Italian 376 fig, an Italian numbered fig variety, good production on a small tree, about a dozen figs on a two foot tall tree:  

This summer here an Atreano fig bush in ground has well over 100 feet of trunk and limb but only one fig fruit – probably because it gets only about 4 hours of direct sun and was totally topkilled by winter. However, the limited light and total topkill does not prevent similarly situated Mt Etna fig… Continue reading Inherent Capability of Fig Varieties

First in ground figs of the season ripening now. Mt Etna variety, Hardy Chicago:

Osborn Prolific fig, also known as Rust fig, has a sweet caramel flavor. Has somewhat similar features as Improved Celeste while being somewhat larger and later ripening. Osborn Prolific has been found to be genetically similar to figs from Turkmenistan, a group of figs that “may represent non-Mediterranean type wild figs found in the Hyrcanic… Continue reading Osborn Prolific

5 different fig varieties usually ripen a few first main crop figs by or about mid-August in pots in this growing zone: Improved Celeste, Ronde de Bordeaux, Mt Etna, LSU Purple, Florea, photoed below. In-ground figs (almost all Mt Etna) are a month behind in usually beginning to ripen figs around September 1st. It can… Continue reading Early-Mid August Figs Ripening

Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste, Florea. Here these 3 figs tend to ripen about half a month before any other main crop variety. Each with excellent and differing flavor. (The fourth variety to ripen each year is usually Mt Etna, the most prolific, also with great flavor.) First RdB picked a couple days ago was… Continue reading The Three Earlies

A few “Italian numbered” figs ripened as brebas here this year, and one that produced a single breba is loaded with main crop for its small size, I-376. According to a California Rare Fruit Grower’s document, “Todd Kennedy collected the Italian numbered figs in the 1980s in Rome.” Of I-376, the document notes: “Amber-purple skin,… Continue reading Italian Numbered Figs

A couple of first-rate breba figs yesterday from opposite ends of the color spectrum: White Marseille and Negronne. These readily available varieties are premier cultivars in both breba crop and main crop. (Negronne, as its synonym Violet de Bordeaux, is stocked by Edible Landscaping as is [White] Marseille.) Though this pair of figs ripened relatively late… Continue reading White Marseille and Negronne

First crop figs, known as breba figs, come in limited quantity on small trees but across a wide variety of cultivars. (Photos and list of this year’s first ripening breba dates by variety at link.) Some of the better breba figs to this point:  Italian 376: GT-1: San Miro Piro: Desert King: Negronne (Violette de… Continue reading The Few, The Early: Breba Figs 2017

  Said to be from Italy, the San Miro Piro fig variety has breba figs that are big, sweet, and bright yellow with a light honey flavor similar to the flavor, size, and color of Long Yellow’s main crop figs.