Hi Ottowan.  Hope you are doing all right with all that snow coming in the Great Lakes area.

You too Martin.

We talked with family still up there today and they are getting out the generators and preparing for no power and the possibility of several feet of drifting snow.

I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts on Mission Figs, etc.  I learned a lot as usual.

Jon, you should change the name here to: Fig University!

Talking about these makes it seem like summer is just around the corner.

(I know it isn't; but it's nice to dream for a while).

Best wishes to all.

John

Thanks John,

I'll just say that by looking out the window im getting early faint
Flashbacks of 1967 and 1999 this evening.

Maybe the flashbacks will be even more realistic tomorrow .

Very windy and snowy here .

C'mon Spring.  

Herman, yes, you are right about the tall one trunk
growing habit of Mission. I'm not familar with the name
Vista Mission. This is UCD's DFIC 012, just described as
Mission. Very good Figs.
 
Although its in the garage, its so cold here and for so long
I hope it survives.
 
Peg

John, I have a few different strains of BM, 3 are still young and in pots, only a few figs picked from each and a fourth I have in the ground here.  I covered it its first 3 or 4 years but last year and this year no cover.  Last year no dieback but this year will be the true test.  Last year the figs were excellent (but so were alot of other figs too). 

Interesting Bassem thank you, I didn't know that, they must have come through Mexico from Spain originally is this correct, as I know Mexico doesn't have Native Ficus Carica there. The spanish would bring into mexico and up into California I would assume is this how the story goes.

Maggie, 

OH! Thanks you Bass,,, I understand now, I am supposed to have a mission coming but haven't received it yet, so I am interested to learn more of this variety for myself. Thanks for this, I will read more of Eisen to pertain to this variety. Ciao ! Makes good sense.

The only way to find a good strain of Mission is to select it yourself ,with a little help from others that did.
For example :In my opinion the best tasting Mission type fig I grew ,at this point,here was the MALTA Mission,I received in trade from George M.
It was not any hardyer than others but it had an exquisite excellent taste and flavor.

The third pix are fruits on my plant,the rest Gerge M  pixes

I have a FMV free Black Mission fig that is believed to be from when the Spanish settled in Louisiana many years ago.....even before there was a United States.  It looks exactly like the Mission figs that come out of California.  It is an EXCELLENT fig by all measures except cold tolerance. My in ground Black Mission tree gets set back each winter. The first few years I tried to grow it in a tree form and it really struggled. However, now that I am growing it in a bush form it is handling cold weather much better.  IMO, Black Mission is a must have variety if you have the room for one.

Dan