Some durians are named to sell, and D78 is one of them. The trade calls it Sweetie, a name that promises a sugar bomb and sets up a lot of first-timers
The first thing anyone notices about a D158 is the stem. It runs so long, sometimes close to a foot, that the fruit looks like it arrived with a built-in handle.
Most durians you meet are old survivors, wild seedlings or heritage clones that a farmer noticed and kept. D144 is a different animal, a deliberate cross
People ask me this at every farmers market I work, usually right after they smell the durian on my table: could they just grow one in their yard in Florida?
Penang durian season does not really start until the 600 shows up. This early dropper is one of the first varieties off the trees in Balik Pulau, and for
The first D168 I cut open in my San Diego greenhouse smelled of warm custard with a thread of almond behind it. Most first-timers brace for a sulfur wall
Every few weeks a customer tells me they want a durian that will not fight them, something rich and smooth for a first date with the fruit, and more often
Ask for durian in Kuantan and sooner or later someone presses a Beserah into your hands and watches your face. This is the Pahang clone registered as D145
Every durian season a handful of my customers ask me for the Golden Phoenix by name, and just as many ask for it without knowing that is what they want.
People ask me this every summer, usually right after they have tasted their first ripe durian (Durio zibethinus) and decided they cannot live without hauling one home.