I saved that list to my computer.  Loved all the descriptions and where the figs originated from.  Been having computer issues lately, and Jon's PDF crashed my computer (not his fault), but the text version works great!  Thanks!

Suzi

Approx.18 months ago there was one for sale on Craigslist from LI.  I believe the person lived basically around the corner from the old nursery spot. Wanted about 8 for it if memory serves right.

Dominick, I'll have to watch Craigs list ! Thanks !

Dom, I remember that one it was big. He wanted a lot for the trees he had.

Yeah LOL- he knew what he had.  I bet he got close to what he was asking for.  The closing of the nursery only boosted their value.

THANK YOU,i have a lot of collecting to do,but now i have a list.

Dear all figs lover, i'm new to figs and from Malaysia where the climate is hot and humid.


Very interesting to know that figs also can grow in tropical area. Unfortunately, we don't have nursery like Belleclare here.

Thanks Leon for pointing out the BelleClare-MarthaStewad U-Tube video.
I had heard of it for a very long time ago, but I think that actually this was my 1st time watching it!

I wonder if that 'weeping-fig' shown is the same as the 'Black Weeper' one that a fig forum
member (I think fignut?), a while back had asked about.

Thanks also Leon for helping me with the Belleclare fig-list.

I was lucky enough to visit the BC fig-nursery just before they closed.

Currently, I own quite a few specimens from their 'unique' name fig selection.
Some I bought directly from my visit
[e.g., the (famous) Sal(C) - BC.31 and (less famous sister) FdCV - BC.95].

Some others, I acquired from reputable fig people
[e.g., BC.39, which IMO is just another (small leaf) cousin of HC].

I also hope to still acquire some more rare BC figs too...

Here is a couple of 'happy' (fuzzy/cell-phone) pics of me with the DiPaola brothers,
Chris (on my left) and Bill (on my right) - during my visit in 2006.

I had heard that their trees were uber-expensive. I can only imagine what these mother trees would command now.

My hope is that some of the owners of those wonderful trees will be willing to sell or gift cuttings . I only have one BelleClare variant so far . I would definitely be willing to pay for cuttings of those  BC trees . I would love to be able to have a collection of BC figs eventually.  I am so sorry I came to figs so long after BC closed.

If anyone has any they'd be willing to sell/share , please pm me !

 Trees were "expensive" at Belleclare,
a 4-5 year old fig tree would be priced at $495-695,
some even more,  some not for sale at any price.

So to see one of these trees today, 8-10+ years older
with a resell price of $800 or more,
although "expensive" for a single tree to many,
considering the rarity and age of such a specimen,
many would consider the price a bargain.

Even the old sales records indicate they were charging
$149-199 for 3 year old trees in the very early 90's,
before they became nationally known.

Actual mother trees from the nursery,
the actual trees they used to propagate cuttings from,
some still exist,  they are around 20 years old or more,
couple closer to 30 years of age.
Atreano, Petite Negre, San Pietro, Pops Purple, White Barese,
Gialina, and others still survive and flourish to this day.

I would guess there are several hundred "first generation" trees
that still exist, trees that were propagated from the mothers
and sold to customers.

I would call trees propagated from these trees as "second generation"
provenance can get murky and there might be a thousand or more of these
and potentially "third, fourth, fifth ...."  generation trees.

Guessing, I would think about 60-70% of the Belleclare list might exist
in "first generation" trees.

We might have to do a Belleclare variety head count one of these days  :-)

Belleclare Numbering

Changed over time,
earlier lists show a different BC # for many varieties.

See pictures below from an early Belleclare list,
you can see how they differ from the "final list"

Also, the list was NEVER complete,
many varieties that Belleclare sold were never listed,
some of their most exclusive varieties fit into this category.

Wouldn't that be fantastic - having a Belleclare head count . Maybe we should start that ? I love the old price tags !! The lore connected to them would also be priceless. Too much to ask ? :))

HungryJack thanks for posting that .
I still look for an airlayer off the  #93 that someone can prove they actually bought from
Belleclare and not hearsay for a trade.
Yes im picky as been mentioned in past when i turned several down.

Very interesting and nostalgic thread.  It's always nice to read about the comments that are made about the Belleclare Fig Nursery.   For sheer variety, no other nursery selling figs comes close to the Belleclare boys.  Belleclare has burned it's mark deep into the world of fig collectors, and I'm sure will have a long legacy because of the rare and obscure, ethnic figs that they sold.


Chris and Bill....do you see what you started!


Frank

HungryJack thanks so much . Really makes me sad to see what I missed . I do agree Martin that proving the provenance is important .

Belleclare Nursery

   Those price tags are from a couple of trees I purchased
from a collector a few years ago. He saved them from his purchase at Belleclare.

They were easily accessible for me, so I took a picture,
I have many more price tags from Belleclare. I guess when people paid
allot of money for the tree, they liked to save the "proof"

I have a considerable amount of ephemera from the Belleclare Nursery.

Below are some photographs from the Belleclare archives,
photos were taken by Chris Dipaola.
There are thousands of photographs, these are just a few that were
handy for me to photograph right now, notice the heavy use of lime,  enjoy.









This photograph was identified by Chris as being a Pop's Purple

Found a good one

Was putting away some of the photographs and came
across the first Belleclare Fig Tree list,
2 pages with 14 fig varieties.

This copy has Chris' hand written notes on it,
which include the history of Hardy Chicago,
how it arrived in the US and traveled from
New York to Chicago.

See this thread as well.

@hungry(fig)jack:
Thanks for showing your old nostalgic documents from Belleclare.

I still do have a (faded) label from my Sal(C) ... (will post a pic later).
I had bought their last two starters before they closed, one for me and one for a famous fig friend.
I bet that 75+% of all Sal(C)'s that you all FF members have, can be back-traced from those
two starters by twigs that were later given/traded/sold.

One comment/question:
Speaking for myself, I am more interested in those "unique" named figs that were
ONLY available from Belleclare; e.g., Sal(C) and Popp's Purple.
I give less importance for the more common names available 'elsewhere'; e.g., PN, Celeste.

Chris sold most of the mother trees at closing time.
I did see one marked 'sold' for Martha Steward (who else?) for $400+.
I think it was his 'Der Grossen, originally from the Graz clock-tower area, Austria'.

Christ did keep some of his mother fig trees just for himself to enjoy in his retirement
(e.g., Malta Black - he showed it to me - hidden in his back yard).
And I am sure that he kept his father's (very sentimental) fig tree - aka., Popp's Purple, too ...

George you are so right about the "unique" named figs that were only available to BC. Those are most desireable for me too. As I am collecting , I find the "neighborhood" figs to be more interesting , better tasting according to owners ( mine are tiny), time tested and of course have a wonderful history to boot ! The whole package !
The more readily available varieties , even though sold by BC were not the main interest for me either.

@ hungryjack. Great info. Thank you for posting.

I have been "studying" some of Belleclare's old fig lists recently and learning a lot just from the list alone. I greatly appreciate how they tried to give some description/info with each variety listed. It can be frustrating to see the name of a fig on a list that you've never heard of and there is no description with it.

There are a few on their list that I would really like to try. I'm considering just starting a thread on "looking for Belleclare varieties" etc.

Thanks again to everyone who is posting additional info on some of the lesser known varieties. Great thread.

I look forward to the thread on "Belleclare varieties head count"  :-) . 

Glad you enjoyed some of the documents I posted.

I have allot more to dig through and will hopefully
be able to organize most of it this winter.

I think you are making a large assumption on what happened
to the mother trees,
based on what you might on saw on your one visit to Belleclare
at closing time.
Just because you didn't see the mother trees,
does not mean they were sold,
that is an assumption on your part,
and I will leave it at that.
Figgies don't give up their babies that easily  :-)
And there was more than what was in his small backyard.

There was actually TWO "pop's trees"
two different varieties,
pops purple was one.
It still alive and well.

According to Chris,
Martha purchased 25 trees from him after
the filming of the show,
so potentially Martha has some unique specimens,
maybe she will trade cuttings, lol :-)

I'm off to China for a couple of weeks on business,
will try to post more when I return.
Time permitting on this trip,
I might make a visit to see what is supposedly
the oldest fig tree in the world, 500+ years.
The single tree takes up an entire acre of land.

Hmm HungryJack i wonder if Martha has Belleclare #93 and would be willing to make a trade airlayer for airlayer.

Might even let her peak at our family spaghetti gravy recipe.
Wait cant let her peak theres only a few living left in family that know it and its in our heads !
Oh Martha are you around ? - chuckles.
Wouldn't that be a kick ?