this is one of my CdDB from UCD. rooted last yr. going into 2nd yr. no figs yet. 

That looks about like mine. I've had it for 3 years and last year I finally got to try a fig from it. The size was small but the color and flavor of the inside was outstanding. I'll cross my fingers for you to get fruit soon.

james,

most of what usually starts out to be figs dropped. but there are still couple left on it. i really didn't expect too many figs this yr. one or two to taste would be great. heard so much about this and other Col de Dame varieties.

It has the health of Calvert and Ischia bLACK,SO YES ALL YOU COULD GET IS A HANDFUL OF FRUITS WHEN ADULT.
Good for research purposes only,as per Germplasm ,advice.
I am looking to find a healthy specimen myself,After I grew the UCD Plant and could not make it produce more than a couple of ripe fruits in some years only.

possible. i heard so much issue with UCD collections and FMV. tho with much warmer weather down here, it might actually do better then in NJ. we'll see what happens in few yrs. some of the UCD plants are actually doing very well down here.

Doesn't look bad right now, hope it does well for you so you can taste it.  The only trees from UCD that I still have are Panachee and Black Maderia, where the Panachee rarely shows fmv and the Black Maderia only after the heat starts, right now there are only a couple small spots showing.

I have two CdD Blanche trees, now into their fifth season of growth. It is, by a good margin, the best tasting fig I've ever eaten, though I expect some challenges to the crown as some of my other "premium" figs should begin producing for me this year. Beyond taste, my impressions of this fig are as follows:

A slow grower. CdDB #1, the tallest, remained a single trunk until this year, though it appears that it will branch for me this season. It grew a whopping 12ish inches last year and is 2' tall. It produced 8-10 fruits last year. CdDB #2 is about 16" tall, but split into three branches at about the 8" mark. It put out a 10" shoot from about 1" above the the base of the trunk last year, which I pruned and traded. The three branches grew maybe 4" last season but produced 15 fruits - tremendous production for such a small tree.

Both trees began production in season 3, providing three fruits between them, neither of which ripened fully before the cold weather hit in early November, though they still tasted good enough that I understood all the raves. In season 4 they produced as stated above - well for such small trees. They began ripening fruit in mid September and were finished by the end of October, which was pretty early around here for a fig considered late season. My growing season is fairly short with frost dates of May 15 and ~Sept 15 though it was longer last year than usual. It is, however, sunny and hot between June and mid Sept with temps generally in the mid 80s and 90s throughout that time. I do the fig shuffle for a 8-10 weeks as necessary between mid March and the beginning of June, when I set them out in their summer positions. They get half-day afternoon sun during the shuffle and full day sun in their summer spot.

I started CdD Noir from a cutting last season and it grew much better than CdDB, hitting 18" by the end of the season. I picked up the cutting from a CRFG scion exchange in Sacramento, so I assume the cuttings came from Davis, though they may have come from a tree in San Jose that, itself, originally came from Davis stock. I won't be able to verify if it is actually CdDN until if fruits, hopefully this season, but the leaves are the same as CdDB and the CRFG folks generally have their stuff together, so I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the cutting.

CdDB from UCD may be a difficult variety in the northeast due to the short season and the comparatively (to Reno) cool and wet summers, but it can produce well in a short season climate with abundant heat and sun. Now, if I can actually get it to grow at least one foot per season on more than one branch and have that be a branch I want to keep, I'll be able to recommend it unconditionally.

Neil, the CdD Noir cuttings distributed at the NorCal CRFG exchanges come from Prusch Park in San Jose where the Santa Clara Valley chapter maintains a planting of various fruit trees for this purpose. Members from various chapters help take the cuttings, bag them, label them, etc. and each chapter gets a share.

My CdD Blanc was in a gallon pot that rooted into the ground last year before I realized it so I left it there.  I grew at least a couple of feet and put on 20 or so figs but they did not mature since it was stuck in a location without full sun.  It was dug up in early spring and transplanted.  It seems like a healthy plant with plenty of vigor.

Thanks for chiming in, Harvey. I was aware that most and perhaps all of the figs at the exchange were from Prusch Park, but I didn't want to add another layer of complexity to my already semi-windy post. I've actally been in touch with Karl from the Santa Clara CRFG chapter about visiting the Heritage Orchard at Prusch Park. He said he'll give me a guided tour whenever I can get down. Color me excited.

Maybe I'll be able to ID one of the two Italian numbered figs I picked up in Sacramento in January. I correctly labeled Italian 395 but I either mislabeled the other Italian number (there were three of the Italians there) or it was mislabeled by whomever gathered and labeled it for the exchange. I'm betting on the former. Anyway, what I have is an Italian numbered fig with a number that doesn't exist. I hope to match up the fig leaves in order to properly ID it.

I'm going to bury my pots halfway into the ground for the first time this year, maybe this weekend, if I'm lucky. I'm hoping this and healthy doses of the compost tea I'm brewing for the first time this year will provide all of my figs much better growth than they have shown in past years. It's nice to read that maybe I'm on the right track with CdDB.

So what were the other figs you've had, and why, exactly were the CDDB so spectacular?

My Opinion,is the same as Neil,when about how good tasting the fruits are,and that is true for all Col de Dame,colors.
Granting it get ripe properly,(the climate is proper for),it will be a big challenge to find a better tasting fig tree.

I used to have a Col de Dame Blanc.  It was given to me by a forum member.  The tree was originally from a UCDavis cutting.  It stayed small and barely grew for about a year and a half.  Then last spring it shot up and grew a couple of feet in a few months.  I thought that the tree was finally getting established and would be ok.  But then when the summer heat kicked in it died all of the sudden.  I never got any figs from it.  The UCDavis strain of this tree is very unhealthy and temperamental.  But I think that if you get one without FMV it has the potential to be a healthy grower.  Sounds like the fruit is pretty awesome.

Shah8, in the name of accuracy, I counted the number of figs in my collection of 50+ varieties that have delivered ripe fruit. It's 19 actually, one of which was a Condit hybrid that died a few years ago and was unremarkable enough that I didn't replace it. Some have only ripened fruit once for me, so they may improve with age. At the risk of boring the reader with a list, I've tasted the following from my own collection. (I've also tasted a good number of figs from various unidentified California wine country trees, not all of which were Mission, which I like just fine.) At least it's in alphabetical order.

• Alma
• Atreano
• Beall UCD (cutting 2009 or 2010)
• Celeste
• Col de Dame Blanc UCD
  
• Condit hybrid
  
• Excell
• Hardy Chicago
• Hunt
• Ischia Black UCD
  
• Ischia Green UCD
  
• Italian Golden Honey
• Magnolia/Brunswick
• Marseilles VS Black
• Mary Lane UCD
  
• Mission (maybe, I took cuttings from a tree in a park in Hayward, CA - appears to be Mission, though superior to any other Mission fig I’ve eaten)
• Pete's Honey
  
• Violette de Bordeaux
• White Texas Everbearing UCD
  

Ischia Black doesn't have acidity?

And you have Barnisotte and/or VdSollies?

As I am happy with my own black, I have been thinking about honey figs.  What was the most complex honey fig you've had (and with more than subtle notes of flavor, and not counting nuttiness from seeds)?

I cut my UCD CDD Blanc back to about 8 feet tall and planted it in the ground. It has been a shy bearer, but the berry taste and the ability to stand up to the rain make it worth it.

Neil, Prusch has a tree shown on maps as Italian 253 which doesn't exist.  Guessing it might be 258 since that looks similar and maybe someone had trouble reading someone else's writing.  Is that one you have an uncertainty with?

Harvey, one of the Italians was 253 and I'm pretty sure it is the 2nd one I grabbed, but when I got home I saw that I wrote down 265, which doesn't exist. I'm pretty sure the 3rd fig was one of the three Italians in the 100s (160, 169 and 176). I hope it was 253, as I am actively seeking Italian 258. That stated, Karl told me that they don't have Italian 258 at Prusch Park and referred me to Wolfskills. Davis, however, shows Italian 258 as currently unavailable for distribution. Oh, the mystery of it all!

currently have I-258 growing. it was trade with one of my Niagara Black. seems to be very clean at this time. i heard this one is similar to Black Madeira in some respect. but the leave look totally different, at least with UCD Black Madeira. there is Figo Preto which is also growing right now and putting on the figs. this one seems to be much stronger than Black Madeira. however, i do see FMV on the leaves. 

also have Col de Dame Noir that i traded with very generous forum member. growing very well. the leaves are slightly different from the CdDB. but very clean. growing slowly. the main trunk died over the winter, but it put out a new sucker/branch from under the soil over the winter. no sign of figs yet. 

it will be interesting to compare the figs this yr. most of them are 2nd yr plants, so don't expect too much figs, and the figs won't have full taste profile of more mature trees, but will let me have some idea what they would be like. 

Neil, the Italian numbered figs at Prusch which they have marked for cutting were: 320, 395, 376, and 215

Others which they have but did not mark for cutting (but may have been cut due to a last minute decision, etc.): 88, 358, 372, 281?, 264, and 253

It gets a bit more complicated since some folks will add cuttings from plants they grew from cuttings previously offered.  I don't think much of that goes on in Sacramento but they do also get the left-over cuttings from the Santa Clara Valley and Golden Gate Exchanges.  From Sacramento, leftover cuttings go to Redwood Empire, Monterey, and even Texas.  Gets pretty crazy and there is some risk of cuttings getting mixed up (folks can grab a cutting and put it back but into the wrong bag).

Karl is probably wondering what the heck is going on with all of the interest in the fig trees at Prusch.  I went through the orchard with him once to identify some confusing locations (trees aren't always quite lined up with where they should be on the map) and to consider adding some trees into the empty spots.  I've offered to provide some trees to help fill in some of those spots and they are working on getting water supplied to those spots.  Let me know if you plan a trip to Prusch and I might try to meet up with you if my schedule allows.

Harvey, thanks for the fine offer to possibly meet me at or along the way to Prusch Park. I hope we can make that work. You are a wealth of information.

Thanks too for the list of trees cut for the exchanges. I think you solved the mystery I created for myself. As I mentioned in a previous post, I only saw three Italians at the Sacramento exchange and, after seeing your list, I'm certain 215 was one of them. It's pretty clear to me that I wrote down (or misread once I got home) 265 rather than 215. 320 must have been the 3rd, as I had 376 on my list of Italians I wanted and would happily have grabbed a couple of cuttings if they had been available. Too bad I didn't write down 320 on my list of wants for that exchange, as from the description offered here, that appears to be a superior fig to 215. Oh well. Perhaps next year I'll see it again in Sacramento. Maybe a trip to Prusch Park would serve best when the figs are ripening. I'd like to see how the mislabeled I-253 compares to I-258.

Shah8, I don't have Barnisotte (failed to root it when I got if from UCD four years ago) or Violette de Sollies, so I can't comment on either. Both of my Ischia's, Black and Green, provided their first fruit to me last season, their 3rd, and while I'd happily have eaten more of them, they were unremarkable compared to Marseilles VS, much less Hardy Chicago or CdDB. Based on their respective reputations, I expect them to improve as the trees gain size and age, but neither had much acid in their flavor profiles last season. 

While honey figs are fine, they are in my experience not complex. In other words, I have not noted any acid in any of the honey figs I've sampled to this date and if, as you requested, I discount nuttiness, the level of sweetness and richness are the only things that differentiate the flavor of one of my honey figs any other. I like them, but favor complexity over sweetness. The best I've tasted thus far in my collection is also the first I acquired, Italian Honey/Latarulla.

I am growing Salce, which has a fine reputation, but this is its 2nd season, so no telling if it will fruit this year. I find I am now also growing I-215, which isn't described in terms quite as glowing. Actually, that description could apply to Mary Lane Seedless, which fruited for me for the first time last year and was not very inspiring. I hope it improves with age. I know Harvey C has a yellow fig that he likes very much, though I'm not sure it's a honey fig. With a handful already in my collection, the only honey fig(s) I will consider acquiring at this point are perhaps hardy enough to grow in ground in my climate.

I have one Col de Dame from last year survive but it is pale green.  I wonder if I need to add a little lime or MG?  I'm afraid to touch it.  Maybe I will try very diluted solutions a little at a time to see if it greens up.

try slowly introducing more sun and try 1/4-1/2 strength MG.

Thanks, I'll try that.  We finally have a nice clear sunny day today too.  It's strange I have a couple of varieties that are light green and they are all in the same soil mix.

my new plants are having lot of issues. at least other than few that are refusing to do anything.. they are putting out new leaves.

one of my Black Madeira is having real problem after being moved into 10 gal. it's still alive, but won't put on any new leaves. the bud is slowly drying up also. my BC #93 is keep losing the terminal bud. if i look at it hard enough, the terminal bud will break off.. need good steady 85 and above.