Update: It turned out that this tree is not Florea. There was a mixup at some point, and the actual variety is not known. It could possibly be Igo. See post #19.
2nd Update: Florea apears to produce two distinct leaf shapes when propagated from cuttings. At this point it is not clear if the new leaf patteren is the same fig or not. See post # 38.

Based on Florea's reputation for hardiness, I'm trialing one in ground with only minimal protection. I thought others might be interested in how it goes, so I'll use this thread as a journal for the trial. The tree is at about 5300' in the Denver suburbs, zone 6a. Winters are generally mild and dry, but are punctuated with heavy snows and cold snaps. Late spring frosts are the norm, but are typically over by May.
Others with direct experience growing Florea in cold climates are encouraged to post their experiences as well.
 
This spring I purchased a year old Florea. It was planted in May after the risk of late frost was past, and took it's time getting started, but made it to about three feet tall before the season ended. The tree is currently heavily mulched with leaves, but has no other protection than that. I may wrap it in burlap to protect it from the dry winter winds, and give it supplemental water during the winter.



The first frosts stopped it growing in early October, but did not kill the buds.



As of the end of November, we have yet to get any really cold weather. The low for the season so far is only 25F. So far there appears to be no winter kill.



Oh, and yes I have taken back ups ;)

Good luck with your experiment.
I tried Hardy Chicago in my location (zone 5a) last winter insulated in a bag full of leaves from bottom to top but it did not survive. The wood looked deceivingly green and fresh after removing the leaves in spring but gradually turned black and never came to life.

Go Andy!

I'm planning on putting RdB in ground either this coming spring or next, not sure which.  Your results may influence my decision.  I do plan on using more protection however. I'm thinking a either a chicken wire basket or inverted garbage can with the bottom cut off. Then filling them with leaves or wood chip and covering the top with a tarp or similar to keep dry.

My Florea came in for the winter and will continue to come in each winter until it's a larger plant, then I'll plant it out in a spot that is protected from wind, gets summer sun and winter shade and I'll cover it for a few years before stopping protection.  I'll be watching all your updates with great interest.  Thanks for posting for us all.

I went to CSM before moving back home to Maine.  Beautiful state you live in.

I'm also trialing Florea this winter. My tree is being covered with a blanket and leaves inside an upside down plastic trash can. The bottom of the can has a hole to let moisture out but is covered with a tarp to prevent rain and snow in. My zone is a cold damp 6a.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the encouragement all. I think it will be interesting to see (if I can tell) just what events do damage it.
The forecast for next week looks like it might it's first real test early. Temps swinging between 63F and -17F in just 3 days with a foot of snow possible. So far we have had a lot of harsh long term forecasts this fall, and none have come to be. We will see this time...

@Tony, thats awesome. I can't wait to hear how yours does.

@Greg, you are just one air away from trying Florea in ground... The spot I have my tree in is some what protected from wind and does benefit from heat from the house.

@Calvin, I want to try RdB in ground also, but it will probably need more protection. I was thinking of trying it pruned japanese style and covered with a foot or so of wood chips in the winter.

Hi Andy.  I'm quite interested in your trial of this (and any other) trees.  I'm working on similar trials, but am awaiting one more year's growth for Florea.  (Also I'm in a colder zone, 5a).  Can you describe how the tree is situated, relative to exposure/protection from prevailing winds?   (Which I assume to be westerlies, though obviously localized wind patterns matter most). 
    a)  What sort of wind block does it have?  (relative to N, E, S, W, and wind direction)
    b)  What sort of sun exposure does it have where you've got it planted?  (e.g. is it southern slope, with direct sun / shadow for what parts of day?)
    c)  Is it close to any sort of heat sink?  If so, what?  (e.g. a brick or rock wall, southern exposed for heat?)
    d)  How well-drained is the soil?

From my experience, and bolstered by things I've read from others among us cold-climate growers, well-drained soil is a must  (it's a killer to have roots in sopping/saturated conditions in a freeze, seemingly especially so when there are multiple freeze/thaw cycles, but even one solid freeze in very wet soil can kill roots... of course if they're deep enough to be below your freeze depth that helps :-)).  Protection from cold dry wind seems to be another important factor.  Variety matters (and Florea seems a good choice to try).  Actual temperatures will matter too, especially dynamically  (the temperature curve over time... in my opinion passing through the 28F - 34F range multiple times in both directions, seems to be a very damaging set of events, even compared with steady temps that are below 20F).  (When those occur matters too, relative to how green the wood is in the fall, and again in the spring when you've got fresh green new growth).  There are other posts about these kinds of variables, by me and others (e.g. robertharper and a few other members too... quite possibly you're one of them :-).  

So in any case I'm quite interested to see how this goes for you.  Thanks for documenting it all and posting it here on the forum.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

oh, I forgot to ask, here are questions e and f:

  e)  how old is your tree?
  f)  about how big is the diameter of the trunk just above ground level (say 6" up)?

Mike

Andy,

Actually I think the Japanese style espalier with limbs very close to the ground would work very well here, insulated exactly as you described. RdB would be great candidate for this, it tends to make a thick base with many shoots coming out. It would be easy to train the arms in any direction very close to the ground.

Unfortunately for me, my planting location is between two houses. The backyard is full of sun but already occupied by the garden, figs in pots, and all my other pre existing fruit trees, bushes, and other flora. The planting location for the fig tree runs North-South between the houses.  In the planting spot there is a clear path on the south for the sun for 8 or more hours, but the indirect light from all other directions is so-so/dampened(house on E & W and large pine tree on North).  The light would be limited on the ends of the espaliered arms if I ran it E-W, and the shoots might shade themselves if I ran the arms N-S. So for the moment I'm thinking on keeping it pruned to a medium bush if it succeeds at all. But, I have plenty of time to ponder and reevaluate arms going north/south.

The upside is it will be will protected from strong winds.

Hi,
It is always fun those kind of trials. I wish you to have success.
I have myself in ground trees in cold climate, and looking at your setup, I would change two things:
1. remove the iron stick - replace it with a wooden one.
    That stick will allow the cold to go deeper in the ground.
    Iron is a good cold conductor.
2. For cheap, you could cut the bottom of a pot and make it a belt arround your tree.
    Fill the belt with ground or potting soil. That will protect a bit from the cold.
    To be honest I use 80 Liters pots . Your tree is a youngster ... You should help it a bit.
Good luck.
Funny, it is the first time I hear from your figtree variety . It is not know here in the groceries - or in the fig literature.

Hey Mike. Florea is the only fig I have in ground this year, I have several more I will be trying in years to come, but most will need more protection to start them out. With Florea I really want to see just how tough it is, if it does not make it I will try with more protection next year.
Yes, the prevailing winds are from the west. Winter winds are what I think are most likely to do damage while the tree is dormant by desiccating it.

   a) There is not a wind break directly next to the tree, but it is sheltered some what by the growth in the adjacent garden bed as well as mature spruce trees and the house bit further away.
   b) It is in a sunny spot, but does get morning and afternoon shade from mature trees.
   c) I have some large (6"-8") rocks in a ring around the base of the tree, and it is less than 10' from the back porch. The house tends to keep that area about 1-2deg f warmer.
   d) Soil is calcareous clay. I have been adding manure and compost for serval years, but it is still a bit heavy. However, in this climate excess moisture is not a concern. It is dry < 15" of rain a year. The soil really does not freeze more than a couple inches down anyway.
   e) I believe the tree was started in spring 2012.
   f) Roughly 1/2"

The temperature swings you mentioned (and late frost) are probably the biggest challenge the tree will face. Our temps oscillate all winter long, the average day will be between 30f-40f during the day and 30f-20f at night. There is a lot of freeze and thaw, which adds to desiccation as well as tissue damage. The forecast for this week is a good example of what can happen just about anytime during the winter. Mid 60s today, with snow starting tomorrow evening and dropping to the teens. Then sub zero nights Thursday to Sunday (we will see, that would be the coldest it has been in 7 years), at least there should be snow cover. 

I'l be interested to hear how your trials go too.

jdsfrance, thanks! 
Interesting comment about the stake. I believe iron has a high heat capacity, but only moderate conductance. If you ever cook with cast iron, you have probably noticed it can have significant cold spots. I'm not sure the heat loss through the stake will make much of a difference (I stake a lot of trees with old galvanized pipe), but I will keep it in mind when evaluating things in the spring.

Florea is a cultivar introduced by a forum member. CORRECTION: Florea is originally from Romania, not Austria. See post #14

please keep us posted next spring
good luck

Sweet George is originally from Austria. Florea is originally from Romania,introduced to us by Herman.Now...the "soft" part about its hardiness...You have to keep it in a big pot for the first 2-3 years.Once the trunk has 2'' or more in diam,you can plant it outside(inground),in a south sunny side of a house/barn/building.

Thanks Marius for the correction. I should check my notes before posting ;)
From what I can tell, you should know about Florea's hardiness better than just about anyone. To be honest, I suspect that is what this trial will show. I just want to document it.

Last night we had a low of -5f were the tree is growing. I had piled up leaves around it in hopes that would allow a nice snow cover over it. Unfortunately we only go 2". Needless to say, there is almost certainly significant freeze damage at this point.

it's a very young plant to experiment on. good luck.

This will be very interesting indeed. I'll be following this thread for the duration. If Andy's Florea survives the cold snaps and winter as a whole, it gives me more hope to be able to keep in ground trees as well. I am hoping to put a HC in ground next year, 2015 at the latest.

Hi Andy, I bought a "Florea" this spring as well which has the same type of leaves as yours: rounded lobes and decurrent base.

The shape is not a match for Florea, after a couple of ripe figs and some searching it seems I was sent Igo.

The member who sold me the plant also sold me some real deal Florea cuttings so I do know the difference well, I declined their offer for a refund because I think the mistake was not their's (they bought cuttings from reputable sources) and am happy enough with the way things turned out in the end. 

The fig is very good, much better than Florea (I have 2 Floreas planted as yearlings, will post results here). 

You will have to take my word about the leaves, cannot find those pics at the moment ; )

Ahhh, Brent... You spilled the beans! I have been talking to the person I purchased it from (same as you) and we came to the same conclusion. I was waiting to hear back from them to get final confirmation, but you just provided it.
I agree, the mixup is not something they should be responsible for, I was super impressed when I was contacted proactively about it. Though, I am hoping to purchase a Florea this spring from the same.

This just in: This tree is not Florea!

I guess we will see how a young Igo does in the cold ;)
Thanks for providing the ID, Igo is not a variety I am familiar with yet, so I will have to do some research.

"Doh!"(1)



1.Simpson, H.

I am eagerly awaiting your results Andy, mine is still in a container, but I would like to plant it out.

Although I do think it is true that the condition of the plant and the site has more to do with hardiness than variety in many cases. Your plant is almost totally dormant and I think that it should survive well and give a good reading for the variety's hardiness. 

I have a Gino's blk in a half barrel that is still tiny and grows only a foot per year (fertilizer issue) but it survived last winter outside undamaged while 2x 5 foot bushes planted in ground died back 1/3 and to the ground.
The one that survived well in ground gave me the best crop this year because of the huge size difference, the one that died to the ground regrew to the same height (not as wide though) as the other but only managed to ripen a few figs and is greener so will die back more, again. So it is a balancing act and you may see more damage next year as your tree grows more vigorously. Be careful with fertilizer, the soil here is usually rich so there is too much N already and it causes problems.

Igo is my best guess, it certainly is not a common variety though. I usually get mislabeled Celestes that drop fruit in my climate so it was a nice surprise ; )

Much to my dismay , I seem to be the source of the mislabeled plant that I sold to Andy and Brent as Florea.
I still haven't figured out exactly how it came about but if you bought or traded for a Florea plant ,in a 5 inch pot ,from me in 2013 you most likely have a fig like what Brent has posted.
If you got Florea as cuttings or in a larger pot from me then you have the real deal ,but the one batch in 5 inch pots which were not from cuttings from my own tree are the ones that are different.
Most of them were sold here in NH locally , but contact me if you are someone who got a 5 inch pot "Florea" and we'll work something out to your satisfaction.

Brent , I'm glad you think it is better than Florea.
Thanks for your detective work in figuring this out and stopping the spread of a wrongly labeled Florea.
I have more of these in 5 inch pots , so hopefully we can pin down the real ID eventually and not just have to call them another unknown.

Andy, that is cruel, common put some tomato cage and leaves around this stick tree... toss a garbage bag over until this nasty spell moves on... poor tree...

Quick update showing the terminal bud after thawing out. At a minimum the top couple inches are dead.