One of our local nurseries is selling a cold-tolerant, black fig called King Arthur. Anyone know anything about this variety?

It seems to originate from Hackney Nursery in Greensboro Florida. They are wholesaling 3# 2-3ft. for $8.50 ea. Here goes a picture of it that I borrowed from them. Hackney's phone #1800 622 8605.

Tallahassee Nurseries is selling these figs. Greensboro is 20 miles from Tallahassee. Makes sense now.

I guess there's no law prohibiting the naming of figs.

Maybe King Arthur brought the specimen back from the Crusades? 

More likely,... Brown Turkey by any other name.

You are right FMD, those figgers!!!! There is no way they paid one cent to acquire any of those cuttings from a valid source if they managed to get thousands at once and are selling them for all of $8.50 each after potting and raising them for edit: six months maybe? I suppose it their own "special selection" of BT, ha, if they spent years growing out a sport for their own stock they would want more $ I know the big guys can do a low margin but I doubt they would if they really had something special.

By the way, I think the reason big nurseries like growing BT is that they can get them loaded with figs so fast.

Talk about a mark up. Those same trees are going for $19.99 here.

When I was first looking for a Mission fig, at our local discount nursery, they were selling a 2 foot single whip in a one gallon pot for $24.99. That is when I innocently decided to start some cuttings of my own, and the trail has led here... (Spending that $25 would have saved me a lot of money, work, and garden space, lol.)

Is there any entity that is currently working to develop new fig varieties? Or is anything new like this most likely a re-name of something previously existing? The taxonomy of figs is so messed up, that would be very easy to do.

Gina....

Last sentence, first paragraph...I agree.  I buy the largest, bearing-age, trees that I can find and pay the price.  I cannot be bothered waiting for cuttings to root, then grow out, then wait for figs, hopefully in three years minimum.    I let someone else take the risk, let them grow it, and then I step in and pay the vig.  But, I get instant fruit.  Frankie don't do "waiting" very well.

The only time I will raise a cutting would be to acquire  a rare variety.  And then, it better be a good fig, from a reputable source.

Frank

I hear ya Frank.
But I definitely find some satisfaction in dividing, rooting, etc, turning one plant into a bunch or growing a small one into a big one.

maybe i should call my VdB, guinevere, and my KB morgan la fay.

pete

Rooting your own cuttings is witnessing in the miracle of life.  That said, if I could afford (or even find) several great varieties that were 5 yrs old and well cared for I'd like them, too.

I understand. If I could, if $ would permit, I would do both - buy large trees, as well as starting cuttings. I'd love the immediate gratification of having trees and fruit fast. But unfortunately in my area, there just aren't that many interesting fig trees for sale. The only way to get anything besides generic Brown Turkeys (gobble, gobble), Mission (very good), and some green thing (meh) is to go the cutting route. Or do more expensive mail order.

So I do cuttings... and it's the most fun plant thing I've done since finding a source for low-chill blueberries.

:) :) :)

I found some similar to these at Tractor Supply earlier this spring while they were still dormant. They were trained in a similar three trunk habit as the ones pictured above. 

bump.

Just found this fig and I'm planning on getting one today.  Just wondering if it was a black fig or not?

Hey Brent and John,
what is the ruling on this King Arthur fig?  Is it Brown Turkey?  Celeste?

I never ended up buying one. All of the trees at that particular nursery were loaded with some sort of beetle about the size of a quarter. They were kind of iridescent green. At any rate, they were eating everything - figs, leaves, branches - with abandon. I wanted no part of bringing them or any grubs that may have been in the pots home.

I took another look around, they have some more for sale this year. I also took a look at the flickr photo and found a much larger size where you can get a good look at that ripening fig. It would stretch this thread out quite a bit so downloaded and cut the fig out to make smaller... but I apparently do not have permission to upload the pic? A first for me.

In the larger photos it does look like English Brown turkey to me. King Arthur was English right?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48182328@N04/5961065050/sizes/o/

Appropriate name should be The Queen --- it is productive. But the thought that it is likely a BT really
spoils the enthusiam.

wart was a limey. but what is exactly is an english? is it picts from the north who settled in lowlands? or is it a viking invaders from yonder yrs? or is it normans from france? he supposedly protected britons from the saxons, but isn't england comprised of various groups of people who just happened to be occupying the kingdom at the time? 

I am the guy with the King Arthur figs on the flickr site. I have emailed the person who brought the original plant to us. It is not ours, I believe it was a "pass a long" / "selection" from a customer up in the North Georgia mountains. My memory it was chosen for its hardiness.  I don't think we named it, I believe it came to us with that name. It is very common in the industry for individuals and/or company's to name selections. To the point, it can be confusing at times. Many times the reason for the selection is hardiness, compact growth, longer bloom time, re-blooming,  larger or smaller fruit, etc.  Some are patented, some trademarked, others just passed along for free. I have been in the business for over 25 years and seen many plants with different names but were all were the same plant. Maybe a different strain. Some of the loropetalum's are a prime example. Sometimes the plant was brought from another country by more than one person, thus each gave it a name. Not saying it is good or bad, just part of the industry. I am no expert on figs, but hopefully the person(s) that we picked the original plants up from can give us more info. Once he contacts me, I will be glad to share. You can decide from there if it is a BT selection or something else. I will be interested to see what you can determine from the information I can provide. I am always looking to learn more about plants and their history. Thanks and have a great day!

Thanks Plant guy. I found a couple for sale in Charlotte last year. I picked up 2 of them. They were strong tall and very healthy. I'll post pics this summer with leaf patterns. Ninety-nine percent of every thing sold in Charlotte is either Brown Turkey, Celeste, and Mission. I was able to trace the source of my trees. Mine came from Johnson Nursery up near Winston-Salem. I called the nursery but they couldn't tell me anything about the fig.

It frustrates the heck out of me because nursery owner tell every person that ask, that Brown Turkey and Celeste are the only figs that grow in our area. And that's flat out not true! Sounds like King Arthur is an unknown fig. I'm a big fan of Unknows! Thanks again for the info on King Arthur. The more information we can obtain about a fig, the better!

Hey Dennis I can understand your frustration. I have a similar one here that state it is an IMPROVED CELESTE but not LSU.

Dennis,

Think that's bad?

Try having someone tell you straight in your face that figs "DO NOT" grow in Michigan. That's when I pull out my phone and show them pictures of my yard. I tell them to start counting as all these figs pictured are not the same.

Yeah, that's pretty bad Rafed.

Every year I call around and ask nurseries if they have any figs. Spring has sprung in Charlotte with sporatic freezing temps coming at random. Some have figs, but most don't. There's one nursery that I called tried to sell me....guess what? you guessed it! brown turkey and Celeste. I asked the owner do they push only those 2 figs......WHY? She said, because that is what they have sold for more than 30 years. She asked me what I was looking for and I asked here what can she get? She said, she can get a fig called Brown Yellow. I questioned the name. So, she called her supplier and called me back 5 minutes later. She said, the tree is called LU Gold. She said, she never heard of that tree before and heard its a large white fig. I told her the name of the fig is LSU Gold and educated her about LSU Gold. I asked her who was the source and she said she did not know. HA, i knew that was a lie! She just didn't want to tell me. So, I told her to order me 2. She said, done ----they wil arrive on Wednesday.

When that tree comes in, I know it will have a source tag. I'm going to call that nursery and talk to them. It's the least I can do. My goal is to educate educate, educate these guys.

Hi
Well if I have my way the nursery I'm at will be offering new varieties of figs in the future.  They have been intrigued by what I'm doing with the cuttings and are letting me have a little space in the Cravo house to trial the figs in.  We are in Salisbury NC so not too far from Charlotte so down the road you will be able to check the place out.  John the owner is really cool and an old style plant guy who grows tons of stuff and is always up for a new challenge.

back in 96, i used to drive by salisbury every sunday. used to go to charlotte every sunday for kendo practice. i always wondered if salistbury steak was started from there... i always stopped by taco hell on the way back for a bite.. didn't have time for the salisbury steak...