Anyone else get mislabeled fig trees from Dave Wilson Nursery?

I got a Black Jack and a Hardy Chicago via the SOFT program and a local nursery. Both have green fruit.

The Panache I got is correct and probably (I hope) the Violette de Bordeaux.

gary

Could you tell more about the SOFT program, please? I've never heard of it.

SOFT = Special Order Fruit Tree program. See Dave Wilson. They must be ordered through a "Participating Nursery". It allows for the order of a single tree, which the nursery might not normally order because of the requirement to order multiples of a variety through the normal order process. Not all DWN products are available though the SOFT program.

Since I do not see all of the DWN trees that I sell, after they are sold, planted and have fruit, I can't say that they were all correctly labeled. However, I have never seen a mislabeled tree, with one exception:  A couple Panache ended up being the reverted green form that I can Reverse. That could happen to anyone propagating a Panache because you never know when a bud, or cutting will decide to revert. I have the "reverted" branches on my tree labeled, but every once in a while another twig goes "rogue".

To my knowledge, DWN propagates only from their own plant material and have very good control over their production process. That is why I order their material for local customers. I know from you own nursery operations that "stuff" happens, but with a bit of care, that can be the rare exception. There is also the possibility that they were mishandled or mislabeled at your retail nursery - maybe the tags came off and they thought they got  it right.

The VdB should have pretty distinctive leaves and be easy to identify as genuine. Hardy Chicago leaves should be different from most green-fig leaves, but Black Jack is more "generic" in its leaf shape.

Jon,

The Panache has a fruit that is appropriately striped, in fact, part of the trunk is variegated, so I'm certain of it.

The VdB had a little black breba on it back in March (which I pinched off), and has small spikey leaves.

The leaves on the other two are very similar, if not identical. I don't have any form of digital camera or I'd post pictures.

One has a four fruit breba crop (for months now), the other has two fruits that are recently formed near new growth. I figure they are either Kadota or Conadria.

Obviously, I can't know for sure where they were switched or mislabeled, but I didn't get the impression that the nursery had many SOFT orders, especially of other fig trees to even switch with.

When they were brought out to me at the nursery the four were tied together, but separate from the peaches and cherries I ordered.

They were nice sized trees, well worth the money, but I don't know about ordering from them again, I'm wary. Given the size of their operation I can see getting a tree mislabeled now and then, but two of four is not very good.

gary

I used the term "breba" but may be wrong in it's use. I'm fig-ignorant, but I do know the difference between "dark" and "green" :-)

Black Jack and Hardy Chicago would have very different sized fruit. Black Jack should be the size of a Brown Turkey, while Hardy Chicago would be more the size of the Celeste.

I was not aware that Hardy Chicago colored up only during the last two weeks, I assumed it was a more gradual change.

The pea-sized Violette de Bordeaux I plucked back in March was black from the git-go.

The photos of Celeste that I find online compare it to a quarter. I would compare these Hardy Chicagos to a nickle. They have not grown in size in a long time. The tree receives full sun and plenty of water. The fruit has almost no neck as all.

Here is Violet de Bordeaux grown in container near Chicago ( our yard ) from 2010 displaying color in early stage ones next to those were of same color then turn more greenish as they enlarge then will turn dark eventually during ripening period.

Other picture from 2011 showing various colors as they go thru ripening.

This season some came out with reddish hue.

Here are some pictures of Black Jack, Hardy Chicago and VDB for comparison. The larger Hardy Chicago figs in the picture are over a month old.
 

Gary, my point is just that maybe your trees weren't mislabeled.  Pictures would help us know, if you find yourself with capability to post pics at some point.  Later, when I get home, I can post a picture of a Hardy Chicago fig that has been green for about 80 days so far.  Lots of variables can affect shading, but on this tree they've gotten dark only in the final stage as they ripen.

Mike

Thank you, Dieseler and Pete, for the pics.

Mike, I understood the point you were making. Out of ignorance I, most likely, jumped the gun.

My appologies to Dave Wilson Nursery.

gary