Hello,

Has anyone bought any of these so-called super berries? I have seen
them advertised in the various catalogues. As I understand it arona
berries are very tart so cannot be eaten off the bush but honey
berries are supposed to taste like sweet blueberries. is this true?
What do goji berries taste like?

I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

TIA

Aronia http://www.aroniaberry.org/

Goji Also called The Duke of Argyll's Teaplant. Grows freely in the UK, but frankly I have never managed to find any berries on the plants we had.

Honeyberry is a lonicera.

As a matter of principle, when buying bushes for fruiting, do not go for the tiny ones sold mail order. They take far longer to establish. Look for well-grown plants, buy in autumn or spring, and see if the supplier will guarantee that the plants will berry. Also check carefully to see if you need more than one in order to have a pollinator.

There is some evidence that our own home-grown freshly picked fruits are just as good, and possibly better for you, than these imported plants.

"Fred" wrote in message
...
I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

Thompson & Morgan are the 'pits'. You order from a catalogue which has the
delivery date of May. When you receive the order confirmation the delivery
date has changed to August - then the latest catalogue says September. And
all this time they have your money. Still, don't worry, the plants probably
won't grow anyway so all that you have lost is your hard earned cash!

Phil

On 30 May, 12:44, "Phil Gurr" wrote:
"Fred" wrote in message

...

I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

Thompson & Morgan are the 'pits'. You order from a catalogue which has the
delivery date of May. When you receive the order confirmation the delivery
date has changed to August - then the latest catalogue says September. And
all this time they have your money. Still, don't worry, the plants probably
won't grow anyway so all that you have lost is your hard earned cash!

Phil

I have just had 4 very nice plants of Hydrangea Magical Amethyst from
T & M they werer on offer at £2.50 for 9cm pot, the plants are 12 to
18 inches high and good, delivery was for June and they arrived today,
Posted Thursday from Jersey, the last plants I had from them took less
than 24 hours and arived 10 days after ordering..
Hayloft plants are asking £18.00 + p&p for same size pot
http://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/hydr.../prod3291.html

Now regarding Goji berries, you have to be carefull f some of the
stock being sold in the UK Bare rooted.
concerns of disease being passed to other plants such as tomatoes and
potatoes, full information of which can be found at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/lycium.pdf. We are aware DEFRA are also
currently investigating the fact that certain other suppliers have
been importing their Goji's from China via Holland - thus securing a
false European Plant Passport and we understand prosecutions are
likely. Most of these plants we understand are bare rooted (and were
shown on BBC Gardeners World). Our Goji plants and our production
methods were fully inspected and approved by DEFRA as at the 23 April
2008. A further bulletin from DEFRA can be viewed at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/080430b.htm. Should you become aware
of any of these bare rooted plants and/or incorrectly certified plants
we urge you to contact DEFRA directly as the impact on UK grown
potatoes and tomatoes would be huge if disease was introduced.
The berries will begin to set in autumn. The ripe fruit are sweet and
juicy and almost shiny in appearance. The flowers will continue to
bloom right up until the first frosts, however, so your plants will be
red, white and purple throughout late summer and autumn.

On 30 May, 23:10, Dave Hill wrote:
On 30 May, 12:44, "Phil Gurr" wrote:





"Fred" wrote in message

.. .

I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

Thompson & Morgan are the 'pits'. You order from a catalogue which has the
delivery date of May. When you receive the order confirmation the delivery
date has changed to August - then the latest catalogue says September. And
all this time they have your money. Still, don't worry, the plants probably
won't grow anyway so all that you have lost is your hard earned cash!

Phil

I have just had 4 very nice plants of Hydrangea Magical Amethyst from
T & M they werer on offer at £2.50 for 9cm pot, the plants are 12 to
18 inches high and good, delivery was for June and they arrived today,
Posted Thursday from Jersey, the last plants I had from them took less
than 24 hours and arived 10 days after ordering..
Hayloft plants are asking £18.00 + p&p for same size pothttp://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/hydrangea/macrophylla-magical-amethys...

Now regarding Goji berries, you have to be carefull f some of the
stock being sold in the UK Bare rooted.
concerns of disease being passed to other plants such as tomatoes and
potatoes, full information of which can be found athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/lycium.pdf. We are aware DEFRA are also
currently investigating the fact that certain other suppliers have
been importing their Goji's from China via Holland - thus securing a
false European Plant Passport and we understand prosecutions are
likely. Most of these plants we understand are bare rooted (and were
shown on BBC Gardeners World). Our Goji plants and our production
methods were fully inspected and approved by DEFRA as at the 23 April
2008. A further bulletin from DEFRA can be viewed athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/080430b.htm. Should you become aware
of any of these bare rooted plants and/or incorrectly certified plants
we urge you to contact DEFRA directly as the impact on UK grown
potatoes and tomatoes would be huge if disease was introduced.
The berries will begin to set in autumn. The ripe fruit are sweet and
juicy and almost shiny in appearance. The flowers will continue to
bloom right up until the first frosts, however, so your plants will be
red, white and purple throughout late summer and autumn.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I first came accross Goji Berries when I found a bush growing behind
an empty property in Barry Dock (South Wales) around 20 years ago, I
got cuttings and grew a couple for a few yeras , I knew it as the Duke
of Argyll's Tea Tree, never heard of super fruits, and as it is a
member of the Solanium family I didn't try eating it.
I am growing it again and am expecting my plants to flower this year
for the first time.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries.

On Sat, 30 May 2009 15:18:09 -0700 (PDT), Dave Hill
wrote:

On 30 May, 23:10, Dave Hill wrote:
On 30 May, 12:44, "Phil Gurr" wrote:





"Fred" wrote in message

.. .

I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

Thompson & Morgan are the 'pits'. You order from a catalogue which has the
delivery date of May. When you receive the order confirmation the delivery
date has changed to August - then the latest catalogue says September. And
all this time they have your money. Still, don't worry, the plants probably
won't grow anyway so all that you have lost is your hard earned cash!

Phil

I have just had 4 very nice plants of Hydrangea Magical Amethyst from
T & M they werer on offer at £2.50 for 9cm pot, the plants are 12 to
18 inches high and good, delivery was for June and they arrived today,
Posted Thursday from Jersey, the last plants I had from them took less
than 24 hours and arived 10 days after ordering..
Hayloft plants are asking £18.00 + p&p for same size pothttp://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/hydrangea/macrophylla-magical-amethys...

Now regarding Goji berries, you have to be carefull f some of the
stock being sold in the UK Bare rooted.
concerns of disease being passed to other plants such as tomatoes and
potatoes, full information of which can be found athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/lycium.pdf. We are aware DEFRA are also
currently investigating the fact that certain other suppliers have
been importing their Goji's from China via Holland - thus securing a
false European Plant Passport and we understand prosecutions are
likely. Most of these plants we understand are bare rooted (and were
shown on BBC Gardeners World). Our Goji plants and our production
methods were fully inspected and approved by DEFRA as at the 23 April
2008. A further bulletin from DEFRA can be viewed athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/080430b.htm. Should you become aware
of any of these bare rooted plants and/or incorrectly certified plants
we urge you to contact DEFRA directly as the impact on UK grown
potatoes and tomatoes would be huge if disease was introduced.
The berries will begin to set in autumn. The ripe fruit are sweet and
juicy and almost shiny in appearance. The flowers will continue to
bloom right up until the first frosts, however, so your plants will be
red, white and purple throughout late summer and autumn.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I first came accross Goji Berries when I found a bush growing behind
an empty property in Barry Dock (South Wales) around 20 years ago, I
got cuttings and grew a couple for a few yeras , I knew it as the Duke
of Argyll's Tea Tree, never heard of super fruits, and as it is a
member of the Solanium family I didn't try eating it.
I am growing it again and am expecting my plants to flower this year
for the first time.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries.

I ordered goji berry plants from T&M last year. The plants have
overwintered, in a big pot, but so far no sign of flowers. I heard
warnings about the origins of goji berry plants after I had bought
mine and phoned T&M who assured me their stock were safe.
I've heard of the Duke of Argyll's tea tree but had no idea what it
is. Time will tell. I've only eaten dried goji berries; very
tasteless!


Pam in Bristol

On Fri, 29 May 2009 22:24:00 +0100, Fred
wrote:

Hello,

Has anyone bought any of these so-called super berries? I have seen
them advertised in the various catalogues. As I understand it arona
berries are very tart so cannot be eaten off the bush but honey
berries are supposed to taste like sweet blueberries. is this true?
What do goji berries taste like?

I see that Thompson-Morgan's prices seem to be lower than everyone
else's but they do list small plants; how small? Perhaps the more
expensive catalogues are selling older, larger plants? Are they? Has
anyone ordered any and from whom and what size were they?

TIA

Did anyone else send for free seeds, offered in the Telegraph (Sat
gardening pages) 2 or 3 months ago by Plant World, Newton Abbbot?
They are 2 varieties of solanum family plants with edible berries, one
golden, one black. My plants have yet to flower. One variety look
indistinguishable from tomato plants. I don't have "great
expectations" of them.

Pam in Bristol

Fred wrote:

Has anyone bought any of these so-called super berries? I have seen
them advertised in the various catalogues. As I understand it arona
berries are very tart so cannot be eaten off the bush but honey
berries are supposed to taste like sweet blueberries. is this true?
What do goji berries taste like?

Honeyberry is a variety of bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea).
It's sometimes called Blue Honeysuckle, and the Japanese call it Haskap.

Plants for a future have info at

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants....icera+caerulea

and there is a canadian Haskap Association at

http://www.haskap.ca/index.htm

I was given some seed by a Czech fruit grower about 10 years or so ago,
and have 4 bushes. The fruit, when ripe, is similar in taste to wild
bilberry. The fruit remains very tart even when it start to darken. You
really have to make sure the berries are very dark and ripe.

I've seen it used in Sweden as a hedging plant.

My bushes appear to be adapted to a continental climate - cold winters
and warm/hot summers. Mild late autumns bring the bushes out in flower!
They really are very early, ripening on the bushes now.

They berries make a very pleasant jam. Unlike bilberries they have pectin
and make a "set" when jamming. My bushes are not particularly productive
and the berries are fairly small, but selected varieties should improve
both qualities.

cheers
Jim

I purchased 3 honey berry plants from Thompson-Morgan arrived last October over wintered in greenhouse now 24" high but no sign of flowers yet not much info with plants

No one seems to have mentioned the Aronia berries. Another name for these is Chokeberry because they are highly inedible due to the amount of cyanide in them. What you have to do is the cook the ripe berries in a little water. Then put the mush in a muslin cloth and allow the juice to drip through, as in making a Jelly. Then discard the remains. We make a Chokeberry Jam from the sharp but pleasant tasting juice. A lb of sugar to a pint of juice.