there are excellent varieties of dark colored figs and excellent varieties of light colored figs... Why limit yourself to either when you can have both?

Michael,

Historically, I've had more light colored varieties than dark. I think last year was the first my collection tipped towards the dark. About 75% of what I brought to Denver is dark, and some of the green ones came just because they were in containers. I could not leave them unattended in Texas.

James,
I'm not sure why you made the above comment as I don't think anyone said anything about limiting their choices. I did mention folks who wouldn't keep light figs but I also said they no longer came here so I can't imagine you would be talking to them.

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Now I understand even less of why you made that comment as aren't you now limiting yourself to only dark figs? I see you still have light ones but only as they were in containers and apparently brought under a certain amount of duress.

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I interpreted James' comment to mean that he has historically appreciated both light and dark figs but recently has started to lean dark. I'm open to any color that does well here, and has a nice flavor, but I do like the look of a green fig with red pulp!  Anyway, most of the figs I have been able to successfully ripen from my collection so far have been dark for whatever reason.  I should be able to taste a lot of light ones this year so perhaps I will have a preference one way or the other after this season.

Did you get that from #26?
That was what I was addressing. The comments came in out of order. That's why I had to do a second comment. to address #27

None the less why are you interpreting James's comments anyway?

James is a smart articulate guy (and I like him) . . . and if I ask him why he's gone down a certain path - he'll answer me.
We have no bad blood between us and don't need an interpreter.

Geeez this forum is an odd place. In just the past few posts since I've "been back" I've had a couple of comments already that just aren't "normal" - certainly they wouldn't be said were all of us sitting together over dinner. 

Anyway -- no time to dwell.

You have had a very different experience as my green figs out performed my dark ones by a large margin last year.
I agree with you that the best looking figs are the dark green ones with deep dark red pulp. Well I embellished but you'll forgive me.

We should go over what green figs you are growing. My young Lemon, for example, produced over 10 pounds of beautiful big (100 gms) figs and that tree is only 5 feet tall and in a 15 gallon pot. My Conadrias both had bumper crops as did the larger of the 2 Atreanos. My Montrueuse was a beast, etc. etc.
My freezer is full of bags of green figs I intend to use to make the preserves I use to put on pork tenderloins. 

I almost went into a sugar coma from the Monticello Marseilles I up potted last year.

I tell ya Steve my green figs were far far more productive across the board. A few exceptions - my 3 Ronde de Bordeaux's and one of my three CdDN's, etc. I guess I just had a very good year. Is it the bunny poop? hmm . . . 

I bet if you get enough ripe g/r figs you will end up chasing the ones you don't have yet. I could never just go green as I think Ronde de Bordeaux may be the best all round fig I own. It just does everything right. 

I love them all! Black, brown, purple, dark green, lite green, yellow, striped, red, etc. As long as they ripen properly there are no bad figs.

I do not think it has ever been a conscious decision on my part to select one or the other.  In Texas I could grow just about any variety.  I did start off with more green varieties than dark, but in recent years it has balanced out.  Since I moved to Denver, I have very limited space and a short growing season.  The decision on what to bring to Denver was based on what I had growing or what was being offered to me that would perform best and maximize the season.  The plants I brought under "duress" (both light and dark) are not a good fit for Denver, but are varieties I'd like to eventually plant in Texas.  I did not have time to take care of them last year.  In the mean time, they will take up valuable real estate in Denver. ;)  In the future there will be more room for growing figs.  I will select varieties which fit in with my scheme, and I suspect things will become more even.

The comment about enjoying both was in reference to those who do limit themselves to one kind or another (while some of the members do not come around, I'm sure there are many who have been told XXX figs or YYY are better than the others).  My father claims to only like large, dark figs.  When I bring him light colored ones, he'll eat them (and I think he secretly enjoys them).  He still bugs me for the dark ones, though.  I do not think that is the case, but In all fairness to those who have a strong preference one way or the other, I suppose someone who only wanted 5-10 varieties could accomplish their goals with strictly dark or light varieties.  But, why?  There are other more relevant factors to consider than the color of the skin.

Michael, I think that I have tasted more dark figs mainly because my collection is still young and it seems that many of the interesting green figs tend to be late ripeners and were set back due to a variety of circumstances that shouldn't affect them this year.  However, I forgot to mention that Atreano was one of my best performing figs last year very productive with tasty fruits.  In fact, I harvested so many nice figs off of my not very large Atreano that right after I harvested the last one it seems to show stress and didn't put on any new growth prior to dormancy.  I wonder if it will have an off year this as it recovers - we'll see.  I also tasted about 10 wonderful Adratic JH figs last year and am looking forward to many more in the future.  One common green fig that I don't have but people rave about as being a "must have" is Green Ischia. I think I'll hold off for now and see how my others do.

Thanks for all the info Michael, it's always a pleasure to learn some history and get seasoned reviews. I had never heard of Folly Castle until now, only Sandy B.  I got my Battaglia from Rabbit Ridge Nursery who got it from some lady who bought it from Paradise.  I was going to buy cuttings from the former owner of Paradise directly, but she never ended up doing another sale..at least that I knew of. Luckily a search led me to Fred at Rabbit Ridge, nice guy.

I am having posting problems -- will try again later.
 The pic was an experiment -- is a Lemon, btw 

Michael:
You are not the only person who prefers green figs with a deep red center! That is why I have Adriatic JH, Col de Dame Blanc and Battaglia. People here have forgotten one other similar fig which I look forward to tasting for the first time this year: the Paradiso Gene.

Just as an FYI Bills Battaglia grows in a very strange way. The branches seem to grow out then down then up where as Jons Battaglia is growing straight as an arrow straight up. It's only one year old but it's 3-4 feet tall now.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/battaglia-7087515?pid=1284368024#post1284368024

Steve,
Green Ischia is very under rated and is an excellent fig. As a matter of fact years ago I ate a ton of these figs at Monticello and it changed my growing profile completely as I fell in love with figs and that's what started it all for me. As a matter of fact I went back and took cuttings and my GI is from the tree that started it all. 
James,
I'd love to see a list of what you are growing there. I imagine the early ripening varieties would work the best. 
Calvin,
thx for the appreciation. I try.
Rafael,
There's a whole bunch we haven't discussed. I'd love to swap something with you for Paradiso Gene cuttings as mine had figs that make me question it's ID -- even though I got mine from Gene Hosey's back yard.
I'll post some others we didn't discuss -- and this is only part of the ones not shown up top. Also posting Bremo as I bet you've never seen and even though it's not a G/R it's a neat fig.   
I bet there's still another half dozen I did not list plus I added a bunch more that haven't ripened figs yet. There's a lot of figs out there still to explore.
adios
mgg

Vasile, Thank You for always sharing your wisdom.
             Stay Well,  Anthony