Good day!  It pays to get up early and survey your figs!  I had my eye on 2 of my container trees, Improved Celeste and O'Rourke.   The birds must have been off eating worms or my blueberrie because they missed these 2 figs!  I haven't netted my trees yet and may not this year.  THese 2 figs often get confused as the same.  They are not the same!  Durio and Petals from the Past thinks they are the same.  Again, they are not.  The leaf patterns are completely different.  Improved Celeste has 1 and 3 lobes.  OR has 5.  Years ago, I was convinced that my IC was an O'Rourke and I was wrong.  Forum friends proved to me they were different.   I was wrong.  Today I have proof and can rest my brain.  I've been searching for the true O'Rourke for years and finally got a couple. 

Last year, I was able to find 3 true O'Rourkes.  I got lucky.  The seller told me he did not know the difference.  His labels were messed up and I ended up getting more IC than ORs.  I talked to the seller and he stopped selling O'Rourke.  He no longer sells them today.  But 3 of the 5 O'Rourkes turned out to be the real McCoy!  The other 2 were IC.  I do see how some can get them confused.  The fruit is shaped the same....kinda.  O'Rourke has a darker bronze color.  If it was hotter, this fig would be much darker.  These are brebas.  Both were sweet.  O'Rourke was a tad bit sweeter.  I got plenty more on my tree trying to ripen.  Both of these trees are side by side.  One is up on my wall and the other is on my patio.  My O'Rourkes are single trunked where as all my Improved Celeste bushes outward from multiple branches.  Enjoy my pics, I have more to come.  Have a good day!

 
O'Rourke Leaf Pattern

 
Ripe O'Rourke ready to be picked

 
Top is Improved Celeste, Bottom is O'Rourke

 
Improved Celeste on left, O'Rourke on right

 
And the grand opening, here is both figs split open.  Both were sweet.

They look great:)  I just put both of those in the ground last week. 

Thank you for the pictures. good way to clarify

The one O'rourke cutting i had rooted very well but got hit by gnats like many others sadly. i do have a blue celeste as it is called. never got a rip fig from it though. it produces lots of figs but they all drop off before they get ripe. i let it get top killed over winter, the new growth is comming in great. i will wrap and protect it this winter. next season if i dont get any figs from it due to drop, im taking an ax to the root.

" for three years i have come to this fig tree looking for fruit to find none, cut it down no need to waste the soil." the gardner replies "leave the tree one more year, let me dig around it and add manure. If it dont produce next year then cut it down"

He who nurtures the fig tree will eat its fruit, as he who listens to his master will be honored.

Dennis, I'm glad to see someone put the two figs side by side and lay to rest the idea that they are one and the same. I have both but my IC is young and still in a pot.It has put out a few figs that I didn't think were representative of what a more mature fruit from a mature tree would look like so I haven't posted pictures of them. The IC that I have eaten off my tree and off the tree of others were good but I find they were very Celeste like in taste. Maybe with more tasting side by side I might change my mind. The O'Rourke on the other hand is a great fig. It's at least as sweet as the Celeste and IC or sweeter, but I find the taste different in a very good sort of way. It has a unique taste that is easy to distinguish from the other two. Also the O'Rourke hasn't soured in all the rain we've had and the flavor hasn't washed out or if it has then I can't wait to taste them in dry weather. I will be starting many O'Rourke over this winter to put in the ground.
"gene"

Dennis,
Thanks for posting the pictures and commentary.
I'm always interested in the LSU figs. The ones that I have are some of the most prolific.
Could you please post a Leaf picture of your improved Celeste? Thanks.

Pete, I would be glad to! Here you go! Again, Improved Celeste has 1 and 3 lobes.

Hi Dennis,

Loved that last picture with all different sized figs. From BB sized to nearly ripe.

Pictured is the only O'Rourke fig that ripened on my 2 year old tree (in 5 gallon bucket). Although the tree had over 5 dozen formed figs, it only ripened one. It is currently shedding its leaves and unripe figs and going dormant. I'm a bit disappointed with this later ripening characteristic, but not the actual fig, which was quite good, it was picked a little early due to 1 inch of rain last night and forecast of more rain and colder temperatures in the next 2 days.
   


The 2 year old improved Celeste (in a 5 gallon bucket) on the other hand ripened over 4 dozen figs, and I had to pinch dozens more to slow down production.
  

Nice pictures Pete. My O'Rourke hasn't been bothered by the rain. We've had days with 3 inches and weeks with up to 7 inches and my O'Rourke has been steadily cranking out figs since July. Not one split or soured. It's been an everbearing tree continually adding and ripening figs. I also love the sweet flavor. My tree is second year in the ground.
"gene"

Pete, hopefully your O'Rourke figures out it's not in Louisiana anymore and will ripen earlier next year. Thanks for the pics.

Gene,
Thanks.
The O'Rourke has a very tight eye, but I was not taking any chances on it splitting in the rain. The tree also leafed out late, due to my leaving them out in 15 degree weather last winter. This plant is in a 5 gallon bucket and will be planted in ground in the spring. I had expected it to be a few weeks behind improved Celeste, but it has been more than a month behind. The weather has also not been cooperative, we have had night time temperatures in the high 30's to 50's for most of September. Hopefully, with better winter protection, it will be earlier next year (its already productive).
  

Calvin,
Thanks.
The O'Rourke was very cold hardy especially with all the abuse to which it was subjected last winter. I believe it will be in my top 10 next year if given a little better care this winter (kept above freezing for the entire winter dormancy period).