This link was buried in "Today's Harvest 2011". I think it warrants its own thread and I have some uninterrupted time before Celtics vs. Heat and Pacquiao vs. Bradley so ...

09/27/11 at 01:11 PM
Ronde de Bordeaux. My first RdB. It looked good but wasn't good. Picked it early because they pecked it. !@*&$#&^%#(*^!(&@!_@ birds. I wonder if the bird liked it or said 'Oops. That wasn't dead ripe.' and then flew away.' Speaking of dead...I am very happy that I do not see the birds nor do I have the time to wait and watch for them. Note: Tree originally received on 31 March 2010 from Bass.

Here we go in 2012...



Eight days later (17 June)



On 20 June, it is ready...

Hope you have a net for the tree or some other way to protect it. Too good to lose again!

Hope you get it and it's great!  Let us know.

Picked and eaten on 17 June 2012. It was very good with a sweet berry flavor. It was thick and jammy such that I could have spread it on some toast. It would have dried on the tree had I not seen it there hidden from me. The first image attached shows how I found it. I guess I was seeing mulch initially or got distracted. When they get dried like this and have not soured or molded, then they are usually very good. Bad light (overcast) on the other photos...

JD,

RdB cuttings you sent me are growing like weed! the cuttings are already putting out nice roots. in a week or so, they will go going into 1 gal.

thanks,

pete

JD,

Splendid JD and thanks for sharing.
If your tree is still young it only gets better.
Sure beats eating them white types eh ?
Yeah i said it.  ; )

Joe,
I am not as patient as it may appear. I missed this fruit on the tree one but I will not miss another. I would have likely picked this one a day or two sooner. At this stage, the flavor and sugar has intensified in a manner that most other fruits cannot and will not. Most overripe fruit sours, molds, or does something quite unpleasant here in the Florida heat, humidity, and rain coupled with a non-encroachment by songbirds and insects. This particular RdB exhibited excellent counter-culture characteristics...for this particular fig.

Martin,
I look forward to the future. There are a few more that have swollen, colored, are now with newspaper, and are under surveillance. To date, I have had two not dark figs that were equal and/or better than my best dark figs: Socorro Black and Camuna Small Black. As of their appearance last year, they were not dark figs but they had exceptional taste. We have discussed the misleading names but the taste can only lead you to one place. I look forward to tasting JH Adriatic (this year) and Battaglia Green (next year) to see if they are indeed worthy of joining the class of excellent figs.

JD newspaper ?
Are you training your figs to read the daily news ?

OMG.......... I am in love! 

Jenniferarino so what month is your Birthday .

Yes Martin. I like intelligent, well-read figs. Also, it seems as if birds do not like to read nor do they have a taste for news print like they do for almost ripe to ripe figs.

Martin,

Picked and eaten today 20 June. RdB has produced the first three ripe main crop figs of 2012. The two today were good. The shriveled one shown in post #5 was better. If not threatened with rain, then I would have left them to ripen for another day or two.

RdB has a complex taste - not figgy but fruit-flavored in a deep and rich purple mulberry way - with a delicate crunch from a few seeds. The sweetness was not notably present nor absent but...just right. The skin was thin and tasteless. I think a few lesser known figs are better but that was last season.

Jimmy,

You're on top of the Fig World for now.
Glad you got to enjoy it.

Very beautiful fig.

Out of curiosity, which ones tasted better to you last year?

Rafed,
I sure hope tasting RdB is not the top of the fig world. Otherwise, I may need to start yanking out topiary azaleas to get some attention and take back my garden (Note: Attention and take back being good natured not being cruel). RdB was good but...

Gina,
For my taste and location, the following were "better" than RdB last season

• Camuna Small Black (very unique taste)
• LSU Improved Celeste (excellent figgy fig),
  
• LSU Purple, 
• LSU Scott's Black, and
• Socorro Black (spectacular and last year's favorite).

I am not surprised that three of five are LSU varieties; they were bred to thrive and perform well in the heat, humidity, rain, and temperature fluctuations of the South.

It's funny. I heard that you either love it or think nothing much of it. Maybe part of its charm is the cold hardiness.

Dominick its first season in garage it died to soil level.
One of my favorites hardy chicago tasted much less during a heat wave one season and it took me by surprise as its always been one of my favorites and still is.
Here RdB yet different in taste is now also one of my favorites.

Perhaps hot weather has something to do with it ?

Jimmy,

I think you need to give it time to mature. This is one of the best figs I ever tasted.

But like martin said, Maybe it isn't a fig for the Southern climate?

Thank you. I know FL and Cali grow many of the same warm-weather things - citrus for example. And that blueberries developed by the U of Florida are spectacular out here too. I wonder if the same would hold true for fig varieties. I have two on your list already.  merci. :)

I just reread the Socorro thread ..with photos. Might have to put that one on my wish list. It looks and sounds wonderful.

RdB heard me talking badly about it:

"...were better than RdB..." and
"...only get one or two at a time...".

A+

They look so good!!!