Huge fan of UC Davis!  Get your order in early because it is first come, first served.  Seriously!
Suzi

You bet I pinch them Pete, the problem has mostly been winter hardiness, and some just don't grow anything but mosaic leaves. A couple have produced figs after being top killed but not many and it was a record hot year here. They survived the warm winter better than normal and one that I lost the tag off of looks really nice, although still very small as a 6 year old tree. I only pinched Kathleen's once and then let her to grow and put on some air-layers because I trust H2 that she will be productive as a young lady. She grows very well and I am planning to plant out at least 5 trees (probably where UCD trees are now) for a really nice bonus in 5 years time.

Herman2 covered all of this really well over the years here, I agree with what he found and anyone living in someplace with a winter (op) would be smarter to pick one of his favorites, and pay him for it because he has gone through many, many figs to be able to offer the best for the mid-Atlantic.
I am very grateful for UC Davis, they were my first cuttings and they taught me some tough lessons. I also have a feeling that 6 years is going to be worth the wait for some varieties. 

Mediterranean Queen,
Suz

Thanks Pete, I went through my old e-mails and see I had sent it to her before as well but I hadn't remembered, that will save me a bit of frustration come march.

I just was looking at the official form where you list the varieties you want and it gave a different name and address. The same one Chivas used.

I sent this year's order there Gina, hope it goes through.  Never had a problem before.

Suzi

Once I got a confirmation, but never had a problem.  Cuttings arrived, and they smelled like heaven.  What do you have to lose?  Go for it!

Suz

i sent the order into mr. prins number of times. never got any reply. first year, he was the person i sent the order into. last year, i sent  it to him also. never got any confirmation. i even sent an email asking for confirmation. then i read in the forum to try sending it to mary parker. i did and get confirmation reply right away.

i guess it won't hurt to send it to multiple people.. just in case.

I got the mailer demon when I sent to mary parker.  What is the exact email you used, Pete?

Ty!  Suzi! 

I was trying to get a confirmation on my may order.

mary.parker@ars.usda.gov

that's the one i used last year.. if it's not working any more.. i have no clue who would be the contact point. i even tried giving mr. prins and others a call and never got through.

Mary replied to me about an hour ago from my email last night saying that I would receive confirmation once it gets entered, so we'll see when that it.

Mary replied to me about an hour ago from my email last night saying that I would receive confirmation once it gets entered, so we'll see when that it.

Thanks for the link to Mary, Pete!  Here is her response: 

Your order has been sent to the order desk and you will receive an order number soon. 

Thank you,

Mary Parker

now..nice thing to find out is who is the "order desk" and how can we get to them without bugging the heck out of mary all the time :)

For those that are new, a small reality check might be in order.

1.  USDA/UC Davis operates on a very, very minimal staff. Often that precludes them from being timely in their responses. Much of the grunt work, including packing and shipping is done as a sort of "community service"  by students at UC Davis, for no $, Sort of a "no-credit" lab class.

2.  Every time you change, amend, add-to your order, etc. you multiply the amount of time it takes to process your order. Time is not something they have excess of. When you send your order in doesn't matter, as long as it is before December 1st. Sending in in first doesn't get you the first shipment.

3.  They are there as a germplasm repository and research facility. Technically, they only send material to researchers. When we ask for cuttings, we are a retail customer, which, strictly speaking, is not there mission and purpose. So, the fact that they do ship to us is a courtesy and a privilege.

That was good, Jon! It is a privilege to deal with them. But nice that you reminded us it's best not to ammend or change our orders because it's really hard on them.

We have each other to trade cuttings with, so at least we have that, but they are an awesome resource!
Suzi

I am very thankful they send them, I just want to send mine in early because I am thinking I may end up forgetting to send them in eventually, the other reason is some of the varieties are hard for me to get in Canada and this is the source from which I get them, if I can buy it, then I have.

Jon sells cuttings as well Suzi. His selection dwarfs UCD and cuttings are priced to own.  He does do it first come, first served, for the most part, I think. And they are available in March, I think ;)

I never got a response from them and I don't think I submitted it properly.   I'll just let it be and get my cuttings from Members.   Thanks for the good info everyone!