Noss, as far as I'm concerned there is no comparison. For us, Hardy Chicago only set about a dozen or so main crop figs this year, by June 1st, and it has been in the ground here, for at least 6 years. It produced those dozen or so main crop figs after we notched it, pinched it, and gave it heavy applications of Bloom Booster. This will be the last year for it. But, there is of course a chance that we did not receive a true Hardy Chicago, from the nursery that we ordered from.
Hardy Hartford, appears to be one of those figs that start off good from the very first year. the first year in the ground it produced 10 nice and figgy tasting figs, They also all ripened a month before our first frost.
This year will be it's second year in the ground for us. We kept it in a pot for two years. Because of other things going on, we did not get a chance to plant it as we had planned.
This will be it's second year in the ground and it has set 40 to 50 main crop figs by June 1st., in our zone 5.
I have not had enough experience in tasting different figs, But, I'm like you when it comes to my taste preference in figs. It should be super sweet and scream figgy fig. Not some other fruit flavor. But, I'm being told by other collectors there are other figs that have taste other then figgy that are considered great, such as Gino's. So, we will be test tasting others as time goes on, and top working those that do not meet our taste preference. So far, for a young fig, I'm really impressed by Hardy Hartford. Herman says that figs that start out good usually increase in their good points.
When we took cuttings of Hardy Hartford this last spring, there were several stems that had gotten around 8 feet high. Although it is planted up against a building it has not had any type of winter protection in over the thirty years it's been growing in Hartford
Last year here it was a true fig summer here, nice and hot. So, we have not gotten a chance to see what it will taste like during a cold summer like 2009.
The only fault I have been able to detect so far, is the size. It's not going to be a commercial fig. It's about the same size as Marseilles Black VS. But in 2010 it ripened it's fruit 3 days earlier then the Marseilles planted right next to it. That was the first flush of figs. The second flush of figs ripened about 5 days before Marseilles Black VS,
We have sent cuttings out to 20 to 30 collectors and are waiting for their evaluations, and hopefully an identification. I'm also eager to get your assessment of it in our area. I think with your heat it might turn out to be super sweet. So, go ahead and try to get your cuttings to root. If they don't root for you, let me know and I will get more cuttings out to you this fall.
Bob