Sybil (on the phone) I know... I know... I know

[digitS']

... Oh, I know!

Basil Fawlty: Then why is she telling you?

So, what is it with seed companies and their different names for the same thing? Of course , I'm talking about Basil, the herb.

Hello, Seed Companies!

What you are offering is identical to what the other companies are offering! It doesn't matter if you call it Italian, Genovese, Large Leaf, or Sweet.

The are all Italian, Genovese, Large Leaf, and Sweet! If the variety is actually something different but still Italian, Genovese, large-leaf, and sweet ~ unless that is so -- use the same name for them!

Oh, these are better? So you thought "Nufar" and "Gecofur" would be better names for your varieties? Well, think again! Those are the most idiotic names for plants I have heard since someone thought it would be okay to call the common houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) "welcome home husband though never so drunk!"

Okay, so Nufar and Gecofur are disease-resistant Italian, Genovese, large-leaf, sweet basils. Oh! How ever so foolish of me! I should have recognized that by the charmingly descriptive names you came up with for them!



Steve

 

[Carol Dee]

LOL got to agree with this for sure!

 

[digitS']

I think the companies may do the opposite to confuse us about tarragon. They pretend it only has one name.

French tarragon in a delightful herb. I have enjoyed having it! Apparently, it is nearly always propagated by cuttings and I bought it as started plants. Well, that squeezes the seed companies out of the tarragon business. Right? Nope!

I have never had any experience with Russian tarragon. What I read about it is that it can have the same uses as its French relative. However . . . the folks who seem to know, wouldn't touch Russian tarragon with a 5' pole. (Those who wouldn't even use a 10' pole, I question their level of knowledge and snobbery. Still, I have no experience one way or the other.)

Russian tarragon makes viable seeds and soooooooo the seed companies stamp "Tarragon" on the packet and sell them. This has gone on for the nearly 50 years I have been looking at seed catalogs!

That seed is used in what has been proverbially called, "a shell game." What you think you are getting under the shell isn't there. There may be a better name for this flim-flam. I used to live just off the Bunco Road (Thistle' will know where that is). However, I was not quite on the Bunco.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm still pondering Gecko Fur...doesn't sound appetizing to me.

So are you saying Steve that french tarragon can only be had from started cuttings? And the Russian variety is what's in seed packets? And they taste completely different?

If I buy a plant from a nursery and it's only marked "Tarragon" on the label, then I may be getting either?

 

[digitS']

Fine as frog hair, that basil is!

(Actually, it is a real nice Italian, Genovese, large-leaf, sweet basil.)

There is also a Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida). Hoodat may tell us about its uses.

As best as I understand, you'd better check the plant label to be sure it says French (Artemisia dracunculus). Correctly labeled the Russian tarragon seed on the racks are Artemisia dracunculoides Pursch.

I don't really know about the taste of Russian tarragon. It may have its uses but the culinary community apparently doesn't want to have anything to do with it.

Steve

edited: oh, i checked on the spelling. it is "gecofure" - i wonder if one is supposed to pronounce the "e" . . ?

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, well Gecko Furry does sound more edible. Of course Gecko Fury sounds a bit more exciting.


Don't ever get a gecko mad....

 

[baymule]

 

[hoodat]

They do that all the time with tomatos. Every variety they sell is the best tomato ever grown. How can they all be the best one?

 

[so lucky]

Getting advice on tomato varieties from friends here on TEG is a good idea, but even then, what is delicious to you may be too sweet to me. And my garden chemistry & location may make a totally different tomato than yours does. So I guess everyone just has to do their own trials.......but even then, taste and performance may vary from one year to the next, depending on the weather..............It's just a craps shoot, any way you look at it. But we keep doing it!

 

[joz]

There is also a Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida).

Texas or Spanish Tarragon (or Mexican Marigold... i believe these all refer to the same plant) taste very similar to French Tarragon. They're much more forgiving plants, in my experience.... mine have been ignored or abused, and come back after the next rainstorm. French Tarragon doesn't like the heat much, or too much sun, or bugs, or drying out, or being kept too wet. It's finicky in the deep south.

The Three Tarragons: French, Russian, and Mexican