Here are some pictures of a few of the leading candidates for the "BEST Celeste" fig in my studies and trials. I have absolutely no doubt that if there is a such a thing as the BEST Celeste, that it will be found in South Louisiana. And it is one of my personal goals to find it..........

The fig to the left listed as Celeste LF, is a very "old" strain of Celeste. It has has been in LF's family for generations. I have been observing the mother tree for three years. It does not drop fruit. It has a closed and tight eye. These figs usually have a bloom on them. Its flavor is outstanding. These figs hang well on the tree (notice the bent stems from their hanging) and do not split from heavy rain. And I believe that this strain has a dwarfing tendency.....not 100% sure yet. The mother tree is a neglected tree and remains rather small. You will notice that there usually is a void in the center of this fig. However, this is never a problem as it will often fill with honey that cannot leak out due to the tight eye of this particular strain. Notice that this fig is rather small.  

The second fig to the right of Celeste LF is one of my LSU Gold figs. It was not fully ripe and is included in the picture for size comparisons only. Just to the right of the LSU Gold fig is a ripe Hunt fig. The eye is closed and tight on this fig too. It is a very good tasting fig. However, the tree is not as productive as I wished it to be. I have two from different sources and they are exactly the same fig. I likely will remove one this winter to make room for another different cultivar.

Just below the Hunt fig are a couple of ripe LSU Improved Celeste figs. I tried to get some dead ripe ones for the picture; however, the birds got under my netting and ruined most of my figs. (I sent that bird to fig heaven BTW.) This fig is NOT THE SAME fig a the O'Rourke fig. This fig is 33% larger than the size a regular strain Celeste fig. This tree is everbearing (will bear for 5 to six months in La.) Hanging dead ripe LSU Improved Celeste figs are off the chart GOOOOOOOD. This fig has a definite "figgy" taste. The pulp will turn to jam consistency and the flavor will be rich and very complex. IMO, it one of the best figs to come out of the LSU breeding program and Dr. O'Rourke met his goal of "improving" upon the queen regular Celeste fig with this particular fig. 

great pics!!!!

I took a que from Jon and used a piece of black cloth as the background. This really helps bring out those details. I'm definitely no photographer.......

Dan
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Dan, I think this is a great project you have taken on.  I wish my Celeste had those characteristics.  The Celeste LF has a beautiful color.

Great informative post Dan. My IC is very, very young. Rooted just this last spring in April.. It has single lobe, two and three lobes. I will post pictures once the plant is bigger. Right now it is only about 6 inches tall.

Great comparison Dan. Looking at the pictures make me think of my Father in laws trees that he lost to Gustav. His figs were always bigger than any other Celeste that I've seen and quite productive. Then it hit me, I seem to remember him telling me that another tree he had gotten from a friend that had LSU connection died after one year in the ground, but now I wonder if the other two also came from there. That might explain why they were bigger and very productive.

I'm was trying to add this note to my original post......but, for some reason the program is not alllowing me to do that....so here is my additional note:

"The leaf pattern on the Celeste FL stain is different than that of most regular Celeste trees found in Louisiana. It has many single lobed leaves on the tree like an LSU Improved Celeste tree does."

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Bob, it is my Blue "Bingo" tree that got top killed......not my Blue Celeste. These are two different figs. My Blue Celeste never has winter damage. I gurantee that you will be very pleased with the taste of the LSU Improved Celeste fig.

Terrowan, this is a LONG TERM project and I will have lots more to say on this particular topic in the years to come.


Dan
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.........that makes sense to me Gene. The leaf pattern on the LSU Improved Celeste tree is rather unique and will give you a good clue if it is an IC. This is the new hybrid strain (not O'Rourke) that is now replacing the old time Celeste cultivar in south Louisiana. Problem is........many of the owners are now equating their LSU Improved Celeste trees with the O'Rourke cultivar. Fig confusion at its best......as both sibling figs are very good.

Dan
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Whatever Jon does to his pictures seems to work real well. I'm just glad that the black cloth background seemed to work for me and my cheap camera.

Dan
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Looking at the picture, you would never know it was a cheapie. The pics look great, figs look even better.

Thanks for giving us a peak at this ongoing observation/study/trial. Good photos!

I am interested in reading more about the Celeste family history. Meanwhile, it is homework time for me...For example, what are your cultivar's crossed with?

Celeste :: An emeritus Celeste; the queen's sister?
LSU Gold :: Celeste x ??
Hunt :: Celeste's parent?
LSU Improved Celeste :: offspring of the queen's 2nd marriage
O'Rourke :: sport of the queen's 3rd marriage officiated by Dr. O'Rourke
Celestial :: ?
Celeste FL :: ?
Blue Celeste :: Celeste x ?
Blue Bingo ::  Celeste x ?

Thanks for the pics and info Dan.I gotta make more room.
Speaking of Improved Celeste, I was told by JF&E yesterday that the trees they had been selling as O'Rourke/IC had been Improved Celeste NOT O'R.
And I had passed on buying one of their O'R/IC last year because I wanted to wait and be sure to get a "Real" Improved Celeste LOL.
This must be the fun part of FigsforFun eh?

Your Celeste LF,has very Similar fruits with the Celeste I got from George M and he calls it Tiny Celeste.
That is the one I noticed did not drop any fruits for about 2 years in a row,but last year it did drop a few and so I started,having doubt about it.

I would like to gobble down all those figs in your pictures, Dan.

I am wondering if the Celestes that were here back in the seventies might have been one of your figs that don't drop.  They were smaller Celestes than I see now, so maybe the trees really weren't dropping their figs here.  Who knew?

I don't mind figs being smaller if they are delicious--Ya just eat more of them!

@JD, a lot of the O'Rourke hybrids are Celeste crosses with caprifig(s).  Like ... O'Rourke, Tiger, LSU Purple and Champagne are crosses between Celeste and a california caprifig called "C1" (and according to other LSU docs, O’Rourke is "tested as" Improved Celeste, Champagne as Golden Celeste and Tiger as Giant Celeste).  For some info, see:  http://www.lsu.edu/departments/horticulture/new_figs.pdf

There are some other crosses in the trade out of Lousisiana, like Smith fig, which was bred in Belle Chasse, Louisiana years ago by Thomas Becnel Smith.  I am curious to know what crosses made it.

I spent some time hunting down several PDF documents like this on other named O'Rourke figs which discussed their heritage but have no clue where in the heck I put them.

I'm sure Dan can provide more info - just posting this to share that there is a reasonable amount of official documentation out there that discusses the major crosses (I was able to find it).  Dan seems to have a lot of anecdotal datum to provide that I haven't been able to find elswhere, so I'm anxious to hear what he shares also!

Yes, it is correct that many of the LSU figs came from hand pollination of a Celeste mother fig. However, LSU Purple was bred from a Hunt fig.......not from Celeste. Also, Smith was not bred, rather it was "discovered" by Thomas Becnel who owned a nursery in Bell Chase, Louisiana. It is a Louisiana heirloom fig that came over with Italian immigrants who settled in the New Orleans area many years ago. The Becnel's are also responsible for introducing two other Louisiana Italian heirloom figs into the retail trade........Native Black, and Black Italian.

FYI......I am studying a few more very rare LSU bred figs. Maybe they will be "officially" released one day.........

Dan
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