Thanks all for the very nice compliments. Yes Matt and Tom those are outdoor (ridge) cucs. The variety is "Japanese Long". I'm not a big cuc fan unless they're pickled, but my Mom and the people I've given them to say they're very good. I got them from the place where I get most of my seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, the web site is
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They can give you a better discription than I can and it's fun just to look at the different veg varieties they carry. I think they ship overseas if anything stikes your fancy. Hi Lesley. You're partly correct about the flowers except these are hardy hibiscus. Mom's had them for years on the south side of the house, in full sun. She cuts them to the ground after the first frost (the stems never make it through the winter) and they send up new shoots every year, although always with a little worry because they're always the very last of her perenials to show signs of life. I think the variety is different colors of Disco Bell. The toms in front are Cherokee Purple, my favorite, the one pinkish in the upper left (that shows the cracks) is called Delisious an I'm sorry to say I can't remember what the orange ones are but I know they're an heirloom variety because that's all I plant. I'll have to do a bit of detective work to see if I can come up with a name because they taste good too.
