Dan,

Hi  Navid....Dan I hope you don't mind me doing this?

I am the guy who first "outed" JR's KT Nursery on the internet (with his permission) a few years ago. It all started with a shiny black fig named Sal's. Don't expect to see a large city type nursery. Here is his address:

James Robin
4017 Hwy 357
Opelousas, La. 70570
337-407-0188

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

......Cecil, you are faster than me. Ha ha. I had to go through my pile of papers to find the address.

Dan

Thanks Dan

Thanks Dan and Figluvah,

By any chance do you all have the list of plants that Mr. Rubin has for sale? Or do you all know which varieties that he carries or the prices?

Dan,

Is Mr. Rubin's nursery opens on Saturdays or do I have to call him and make an appointment with him?

Navid

It is best to give him a call to find out current info. His nursery is in his yard right next to the house. Saturdays or Sundays are not a problem if he is at home.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Thanks Dan,

HIs name is Robin............pronounced   "row bearh" in cajun french.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

By the way, Jason from petals of the past told me that LSU black is in fact the LSU Scott's blk. As Dan mentioned before.

I was 95% sure it was Scott's Black.........thanks for confirming. Again, you will love this fig.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

JR is who I bought my Scott's Black from.  And it's about 3' tall right now.  It was a good purchase.

FYI.........those of you who purchased a Scott's Black from JR a couple of years ago. You MIGHT have a Scott's Black and you just might have something else.  Somehow his Scott's Black plants got mixed up with some other yellow fig. So if your Scott's Black produces yellow figs....you got one that was mixed up. Should not be a problem with current trees he has for sale.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

If you get the Smith or Sal's from Dalton, it is highly likely that those strains originated from me. His Fico Negra that he now lists came from me......plus some others that are not yet listed. He had lost his Smith mother tree and I gave him an air layer in trade for some of his figs.  I gave him the Sal's fig since it seems to still be in demand. FYI....his is the Sal's El version. Both Smith and Sal's are excellent figs in my yard.  My Smith originated from old man Becnel who originally "found" this fig growing in the New Orleans area.

Also, JR was selling a fig a couple of years ago that he listed as Sal's too. However, I personally traced the heritage of this particular fig and know that it is completely different than Sal's Corleone and Sal's El. In reality this strain is an unknown Sicilian black fig (AKA Robin's Sicilian Black). These are large black figs which will split and sour during very heavy rains. It can handle light rains with no problem. The taste is very good often with a concord grape taste overtone. The honey that leaks from this fig will sometimes be red in color.

Hollier is a very sweet fig and large fig. My tree gets killed to the ground each year. Next year I intend to give it some winter protection to help it get better established.


..........bet you come back with more than you think you are going to buy!!


Dan
Semper Fi-cus

What is the difference between Sal's EL and Sal's Corleone? I know the EL stands for Edible landscaping. Would you recommend to buy all my trees from Durio or some from Mr. Robin's too? My only concern with Mr. Robin's trees is the Nematodes that has been mentioned before.

No more than five trees, it will be hard but I can do it :)

Hi Navid, I've bought trees twice now from James Robin with no nematode problems. Just pull them out of the pot and check. He won't mind. All trees I have from JR and Durio have grown very well. Can't wait to go back. JR also has LSU Scott's Yellow(he calls it "Brandy" ) I got one last fall and is growing great. If you want the true O-Rourke, buy it from Durio. The one from JR, in my opinion, is actually one of the Improved Celeste strains floating around. I'm in no way knocking JR, but others believe they are two distinct cultivars. Dan has said that both are very good figs. It'll definitely be worth your trip.

Not knocking JR either.......


However.....I have personally seen TWO different strains of LSU Improved Celeste at JR's place.  He will argue with you emphatically that they are the same. And I will tell you with 110% certainty that they are NOT the same. They don't even look close to being the same fig. You can tell the difference between the two by the leaf pattern on the young tree......I have given out leaf descriptions for these two in other threads.  And, yes BOTH of those are super excellent figs.

In fact, very few people know (until I advised otherwise) that there are even THREE strains of LSU Improved Celeste fig trees being sold in South Louisiana The third one is a yellow fig.  All three are definitely sibling figs that managed to find homes outside of the  LSU test orchards long before LSU officially released the one they named "O'Rourke". There is more to this story than what I can reveal right now......waiting until I publish my work.

Dalton grows his own fig cuttings. JR's cuttings come mostly from others. Again, I am not knocking either one of them. I would buy from either one of them without hesitation.  Just make sure to check the roots for nematodes. And that applies to buying fig trees FROM ANYBODY......check those roots BEFORE planting in the ground.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Whichever you buy from, I will repeat sage advice from above:  slide the tree out of the pots.  The roots should be smooth.  If there are any bumps, lumps or bubbles on the roots, you need to run like hell. 

One of five trees I've purchased from one of the Opelousas nurseries (I won't say which) was moderately infected with RKN.  Another one of those five died from a mysterious disease less than 18 months later.  You can't protect yourself from the latter, but you can from the prior.

.........you'd be surprised to know the reputable nurseries who in fact have sent out trees with nematodes. Always, always, always check those roots.... no matter who sent you those fig trees. Even if I sent you an inspected tree........check those roots!!!

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Indeed. I can say the owner of the Opelousas nursery I'm referencing handled the situation better than anyone I've dealt with buying trees to this day, and I appreciate it more than he will ever know for sure, to the point that I never even cashed the reimbursement check he sent to me. He went above and beyond what was expected for sure just to make sure we were square. That's an honest businessman.

Not everyone in the fig trade is so kind. I won't name names publicly or privately, but I had one purchase from a reputable individual where the dormant tree never fully woke up and I got no offer of refund, not even an offer of cuttings for the cost of shipping. Nothing. Just a note that more would be for sale soon. No hard feelings, I'm just wary of doing business with them till that seller makes it right (they aren't in Opelousas, in case it's not clear).

In short, I would buy from the Opelousas nursery that sold these five trees again if I went in person, even with the issues, because the seller is an honest man that cares more about customer satisfaction than the money, a good businessman that cares about his product and customer just the same.  I don't like the idea that someone has (even mistakenly) sent out trees infected with RKN, but ... as it was stated before, it happens commercially and from big names also.  You just need to know how to recognize it and get rid of the damned tree ASAP.

Three of those five trees were great, by the way. Some of my best growers.

Sorry if it seems like I am being cryptic. I've rubbed people the wrong way in the past by offering very frank purchase details, exact names and unbiased accounts of my experiences (I'm one to tell it straight up like it is).

Nkesh, Sals el and corleone are 2 distict cultivars.  You don't have to buy them from robbins or durio.  Plenty of people have those varieties.  I don't know why anyone would take a chance with jr when so many others have the same stuff.  

I specialize in the LSU bred figs and other Louisiana heirloom figs. I actively hunt them down all over south Louisiana. You will not find much written about the Scott's Yellow fig because it is a little known and rather rare O'Rourke fig selection.   You can read about the taste and fruiting characteristics for Scott's Yellow and a few of the figs that I am growing down here....in the link below:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0621220325558.html

FYI, this particular fig produced very "good tasting" Breba figs for me last year......almost a month before regular Celeste figs ripened in my area. This indicates to me that it MIGHT (note I said MIGHT....it is not proven yet)  do well in "short growing seasons" up north. It is a very productive fig.


Noss............isn't the mystery of figs sometimes fun and yet so frustrating at other times??  FYI, the Improved Celeste (not O'Rourke) has the stronger "figgy" taste of the two.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I might have posted this before, If I did please look over me, I have a bad case of CRS

Cecil,

That sucks.......

FYI, I most likely have lost two of my most prized fig trees this winter.  My Col de Dame White and my Cajun Honey seem to be completely gone. Yesterday I saw green finally emerging from Blue Bingo. IMO, I believe these all exhausted too much energy tying to ripen late season figs. Always something to learn........

Dan
Semper Fi-cus