That's a handy list.

If there's a character limit, you might want to use a Google Doc or something similar.  I imagine that more entries are going to be added and you'll hit the limit again.  A Google Doc wouldn't have the length limit, might make editing a bit easier, and you could have several people adding to the document.

Guiseppe - Sorry to hear your losses! Hopefully that was the one in 40 year winter and you can rebuild your collection.

Neil - Thanks for the feedback, I updated the ripening to early to mid.

Steve- I added those and corrected Figo Preto, thanks!

Michael - Thanks, I look forward to your additions.

I will look into posting the spreadsheet elsewhere since it is as big as can be without cutting stuff from it.

Neil,
Due to your location and zone summer temperatures the trees may mature figs differently.

At my location Zone 6 NY, the Celeste main crop ripened in August and the Hardy Chicago main crop ripened in September last year.

Neil,
My hardy Chicago is already ripening figs as well.
The figs in front of it are Florea, BT, Lemon, RdB --- and those coming in with it are Hollier, Alma, Celeste, St. Rita and my other RdB's.
So for me this year it's an early one.
Last year it came in 10 days later, but I'd still call HC an "earlyish" fig.

Hi Ampersand,
For the ripening order, are you not considering the brebas ? Or considering fig-trees with pinched brebas ?
Ronde de bordeaux (A in the chart) is unifera and in no way can be earlier than the brebas of Dalmatie ( B in the chart).

jdsfrance - I believe all the varieties listed would be for main crop ripening times. It wouldn't be too realistic to expect breba's from in-ground figs in my Zone 6 most years. There could be mistakes though.

Due to the running out of space in the original post, all future updates will be made to this google docs spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ihfyIwZ8l5DyVMFvTOAthQf65jn-2bRRMPGR57AKSyw/edit#gid=0

You can download the file from there if you wish.

Please keep sending your comments, this has been great!

In reference to ripening time, Herman2 (VS) has posted on the subject for years, although he uses 70 -100 days as the rule of thumb, http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6935835 , I've used the 90 -120 day number instead because it has more room for errors, and is easily rounded into months (3-4), its based on length of time, not an actual date and will vary with culture, but is better for relative comparisons whether in-ground or potted.

Update today (10/4): I added a few more varieties as well as information on varieties that will still fruit after groundkill (providing healthy, mature plants). Many thanks to Herman2, Tim Clymer, hllhlly, and others for sharing their info on this.

There is also an alternative sheet with alphabetical sorting instead of by flavor family.

As always a work in progress, nothing is definitive or finished. Here is the link: Cold Hardy Fig List by Flavor.

Have a good day!

I have found another fig tree that grow well and now have ripen figs 
after freezing to the ground. It is Black Cartagena, from South of Spain.
I am from Europe, so I don't know if it's available in USA, yet.

My tree is five years old, in ground and I have to protect it over winter.
It started to re-grow late this year, so it had no late frost damage.
Figs have started to ripen at end of september, my guess is that
they are ripening in 80 - 90 days window. Figs are small and sweet,
but I don't have a comparison term...

rofig, can you post a picture of the leaves and fruit of Black Cartagena?  Thank you.

Greg, here are the pictures of Black Cartagena ripen figs and leaves:
    
    

Leaves show some resemblance with my Black Mission fig.
But Mission figs are not ripen yet!

  Это выносливые инжир с Россией -Apsheronsky желтый.

  Absheron yellow - cut size.

Nice figs, Vladis!
Do you know if it is cold hardy to zone 6?

This plant has survived in 2006, at a temperature in the winter -18 degrees Celsius.

Very nice, Vladis. That is about the temperature many of us in the north-eastern part of the US experienced last winter (-0.4 F) ...the biggest problem, in my opinion, was period of weeks to months were temperatures remained well below freezing. Many other plants (non-figs) that are normally very hardy here just froze out and never recovered.

Rofig, what temperatures did Black Cartagena experience?

Kelby,
last winter was milder in Europe.
We had a minimum of -18C for a night, in rest minimum was -10C , -15C.
I have used vegetable remains as mulch and plastic bag as protection and there was a lot of snow.
We had in previous years lower temp in winter, -20C -22C even lower,
but for shorter time, mostly during nights.
I would say that it will resist well in zone 6, with winter protection.
One advantage is that is starts to grow later in spring than other cultivars
and still could give ripen main crop figs in september / october.

Vladis,
What is the taste of your Absheron yellow?

My rating for the taste of FIG Absheron yellow 7 out of 10.

Update 10/11/14 with Robert Harper's fig list on the last sheet, shared with his permission. Thanks Bob! There are also some great lists shared by Herman2 on the forum with his top cold hardy varieties.

I also added the varieties from Vladis and rofig.

Kelby, you have gathered very good informations on your list, thank you for that!

I have another cold hardy fig cultivar to add on your list: Precose de Dalmatie.
This cultivar come from Danish island Bornholm and is also known as "Bornholm Fig".
It is not clear if it's a distinct cultivar or a synonim of other and there could be more
cultivars that share the same name. 

Informations available on internet about this fig cultivar are also unclear:
http://www.fruitiers-rares.info/articles51a56/article55-The-Bornholm-Fig-Ficus-carica.html

My plants are planted in ground last year, this year started to grow a lot of fruits, none of
them get ripen yet. I don't know even if they will get ripen this year...This fig tree is a
strong grower and I have to pinch branches twice and still it is my largest tree.
I read that this is cultivated in UK, maybe UK members can write more details about ripen figs.

I have attached pictures of green figlets and leaves pattern:

  

Rofig, that variety is actually on my wish list (though I haven't seen it called Precose de Dalmatie, just Bornholm and Nexoe); my family hails from Denmark a few generations back. Very few people seem to have it stateside though, unfortunately. I didn't include it yet because I didn't want to add something that was assumed hardy without someone verifying it is. Your -18C is pretty good evidence though, I'll include that now, thanks. Glad you find the list useful!

Kelby,

Thanks for taking the time to create this list.  It is absolutely chocked full of great info when deciding upon which varieties to grow in cold climates.  The only thing I might add to your list is a column dedicated to the productivity rating (using the A/B/C system).

Also, some other CH figs you might think about adding to your list:  Desert King and Beall (Beale)



 

Thanks for the input Malcolm!

I didn't think of DK, I'll have to have the caveat that it's breba only, so winter protection is all but required. I didn't realize Beall was hardy, but looks like that should be added too.

I would love to add some sort of productivity ratings, but there are so many complicating factors for that...small climatic differences making a variety better here than there, individual plant health (FMV prevalence), plant age, and space. To my knowledge, herman2 has done some of the best trialing of varieties here in the north. His lists that I have on the spreadsheet are probably about as good as it gets; he's been growing figs for a long time and tried hundreds of varieties, introducing several very good ones. I personally am trying to get most of the varieties he recommends since I live fairly close to him.

Nice list...good information ....thanks