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It seems I had spoken too soon regarding Peggy not having rich flavor. The 2nd of those two mangoes sat out a week longer, without any sign of breaking down, tasted fantastic. It was sweeter and whatever acidity the 1st fruit had was not detected at all in this mango. I dare to venture a turf war in say this mango is better than Pickering Absolutely worth growing for SoCal, don't know if it's proven elsewhere.
Haven't had Dot but I didn't think much of Graham, a good mango but not that special.I'm not sure the exact stage you ate your previous Peggy Winters but this one was much better than the my first, a lot better than the two we sampled at Leo's. Weird how much its profile changes so drastically.
I've got to try this OTT you've been advocating for so long
Yes, Tim - like Mr. Jack Fruit asked - where's Peggy's horn of plenty?It's GOT to be the best part of the mango! gary
Allow me to simply apologize for the barrage of pictures A big Thank You to Leo for generously hosting us in his amazingly compact backyard, thank you Simon (simon_grow) for putting this meeting together and making everything possible, it truly was an enjoyable day. The casts included Leo Manuel himself, Simon, two other forum members we met for the first time known as Gary (mangofang) & Joe (JF), Eunice Messner chauffeured by Joe, Jim Neitzel & Frank (can't seem to recall but I think Jim mentioned Abbott)... and myself.Simon will provide more details on the Q&A by members here at a later time.Leo's marked Todo Santos wedge graft - multi-grafted treeTodo Santos mangoes - we were told it's a Mexican cultivarMoringa - not having much success in front yard Longan - forgot to ask which cultivarPassiflora coccinea?Big jaboticaba tree right in his front porch - doesn't get nearly as much sun (in between properties)Kensington Pride seedling tree & fruitsLeo's mislabeled "Carrie" seedling tree, I suspect it to be VP seedling - Jim also confirms my VP suspicionThomson T-1 mango - according to Leo, Paul Thomson preferred this mango many times over his other commercialized cultivar, Thomson mango."Florida sourced" Maha Chanok, multi-grafted onto the same rootstock as the T-1. That's his dilemma for not cutting the tree back to let Maha Chanok thriveseedling mango treeA massive seedling mango that Leo doesn't remember from which cultivaranother seedling selection that's multi-grafted onto the same tree as aboveMulti-grafted seedling selections with Simon looking onNam Doc Mai bushdwarf Keitt mango - this tree was allowed to fruit at a young age, doesn't seem to bounce back at all, it's now putting out even more humongous fruits ... poor treeJim, mangofang & Eunice admiring the multi-grafted Peggy mango tree ... Jim calls this Peggy tree "the always reliable"grafted onto the same rootstock as Peggy, forgot which variety this is (U.P.)? This exposed to the element fruit doesn't seem to fare wellBrewster Lychee - only remaining handful of fruits are on the neighbor's side of the yardOne of the many seedling trees, though this one has not been grafted on yet. Bottom right hand corner in white grafting tape is a newly grafted Lemon Zest.Kensington Pride mangoes, the actual KP mango -not KP seedling like his other treesLeo in the midst of his backyard jungleseedling tree's new growth - the colors are absolutely amazing in personMcDill white sapote, fruits in the cluster of 4 in the second picture are bigger than a large navel orange ... unrealseedling rose apple from one of his other known cultivar, new growth on SoCAL sky backdropbig macadamia seedling tree, planted just outside of his property linePink Panther dragon fruit - He told us but I forgot the actual crossesYellow Dragon - even though it hasn't fully filled out, still pretty big fruits for a yellow dragonLeo's signature hybrid DRAGON TOMATOSan Ignacio (red) - this fruit is massive, the thumb scale doesn't do it justicehuge cherimoya tree's new growth after "severe" pruning - humongous leavesmangofang, JF & Leo ... you can't really tell but I managed to get in under the low canopy of this Peggy mango to snap this picture - annoying paparazzi skills Jim discussing plant matters with Eunicesmall view of Leo's backyard jungle, left of the cherimoya tree is his Annona hybrid (Atemoya x Cherimoya)fruits from seedling tree "seedling 3" & fruit of another seedling selectionEunice's box of mangoes - Edwards, Thomsons & CarnivalsKent mango knocked off the tree by accident, rock hard & still very green (outside the box)Leo's favorite fruits Leo's sampler basket - clockwise from top right: Peggy, Rose Giant, Rose Giant, seedling 11, Early Gold, Rose Giant (center)Eunice & Frank in conversation with Jim(not in picture), JF staring at mangofang. Behind Frank is a multi-grafted Surinam treemangofang showing JF & Simon how big a hoop his long arms make, Simon's not impressedJim conversing with Eunice & Frank, with JF replacing mangofang in hoop makingLeo finally resting his legs after multiple tours. Simon, Frank & I arrived earlier...Jim discussing poly mango seed with JF, mangofang & SimonPioneers of SoCAL tropicals - from left to right: Leo, Eunice, Frank & JimGroup picture, seated: Leo, Eunice, Jim. Back row: Me, Frank, Gary (mangofang) & Joe (JF)Group picture, seated: Leo, Eunice, Jim. Back row: Simon, Me, Frank & Gary (mangofang). Who's the better photographer? Simon or JF?Leo giving our group a tour of his back yardJim showing Eunice & myself a seedling loquat, 1 of 4 seeds Maurice Kong sent to Leo & Jim.lone fruit from seedling selection grafted onto turpentine rootstock. Leo uses turpentine as opposed to manila rootstocks, I forgot what his explanation to JF was.top worked tree with Kensington Pride seedling. Notice the graft right above the rope tie? Branched out from the scion and fruited immediately. Fuyu persimmon in backgroundFuyu persimmonJim showing Eunice a multi-grafted apricot treeLeo's dragon fruit collection, there are WAY MORE pots than my camera can pan out at that distance. Can't take pictures from too far because they'd be covered by other treesGary questioning legitimacy of this PEGGY mango dropping on its own without my helpingPeggy mango with its unique and characteristic protuberance Leo's generous gift