which perhaps makes it almost impossible to answer every email they get. This is no excuse.Despite their lack of communication, I can safely say that I never had a problem with what I ordered from them.

The first picture shows the Genoa Purple after being damaged by rabbits. The second picture shows the Blue Ischia and the third shows how the hardy Chicago was wiped out off the face of the earth down to two inches below the surface.

After reading what you guys had to say about them, I cannot help but question what I really bought from them...