I have apple and pecan scions i can trade for cuttings if anyone is interested.

you and me both. here is what i have living in zone 6. unfortunatly i no longer have cuttings.

brown turkey
blue celeste (plant next to a south wall)
hardy chicago (very cold hardy)
purple magnolia (very cold hardy)
Desert king (hardy enough with little winter protection)

Hardy chicago is probly the best choice here.

Looking for suggestions.

I am new to the forum and so new to figs that I don't even have one yet.
I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado which is USDA zone 5. Plus my elevation is around 6300 feet above sea level.

In my research, it seems that the Chicago Hardy, the Brown Turkey and the Celeste may be my best bet.

I've read a lot of the forum, I did not see any info on keeping figs in ground in my area so any help is appreciated.

Scott

Scot
Look at this thread for discussion of fig tree in ground in Zone 5:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0416212416768.html

Thank you very much.

I should add that we are considered a high plains desert. We often have days in the mid to high nineties and nights in the fifties.

Thank you for link, I see a lot of great info there. What do you think about my altitude and thin air? It does effect our ability to grow several species of plants here. Another issue is sun and solar radiation are very powerful here and have a tendency to burn many plants do to the high elevation.

Nero 600M. it survives 600M above sea level. or so i heard. 

Dark fig
RdB, VdB, MvsB, Vista
Florea will be your #1 fig (I think as far as production, vigor, cold hardiness and heavy bearing)
Black Greek
Sals, salem dark
Norland

..there are more but this would be my top choice

White figs (any order)
Lydhurst
Atreano or Atreano Gold
JH Adriatic

Like I mentioned above..."there are more blah blah blah"
- I live in Nampa Idaho, (close to Boise) I am a couple hours away from you. I have a variety of fig trees in ground. RdB, VdB, MvsB, Sals .... I could go on. But you can grow any type of fig
tree in a container. You will use more fertilzer, lime, and less water I think. And you don't have to worry about your pricy "collectors" fig tree being damage from freeze or snow. I have my handy-dandy dolly to wheel my potted plants around my backyard if the sun moves around. Like Herman2 here at the forum, I was inspired to create fig trial row to evaluate which variant is suited for my climate. I have two - three seasons to figure that out. Everyone's backyard is different but this is MY OPINION.

I haven't seen you before... Welcome
Jennifer

yupe, go container. that's what i do. i'm not leaving my trees in ground. our local lawn nazi around here says "you can plant anything you want, but you can dig 'em out". my trees will move with me. 

Scott,
I'm just north of Denver and starting to experiment with figs in ground here this year. I have been growing them in pots for a while, and they do very well. The one gottcha I found here is you will want early varieties, unless you have a greenhouse or want to do the growlight thing. Our cool nights and early frosts make it hard to ripen some varieties that do well for other folks in the same zone.
I lived in the springs for a couple years, and don't see why figs shouldn't work. The minimum temps are probably not the biggest issue as they only last a few hours, so wrapping the tree will get you through that. It is the drying winds and warm dry spells in the winter that will be the biggest challenge.

Jennifer is right, try Florea! It is about as early as it gets and cold hardy. I would also try Ronde de Bordeaux (RdB), Marseille vs Black (MvsB). Both are early and fairly cold hardy. Instead of Brown Turkey (there seem to be a lot of figs called BT) take a look at Susser Georg (Sweet George).

Depending on how well my cuttings root, I may have a Sal's and/or Hardy Chicago that I would be happy to share this spring. Check back with me in a couple months if you are interested. I should (fingers crossed) also have cuttings of Florea, RdB, MvsB, Genovese Nero, and others that should do well along the front range (though not all in the ground) available next fall.

Glad to see that I'm not the only crazy person in CO interested in growing figs in the ground ;)

Andy

Herman has been doing this a very long time.  You need analytical evidence for an extended period of time.  What works on the east coast will not necessarily work where you live.  What happens in one year may not work the next year.  Weather patterns change from year to year. One year may be unseasonably warm while the next may see temperatures of Biblical proportions.  A 5 year projection is essential in producing an accurate thesis on potential production value.

Just because a twig is stuck in the ground and produces the 2nd year doesn't mean it will produce the 4th year.  Unfortunately figs don't seem to work under the assumption of empirical data.  

It is very naive and irresponsible to recommend anything based on nothing but another persons data before producing your own results.

You might want to try Doree as well, I am thinking about planting mine in ground sometime, although it is very small right now so I will have to wait.

I’m very glad I stumbled across this forum while I was researching cold hardy figs.  You have all named varieties that my research has yet to reveal. As with all other forums I have seen or been on, there is huge swing in ideals and opinions ranging from passive to aggressive.

Do to the travel that my job requires, I will not be able to grow figs in containers and move them from place to place or in and out as the weather requires nor do I have anyone I would burden with that responsibility.  

So I am left growing them in them ground, or not them growing them at all.  I am fully aware of the fluctuations in climate form year to year as well as I am aware of the suns 11 years cycle.  I also am aware the results of others may be far different then my own as those same results are most likely different than anyone else’s.

I am not new to gardening in any way; I am simply new to figs.

Now, I am planning to build a greenhouse this year depending on my travel and the demand on me of other projects.  The greenhouse however will not be large enough to house the figs and is being built for another purpose. My plan for the figs is to have them in ground on the south side of the green house.  They will receive direct sunlight from around 9AM (summer) till the sun dips behind the front range. I can easily enclose them to protect them from the extremes of winter and provide extra warmth from the green house to assist with their winter survival.  Yet I do understand that this does not guarantee that they will survive the harsh winters here, yet it does give them a calculated chance.

Officer Dominick is right, I should have been a little more carful in my choice of words. My offers and suggestions are in the interest of experiment and exploration. I certainly am not endorsing spending $150 on a twig on eBay. That would be irresponsible. Maybe I should add that disclaimer to my signature ;) I should have said "here is what I am trying, maybe you would want to try it also".

While I have over 30 years of gardening experiance and almost 20 in the front range climate, I only have 3-5 (depending on how you would count some of my early failures) years with figs. I too found little info about growing them in the mountain west, and am perhaps a little over zealous in my desire to share what I am doing.

Now that is out of the way, growing figs in pots is pretty strait forward. If you travel, you would want an automatic watering system. Mine are watered by the lawn sprinklers :) you only need to move the pots to a sheltered location once the trees are dormant, around thanks giving. I keep mine in the garage for the winter.

Hey Andy I was taking a shot but it wasn't at you.  LOL this is figs and gardening.  When you almost die from 9 shots  to the back and head,  Figs are the least of my worries. Cin Cin!

Automation in my middle name.  Ok, not really.  I will have 18 zones on my sprinkler system when I complete all of my construction.  Containers may be a short term possibility, however I am often gone during seasonal changes. For example, I may leave in August and not be back until December, completely missing the time frame in which I would need to move them in.

So with that said, like most people have said there will be a certain amount of experimentation and just because it lives for 2 years does not mean that it will live for a third.  I may be gone and not be able to protect them or even not be able to remove their protection in the spring.  So it will be a hit and miss.

Again, I would like to thank everyone for their help and suggestions as well as the many kind welcomes.

Scott  

I went twice to Colorado and have been to Colo. Springs when snow was over 2 feet everywhere (winter of 1988)- miss my bus, taxi could not come pick us up, no trains, no planes. Everything white as far as you could see, occasionally a silly bird would venture out.  I would be shocked to learn that any fig tree would survive that cold and ice.  Although with proper protection and insulation, I understand the summers are warm.  So, there has to be worth a try!  I wish you luck and please report.

COGardener,

Hey Scott,

In your post above, you say "I may leave in August and not be back until December, completely missing the time frame in which I would need to move them in."

That's some time away from the roost! I'm just thinking not only might you miss bringing them in, but I'm thinking you would also miss a lot of fig harvesting from your trees. And alll the ripe fruit just hanging there will tempt all the local wildlife to come in for a free sample.

1500 Meters

There is a very very old fig tree in China
that lives at an altitude of 1500 meters.

It lives in the mountains which is on the
edge of a desert.

Winter temps average 0-10 F
but it gets much colder at times.

Tree produces yellow colored figs.

I'm at 2500 feet above sea level,
here you can sweat standing in the sun,
and shiver standing in the shade in the winter.
I may have to paint the trunk and main branches white
to protect against sun scorch this summer.
Although my HC still did ok in full sun.

I'd like to try one of those Chinese figs here.
I saw one on Ebay that will survive down to 15 degrees,
it is a yellow fig called 'Mei Li Ya'
Looks delicious, and a huge fig too
two 6" cuttings for $20.00 (including postage)

You'll only find out if you try.

I can easily fit 300 trees in a one car garage. I grow all my figs in containers and although this may not help you or even be completely "on topic" I just want to point out that if you don't have the option to put your trees in the ground they will be happy and productive in containers.