Why Hello Noss!  I am so happy to see you posting again!  As you can see, a good number of the old members are gone.  I check in every once and awhile.   You're spot on about the differences!

The question between O’Rourke and Improve Celeste lives on!  It is hard finding true O’Rourkes.  I had 3 large trees until the 5 degree weather hit Charlotte 2 years ago.  Two died and never came back.  One died and came back but I gave up on it.  It may still be alive outside somewhere!  LOL! 

I have 2 large ICs planted in the ground.  They produce a lot of figs for me.  I have one in a SIP and it’s doing fine too.    In an excellent climate, my figs are large long and dark brown.  In a wet climate they are long and tad watery but sweet.  In a dry climate, the figs are shorter and little dry.  I’ve been picking figs from my tree every day.  At first they were perfect!  Then they started to get a little dry so I soaked them and they got jucier.  Today and all this week we are supposed to get more rain, daily!  The has started but will see how things go!

 Like you, I’m experiencing the same mix-up with folks not knowing the difference between Celeste and Brown Turkey.  My ex-boss called me last week stating his friend had a fig tree from the early 1900 that came from St Augustine Florida.  I swung by late afternoon Wednesday.  The tree is around 15 feet tall facing west right against the house.  This guy never pruned the tree and it must me 12 feet wide.  He has never tasted the figs but they were ripening and those on top were the largest and riper.  I picked a few ripe ones and let him taste them.  He thought they were good.  He said his dad’s father who’s still alive, planted the tree.  It has zero FMV.  Guess what this fig was?  It was a Southeastern Brown Turkey.  These figs were some of the best BT figs I’ve ever tasted.  And I’m sure the ones on the top were better!  I asked if I could take some cuttings or set some air-layers and said yes.

So, this past Saturday, the wife and I took a road trip to Hickory and set 4 air-layers using air propagators.    Hickory is an hour North of my home town, Charlotte.  I’m going to go back and set some more because he wants the tree pruned back.  This time I will use my large propagators.  I use to use plastic bottle for propagation but the air propagators are very thick and can last for years.

There is another fig that also get confused by many, and that Texas Everbearing.  Some friends in Texas call it Brown Turkey but its not.  The fruit is very close to Brown Turkey but the leaf patterns are not the same.  To me, the figs are sweeter and a little larger.  But that’s for another post and another day!

Where is a good source for properly identified Celeste?  It seems like the tree I posted about is a regular Celeste - red insides, smaller fruit, and three lobed leaves with small "thumbs" on the edges.

Many of the pictures I've seen from nurseries for "Celeste" show leaves with many more, narrow lobes, which seems to be consistent with Improved Celeste.  Improved Celeste also seems to be larger, amber inside with longer necks.

I don't think I can get an air layer from my neighbor - it's hard to be too pushy on this kind of thing.  So I'd prefer to order a larger tree from a reputable source, but still attempt to get the same variety.

Try not to buy figs from Lowes or WalMart.  However, you might get lucky!  I bought 8 trees from the Lowes in Hickory on 127.  Why did i buy them?  Because I knew they were mislabeled.  Each had long fingers like Nero 600M.  They were all marked as Celeste.

Walmart had some labeled as Green Ischia.  I bought 3 for nine dollars.  Guess what it turned out to be?  Marseilles White!  So, buyers should be ware!!!

Contact Petals from the Past for Improved Celeste.  Theirs is the real deal.  You can place an order on line if you like.  Their Brown Turkey is actually a brown turkey from Montibello Italy.  There's a video on YouTube about it.  So, if you want an excellent Brown Turkey, get one.  I have 3.   One was 7 feet tall until it got hit by the ambrosia beetle this year.  But it's coming back!  It has a brown fig with a dark red center with excellent flavor!

Hi, Dennis:  That Ischia sold at Wallymart is tagged correctly, but the picture of it is not (a green Ischia image).  I was carried away by the image of that tag to think that it is a green Ischia, but it turned out to be just that, an Ischia with amber pulp and green skin.  Since I was looking for a green fig in the first place for bird protection, so I decided to keep it as a grafting stock due to its vigor (7.5' tall now) for a couple of cultivars that I like.  Look like you got them cheaper that I did.  I paid $4 for it .two years ago.

Lowe's sold me a Black Mission which turned out to be a Celeste and a Brunswick.  This one is also in ground that I will keep as a grafting stock later.  I can not say I got lucky, but I am not complaining either, because I am not really attached to the fig names.  Would I miss a black Mission? not really...I have not taste one yet, so no real loss.  A Celeste was not in my list because I wanted a medium to large fruit. Now I have one, and will bear with the small fruit because it does taste great.  

Both Walmart and Lowe's (and Home depot) carry fig trees in very good, fruiting sizes.  So if they are mislabeled, you can return them months later or within a couple of years.  And if they turn out to be something else that you want also, great.  It is a win-win situation from my perspective.

Sounds like a happy camper!  Enjoy!