This isn't your normal top 10 list. Over on the F4F Cuttings thread the following question was posed to Jon. I though it deserved its own thread.

VdB/Vista/Negronne is my standard when measuring other figs. It was the one I set out to meet or beat when I wanted to add 3-4 to the 4-5 I had at the time. 800 varieties later, I want them all. There are still very good figs top be found, and I am quite serious about continuing to collect and to figure out a way to preserve the collection in a manner that it will continue to be accessible to the entire fig community.

Top 10? there isn't any such thing. Depends on climate, weather, season length, soil, etc.

Some are worth having even if you only get a few, but usually I would want a tree that was prolific.

This is a little off point, but I noticed that most of the fruit nurseries in the mail-order business who offer figs offer either Hardy Chicago or Brown Turkey, if they name a variety at all. With so many varieties out there, why are the offerings so limited?

 @Dale....  That is why I am thankful for the members of this forum and Jon at Encanto!  Many great varieties are sold, traded and even freely given to

help spread this fruit tree and our "hobby"!!

  Just stay with this forum and you will be surprised at the friendship and knowledge available.   Fredfig

Dale,

A few reasons.

1) They only sell what they know and/or can get large quantities of.

2) They only sell retail the varieties that are wanted at the wholesale level. If you sell 10,000 trees for a commercial planting, you "make" extras so you will have the full; 10,000. Then you have to sell what is left over.

3) It is easier to stock 5 varieties than 200.

4) They produce what has sold in the past (often because it was all that was available for people to buy because it was all that they sold- so it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of).

Check almost any nursery catalog for any type of plant: cherries, apples, asparagus, whatever, and they all have a few varieties of whatever plant they sell.

on the flip side, often the varieties that are sold have proven, over time, to be good varieties, If you have a good experience with their product, you will likely come back and order again. So they sell what is safe.

All good commercial reasons.

I recently saw an article in Nat'l Geo. relating how  may varieties of vegetables are now reduced from up to 400 to an average of about 80 each. Every time I go to the grocer I think what a tragedy it is we live in such a mono-culture. What other good things to eat are out there that just don't find their ways to the store?

This should probably be its own thread, but the last comment made me think of another very interesting film that can be seen on YouTube (see it now before the link disappears)    The film is Michal Pollan's Botany of Desire 

Well, I did a terrible job communicating my desire for this thread in the title I gave it, so I shouldn't be disappointed that the topic has wandered - or maybe lists of favorites have simply been done too often. Anyhow, I thought this one was different enough to generate some interest. I'm not looking for an all-time Top 10 Favorite Fig list; per drivewayfarmer's referenced post in my OP, what are some great figs, likely been there done that varieties all of us are familiar with like Hardy Chicago that maybe get overlooked these days in favor of the hot rare varieties?

I promise to let it go if little interest is generated after this post.

Thank you for the link, Ingevald.  I have been a fan of M. Pollan's material for a couple of years.  The information in his books give me a lot of food (pardon the pun) for thought.  Be that as it may, in keeping with Posturedoc's request, I'll throw in my 2 cents on the subject at hand.

In my opinion, 'Celeste' should be at (or very near) the top of the list.  It is a variety that I have never bought nor requested.  I have, however, six different 'Celeste' trees which mere mis-labeled in the nursery... and I am happy for the mistake.  My trees in Houston make a nice, bite-sized, little morsel of figgy sweetness.  The tree is healthy and productive despite being RKN+.  It produces when the environment makes it difficult for others to produce.   It has only split once, and that was while a tropical storm was dumping rain on it.  It may not be my best tasting fig, but it is really good.

I do my best to not lose sight of this variety while I am seeking out the current "Noire de Whatever is Popular".  Even still, I was kicking myself last week because I realized when I was planning what I was going to do this year near Austin, I had forgotten to go to Houston and air layer some limbs on my Celeste trees.

~james

Hi Noss,

Usually, the two 'Celeste' I have (the source for AA001 and BJS No. 2 on Jon's list) are my earliest to fruit.  It has ripened as early as April, but normally May into June.  So I don't know about fruit drop issues.

I don't know if I've "moved" to the Austin area or it's just a long-term, temporary stay, but I am growing in the ground here now. 

~james

p.s. the "Noire de..." is a poke at myself.  I find if I see a fig with "Noire" in the name I always want to find out more and usually want to get it.  It just sounds so mysterious.  N de Caromb has been on my every UCD request I've put in