Fig Flavor Description... By Cultivar

I am slowly wrapping my mind around Figs at the moment. For those who are curious... there are allegedly Thousands of different fig cultivars out there. And just like with most fruit trees they come in many different flavors as well.

Anyways, I just wanted to share a link for folks to read up on. Knowing what flavor profile the more common/easy to find figs have is a great starting point to finding the tree that is right for you. Next step would be to figure out what will do well in your frost zone... and handle your local humidity levels best. Some types top out @ 4' tall and others 30' tall.

In the following link I found a chart that Ross Raddi on YouTube made for everyone. He has hundreds of cultivars. He also likes the ourfigs.com website. There is a row of tabs at the bottom of the chart to view other aspects of figs as well.

Nothing will be as good as some of his vids though. I have seen him change his mind as his trees mature too. For instance he recently tasted his "Violette De Bourdieu" fig and was blown away by the flavor. He now considers it one of his top 5 figs based on growth/ease, production, and flavor.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i3l2K21bbaAkHjmSnqPX4yvoWEYJ7-YjHOtMPFoe1ME/edit#gid=247623640

Here is a Vid of the Violette de Bourdieu from about 5 days ago... I have two that just got upsized in pots sitting on the porch right now. Going in ground next Spring when the soil hits 70F.

In ground they allegedly only get around 10' Tall x 6' Wide.

Thank you for the great post Marty.  Did Ross take over Ourfigs from WillsC?  I don't spend much time over there any more.  WillsC started the site and is still listed as the Admin over there.

Greg Martin wrote:Thank you for the great post Marty.  Did Ross take over Ourfigs from WillsC?  I don't spend much time over there any more.  WillsC started the site and is still listed as the Admin over there.

It appears I was incorrect. I saw the link to ourfigs.com in the description area of his YouTube vid and made an assumption. I will go up to the first post and re-word it.

Thank you for the Thank you!

I had to post up this link to a blog I just found. They live in Tidewater, VA. Looked it up and it is zone 7B and a few hours North of me. Just as humid as it is here.

They planted out two Violette de Bordeaux, a LSU Purple, and a Celeste.

I just recently ordered two VDB and a LSU Purple about a month ago and thought it was funny. After seeing their VDB production levels I am betting that is why the tree is naturally dwarfing and only gets to a max of 6' x 10'. AKA easily managed smaller than that if wished. Two crops of high berry flavored figs per year. I can't wait!!!

http://point09acres.blogspot.com/2012/06/theyre-figgin-huge.html


In the video below Ross describes... by his experience with the figs in his climate... what he recommends growing as the best figs of each flavor category. This is off the list I placed in the first post.

Due to Australia’s ultra-strict quarantine laws we’re unable to try the most popular varieties from America and other places. We have our own varieties that were brought over by Mediterranean immigrants from their home towns in the days before Australia became strict with plant imports though, and a few popular international varieties that passed all the paperwork required, like Excel which was bred in America.

Tim Kivi wrote:Due to Australia’s ultra-strict quarantine laws we’re unable to try the most popular varieties from America and other places. We have our own varieties that were brought over by Mediterranean immigrants from their home towns in the days before Australia became strict with plant imports though, and a few popular international varieties that passed all the paperwork required, like Excel which was bred in America.

The most strict State we have as far as I know is California. Any company looking to bring in trees from their nursery from another state has to get “Tags” or certified to be able to ship to California (lots of states for that matter). I suggest finding out if California requirements meet Australia restrictions. If they do... you can then figure out which companies to buy from and have it pre-worked out how to get it there where you are. Even if it is easier to have cuttings (sticks) shipped on ice... it could be VERY lucrative for you to put in the extra effort. I see sets of two Black Madeira cuttings going for over $60 on figbid sometimes.

Imagine having a yard full of trees that you can snip branches off of in early spring and sell for great $$$. Especially if you root them yourself and pot them up for a season.