Mt Etna.

Any early ripening fig varieties are worth trialing in ground, including 3 that ripen earlier than Mt Etna – LSU Improved Celeste, Ronde de Bordeaux, and Florea – however the Mt Etna type has proven itself to be at least as hardy as any other fig and to ripen figs most reliably during summers after severe winters have killed the fig tree or bush to the soil line. Pruning the new growth to a few trunks will increase the crop, directing energy from many would-be trunks with little or no fruit, to a few trunks lined with fruit.