I was wondering if Hearty Chicago and Hardy Chicago are the same fig?  If not, does anyone have any experience with Hearty Chicago (growth, fruiting, taste)?  I can't seem to find much info on it.

Thanks!

I have not heard of 'hearty' Chicago.  Sounds like the words were simply mixed up.

This is a misnomer, a lot of people will use the term hearty but it is utterly and completely wrong. Hardy as in cold-hardy. That's it.

Great!  Thank you both for your help!

I hardly have heard of any hearty hardy Chicago. Sounds young twistingly good.

Use the original name: "BENSONHURST PURPLE"...and eliminate all the controversy.  : ))))


Frank

Frank I'll do you one better, use the original Sicilian name, Mongibello.

Hey, just learned two new names for it. Thanks Rafael and Frank. It is one of my favorites here in GA ,growth habbit , leaf patern ,texture and sent and of course tasty fruit!

Rafael...touche!

You're welcome ChrisK.  "Mongibello"/"Bensonhurst Purple" is one of the best. Grow it well, and taste heaven.


Frank

I thought Mongibello was a type and not a cultivar.

The joy of fig names. :) The past couple years I've given a good number of labeled fig trees away. It's surprising what people end up calling them. Close but no cigar.

It's a play on words or something.  BUt they are one in the same.

Musillid, Hardy Chicago was named by one of its early propagators, Fred Born. However, the fig was brought from Mt.Etna to Brooklyn and called Bensonhurst Purple prior to that. Mongibello is not a type, the type of fig is what US collectors call "Mt. Etna" figs, and Hardy Chicago is the prototype. Mongibello is the varietal name in Sicily, it actually means Mt. Etna in dialect. Mons: latin for mountain. The fig is reputed to have originated in a national park called the "Rifugio Sapienza" on Mt. Etna.

So, the confusion is that Mount Etna and Mongibello are transliterate equivalents, but not when applied to figs. Hardy Chicago is the same as Mongibello. Mount Etna is a category of figs. Thanks for the explanation. I feel a little less ignorant now.