A dear friend of mine just got married and bought a house in Sharpsburg, GA.  She wants 3 fig trees.  What does REALLY well in the ATL area?

C.J.

Search for Georgia and surrounding areas at "Links" for recommendaions from the literature.

It seems like everyone here in Atlanta has Celeste and Brown Turkey.  I don't recommend either, personally, and would actually shy them away from buying either.

There are a ton of figs deemed worthy of the southeast area.  Jon provides solid advice to get lots of experiences, which are crucial to making a good decision.

If you want my advice, I don't know what your friends like for taste of figs.  If I were you, the first thing I would do, ask your friends what kind of figs they like - dark or light?  Do they like more rich or more sweet?  When you figure that out, research which figs the plethora of east-coast folks are growing and have proven to work on the east coast.  Choose anything that has a tight or closed eye is suited for the southeast.  Any of the LSU variants are superb candidates if you don't want to think about it.  The first tree I bought was Brown Turkey.

Jon and S.H.  Thanks for the links and advice.

As for Celeste and Brown Turkey, I think those are just about everyone's "first" figs.  I bought mine from the Miller Nursery catalog about 7-8 years ago.  It took me about 3 years to kill them.  I did everything wrong.

I think my friend and her husband are pretty representative of the general fig-eating public.  (Forum members have a more sophisticated taste and higher expectations of figs than most people.)  They like figs and the prospect of growing their own is exciting.  I don't think that either of them has ever eaten anything fresher than those from some place like Costco.  They are both from Virginia.

I am going to try to get them a selection that will produce decent figs over as long a season as possible, so the hunt is on.

C.J.

Sorry to be the party pooper here, but what's wrong with a Celeste? It's a wonderful all purpose fig---Great fresh and great for preserves, cold hardy, etc. The brown turkey I can live without. Like Jason said, any of the LSU's would be a good choice maybe even the LSU Improved Celeste if you decide on a Celeste. The LSU Purple and LSU Gold are very good for the southeast although the LSU purple may not be as cold hardy. There are many good choices other than these, but for beginners, these would be a good start. Just my opinion, of course.

The following link can help you more from Ray Givan video in the thread:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4223945&highlight=givan

Tim,

I will admit that my experience with Celeste so far is limited to a catalog variety.  What was wrong (before I killed it) was that it dropped a lot of its fruit and the fruit was very small compared with some other varieties.  As ejp3 would say, it leaves you wondering where the rest of the fig is. Otherwise, it was a nice, tasty fig, but not what I have in mind for a gift.  In the meantime, I am trying a couple of other varieties.

I'm looking at the LSU varieties as well as Condria, Hardy Chicago, etc.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

C.J.

I gotta say, I just don't like the flavor of Celeste.  Personal opinion.  It's not my style of fig.  Everyone has their thing, Celeste just isn't mine.  It's a good "general" fig, I'm just not a "general" kinda guy ;)  I get them by the bucketful from a monstrous tree a few blocks away from my house.

If they have room for three figs, it seems reasonable to give them the option of three figs.  Why not go with LSU Improved Celeste, Hardy Chicago and Latarrula?  This will give them one darker fig, one really light fig, and one in-the-middle sort of fig.  Latarrula, like the one ejp3 has, is supposed to be an amazing light fig.  Some like Celeste, and have good things to say about the improved Celeste.  It seems like everyone likes Hardy Chicago also.  It would expose the friends to all three varieties, and all three do wonderfully on the east coast, and are cold hardy.

My two cents worth. The old UGA fig brochures list North Georgia as "Celeste, Brown Turkey, and Conadria" country. Eatonton, GA (more middle Georgia than North GA) was the home of the Hunt fig.

For me (a little North and East of Atlanta), Celeste is a small fig with only a main crop that drops a lot when it is dry unless mulched heavily. Brown turkey is a strong bearer, but splits in heavy rains. I don't have Conadria.

Hardy Chicago has been very nice, doesn't split, fairly good taste and is a pretty fig. Col de Dame doesn't seem to split either. Violette de Bordeaux has a very nice taste and doesn't seem to split, it produces brebas. Peter's Honey doesn't split much and has a nice breba crop (but for me the taste is bland, only sweetness and a honey taste). This part of Georgia suffers years of drought during main crop time, followed by years of flooding during this time, so splitting (and loss of taste due to excessive wet weather) is important.

Scott

I love Celeste. I hate Brown Turkey. Other people have different tastes. However, I have 20 different Celestes, and they are not all equal. If you are too sure about yours, it might be worth trying a different one. Among mine, those designated "JN", "GM", and "IS" are superior. They also have a wide range of characteristics that are expressed very differently during different parts of the season.  They have been a real study in trying to really identify what exactly is a Celeste. I know most of the colors, shapes, and different patterns and looks, but it is very seldom that I see one single fig that expresses all of the characteristics "properly" so as to be labeled as "exactly" what a Celeste looks like. I recognize them all, but most do not exhibit all of the characteristics on any one fig. I am working toward picking a picture of the "perfect" Celeste.

I haven't tasted a Celeste that impressed me, so it's interesting to hear that there are some out there that may be worth giving a shot.

Here is what I can tell you ....

FWIW, the local "Blue Celeste" at my neighbor's house a few blocks away has fruit which is approximately 1/2 the size of my normal BT.  It has richness (whereas my BT does not), and the inside of the Celeste fruit was more tan-ish than the strawberry-ish insides of my BT.  The Celeste fruit actually had some richness, and it was definitely sweet, but not cloyingly sweet like some of the overripe BT fruit I picked last season.

The homeowner specifically remembers that the tree was labelled "blue celest" when purchased decades ago, but ... then you must wonder if the tree was labelled correctly.

I can also tell you this tree is over 18-20' tall and wide with a trunk as big around as my thigh, and I was a skateboarder, snowboarder and surfer through my pre-teen, teen and early 20's, I still have hugely muscular thighs from it.  The tree is out in the open with no protection.  The owner took a stick from the parent tree and stuck it in the ground on a south-facing wall a couple years back, and grew it in bush form.  The owner says the fruit from the bush very rich, and sweet, much moreso than the huge parent tree.  Could it be due to the heat from the wall...or the bush form vs. tree form...or ???   Who knows... I plan to have her save a couple so I can try it, maybe it will change my mind about Celeste.  To me, the Celeste from the tree in her yard has left me feeling like Celeste should be re-labelled "Improved Brown Turkey"  ;)

Jason tree next to house is sweeter just a thought as I know you grow veggies and an old time Italian Master Gardner whatever that means mentioned to me to plant next to foundation #1 reason less susceptible to Nematodes #2 the soil is sweeter  naturally from the foundation PH is what I think he was getting at a higher PH I wonder food for thought as I really don't know. But a basic PH meter might clarify this

I would think the ph would rise from lime being leached into the soil if the structure was of cement, lime does sweeten the soil. 
As for heat making a fig sweeter or better in most cases at least to me there probably is merit to that most types do like heat like madeira and panache types. Im growing madeira and hope to get it to ripen some of its figs in my climate, and roooting panache. Sure would be nice to compare them to ones from California but i wont ever get that chance.
Just might get to taste how they will be in Florida though years down the road.
I hope to post some pictures if i get any madeira figs to ripen this season time will tell but computer dont have the taste function Yet.  ; )

In would think that LSU purple would be a good choice there.  Dan down there says it dosent split for him.