Winter 2011,lowest Temperature,here ,0*F.
Yet This fig(10 years old now),managed to keep a couple of fruits on each branch,just about.
For the size of the tree that is a lot of fruits ,ripe early.
This is the first time this cultivar kept Breba,to ripe stage,it always dropped them.before.
I tested a couple and they tasted very good,in my opinion a little better than main crop.
The tree is planted on the north side of house and has sun only after 6pm.
This pix is taken at 7pm,with the sun in the left at the west side.

Impressive.  I'd like to get one of these.  We're in a similar climate.  Got down to 4 degrees this year but often gets down to zero.  Do you provide any protection for this tree in the winter?

It is not my tree,It is a gift from me to one of my friends,in Beverly NJ.
If it was mine it will not be planted on north side of house!
I told the guy to plant it on the sunnyest spot,and this is what he tought is the sunnyest spot!.
Of course he has room on west and south of house but for unknown reason,he planted it there.
It has never been protected, fertilised,or pruned by owner.
I pruned it ones myself 2 years ago,and got cuttings from it which I sold on Ebay,and now a good number of people should have it.

Wow Herman I never knew you could get ripe figs with that little sun.I have a few figs that only get sun around the same time you do and someone told me I need more heat there too small to tell yet.The varieties are Marseilles VS and Negronne.You have a beautiful tree.I have a small 2ft florea  growing I hope mine gets as big as yours.It may be tuff for mine to get that big here in Michigan.Thank you so much for sharing pictures.I really don't care how the fig tastes I just think it would be beautiful to have a fig that I can leave uncovered.At what age do you believe that I can leave my Florea uncovered?Thank you.

Rob:I do not know what your lowest temperature has been lately in the last 5 years let say?
Rob:I never recommend that someone plant a tree in such location with such little sun.
This is a miracle but miracles does not happen often.
So Rob,if you want superior fruits do not plant in the said location!

Herman, I have been thinking about getting my hands on four or five cuttings to plant with different soil amendments to see if the taste can be improved, Do you think that maybe you abandoned your trailing of it to soon????

Bob,I have better figs at this point ,in my quest for best figs here in my backyard.
and so limited space.
The taste of the Breba was exactly like well ripe mulberry.
In my place is clay only as soil,and in Beverly is sand,because it is on the Delaware left bank,the first house,close to river.
In Clay soil Florea was average tasting,and there are better choices,for me.

A famous encourager(fig friend) told me it is not a bad tasting fig. Just got to allow it to really ripen on the tree. Hence I am trialing one in my zone. If it does not work, I can give it away. However, if it is very productive, I will keep it for the BBQ or for making jam.

My tree is in the 2nd season. I have seen  a few brebas on the tree. Not sure whether they are still on tree as plant is currently covered by other fig tree leaves.

One fact is fact:Florea will surpass any other fig ,in cold hardness,and earlier getting ripe.
That makes it valuable to people in colder climates,like zone 5,and 4,who tried to grow fig before and the cultivar fail to ripe or died over winter.
One can have success with this one even if planted inground,in cold climates.
It was consistently getting ripe on main crop,2 to 3 weeks earlier,than any other cultivar I was growing here at this point.
That put the date for Florea getting ripe ,main crop,at about July 25,to August 1 .

Sounds like a winner to me any fig that can take 0 farenheit and still ripen a breba crop is proof enough of how hardy it is. Definately on my wishlist to grow inground in the future.

Go Ahead Nelson grow one inground.
In my father garden,it was taking temperatures,of down to -25C,winter after winter,with only in one year,1994,it lost most lateral branches,but not the main trunk,and my father pruned it to the trunk.
He told me in 2000,when he was here in my house,that in that Summer,(1994) the tree was loaded with fruits,more than ever.
And my wife told me,they were very good tasting,and she liked them a lot,on my father tree.
On my tree here she does not,like or eat them,and she wanted me to discard it.
Why:I guess is the climate and the soil!

Paully, what zone are you in?

Hey guys, I have a quick question. Where do you guys find information on the lowest temps in your area. I am very close to Herman and I was not being scientific about this at all, but I don't remember seeing 0 degrees this winter. I have no doubt in Herman. I just looked online for the weekly weather forecast. I remember seeing a lot of single digit and teens.
Robert, I am growing a Marseilles black in-ground that I bought from Herman early this spring. I do plan to protect it for the first few years though. The other two unknown that I bought last year are doing really well. One brown tree has been covered in figs for a while now. The white has a few figs on it and looks to be showing more. I went back and got a black one. The leaves look a lot like the white tree, but I am taking his word for it that its a black fig and I will see soon enough I guess what kind of figs it has.

They stay atached quite well,but I had problems if I left them too long on tree because of Vinegar fly ,here.
We have many vinegar fly and they go around the eye touching it and placing the vinegar bacteria on the fruits ,that will sour over night after the fly worked on them.
The vinegar bacteria will sour many cultivars if fruits left too long on the tree to dry,except a few that have totally closed eye,wich I noticed they will dry on tree.
So far I have seen dry on tree only 2 cultivars.
Regular Celeste,and Tacoma Violet.
If the weather is rainy when they are ripe,and left for long on tree, even these 2 will sour.

Herman, when you say regular Celeste, are you talking about the Blue Celeste you have in your collection?

Regular Celeste mean non improved Celeste,and I still have three of them:
Blue Celeste
Tiny Celeste
UCD Celeste.

@Bob - I am in zone 6/7, located just outside Vancouver, Canada. The person who gave me the Florea cutting is on the east coast, near Boston. Temperatures do get down to -5*C and windchill to -18*C here for short periods of up to 7 days. The biggest threat to my outdoor figs is a sudden warming trend followed by cold artic winds of up to a week in winter or early spring. I lost no in-ground tree last season including Hollier with no protection. Lost a 3 large(15g) pots like MegaCeleste, Hollier & Nardi Black that were kept outside. Good thing I have back-ups.

Left my in-ground MVS unprotected last season and it came thru with flying colours, just tiny burns to the tips. My MVS is 3yrs old this season.

I've found Florea to be a good, sweet fig.  It was a little crunchy for my taste the first year, but that seemed to decrease.  I was just able to put one in the ground.  It is on a south-east facing side of a slight elevation, and planted in gravel.  It will be watered this summer and protected this winter.  Next year when it's established, it will be on it's own.

Brebas
 

Main Crop


Interior


In Ground

Fignut, thanks for the taste evaluation of Florea. 

Nice pictures Fignut & thanks. The drop of honey makes it mouth watering. Unfortunately the brebas on my 2nd season tree dropped. My tree is doing very well, multi branch. Hopefully next year I will begin the season with this variant in the greenhouse to ensure brebas won't drop due to cold snaps in the early mornings.

By the way Fignut/Herman, any chance you folks know whether Florea have a productive main crop ? The pictures posted by Fignut is an incentive that I need to give this variant more TLC.

Productive,yes,superproductive ,you will have more figs than you need when old.
I can see fignuts climate is better than mine,looking at the outside color of fruits.
I am sure in better climates is a very good cultivar.

 Herman -- thanks for the "productive info". Combined this productive info with its early ripening, this could be a good fig for my area.

Paully

Great pictures fignut. Glad to hear of your continued satisfaction with this cultivar.
A nearby friend got a rooted cutting from me last year , stored it above freezing for the Winter,woke it up early in their sunroom and ate breba weeks ago.
Planted outside in 5 gallon pot with side holes ,it now has a maincrop fig at every node with no pinching and they are about the size of  half dollar coins already.
 Makes me jealous everytime I visit. Actually makes me glad that it seems to like it here.
Fignut ,What kind of protection are you planning to give it this Winter ?

Bob,  The flavor generally was figgy and sweet.  But one fig later in the fall had almost a spicy flavor - I couldn't quite pin it down. 
I believe that Florea is about three years old.  It's been in a five gallon airpot for a couple of years and didn't put on much growth last year.

Paully, I agree with Herman - it's productive.

Drivewayfarmer,  It's been in a five gallon airpot and I expect to see an explosion of growth once it starts picking up nutrients - and I am watering and lightly fertilizing to get it going.  I figure that it will be vulnerable this winter because of a lot of late growth.  So I am going to protect it well, surrounding it with leaf filled garbage bags, and covering those with silver mylar.  I'll probably have to support the top bag with some kind of frame.  The plastic bags trap moisture in the ground, the leaves provide plenty of insulation and the silver mylar keeps the temperature from fluctuating quickly inside the pile. 

Florea is #1 on my Wish List to someday try in the ground here in zone 5 s.e.Nbraska .