i love the leaves of the last picture. Seems like NY  is better for figs than Seattle.

Bob C,... I guess your subscription must have lapsed : )
The Rose Dark figs are larger and not as sweet, but I only had a few that weren't fully ripe. They both produce over the entire summer into early fall.

Grasa,... NYC is warmer in the summer, colder in the winter, but we have more sunny days. Also the pictures are of very healthy trees. I added a larger sized image so that you can see all the large breba and main crop figs in the tree canopy.

Pete...

Main crop on "Bryant No.1/Bronx Dark" are growing at a very fast rate.  Tree is very vigorous, clean....leaves very dark green -( like spinach)- and robust.  Can't wait!



Frank

Frank,
Attached are pictures of Timlight cutting started Nov 2012. It survived the winter in an unheated indoor room. It also has main crop figs swelling at each leaf node. It should have been up potted months ago.


   

This is a wonderful project you've undertaken. Without people like you we'd loose these old trees and their history. You've inspired me to go on a fig search in a little historical town not far from me. Senoia, GA.  I spotted an enourmous fig tree in a backyard there a couple years ago. It must be very old to cover that large an area.   Now I'm going back with intent and purpose   I'm on a fig mission..  not a mission fig  :-)  

Soni

@ Soni....

The work that Pete has done to re-discover, propagate and then, distribute some of these Bronx, NYC treasures is just short of amazing.  I know of only a very few fig collectors who have approached this kind of undertaking with this level of dedication, and more importantly, documentation.  Everyone on this forum has benefited from these postings showcasing the unidentified, Bronx figs that Pete has located, and propagated.

Soni....go for it.  I hope you come home with some cuttings, start some air-layers, and please, document and photograph your treasure.  Good luck with your fig quest.



Frank

I was lucky enough to get a TimLight at the Fig Party earlier this month. It looks like Pete had grown it for some time. It has 2 figs on it, I think that one may be a breba. Anyhow, I feel lucky to have met Pete, and lucky to have one of his trees. Pete, if you are reading this, I have just one thing to say besides THANK YOU: Pete, please keep up your "One Vice!"

Soni, ... Thanks. Good Luck with your Mission, "If you choose to accept it" and its completely Possible : )
On my way home 3 hours ago, I stopped to take a few pictures of a newly discovered Large tree before dark. The neighbors across the street were curious about what I was doing, after introducing myself, I was invited into their back yard and shown their 40 year old tree. After a 40 minute conversation on the different types of propagation, I left with a five foot cutting and pictures of their tree. I also may be helping to prune it in the fall. BTW although its a sizable tree (12 by 12), I would not consider it large. The largest main trunk is only about 2 inches in diameter. Its pictured below.


Frank, ... Thanks. But I am not being altruistic. I'm also collecting these figs for my own use. There may be a few exceptional cultivars to be found in someones back yard. Documenting the traits is also to aid in the identification of the cultivar.

Donna, ... You're welcome. Hope to see you at the next one. Those Timlight plants were part of the rooting experiments from earlier this year. If you look on the side of the cutting, you will find a letter designation. The letter will correspond to the test group of the cutting. They were not in the greatest shape, due to the fact that they were poorly treated and abused in their early life, but they are from good stock : ) If You have any problems with it let me know.

Bob C, ... Renewal?

You bet!  Tell me how!  Two of everything!  The Bryant darks may be a significant percentage of the figs I get this year.

Update 7/16/13
I was passing by on my way to lunch, and I was hailed by Pat, Rosemary's brother. He offered me a Roselight fig. He informed me that the breba have been ripening over the last two weeks. They have placed a skirt around the base of the tree to keep the squirrels from helping themselves. We went to the tree where we searched fruitlessly for a ripe fig. It seems his nephew had been by earlier.
We walked over to the Rosedark tree, where he was not expecting to see anything, and the first thing that we saw was a breba that was a few days from being ripe. Also all the breba are swelling and starting to change color. Attached are current pictures of Both trees and the almost ripe Rosedark breba (I left the fig on the tree to ripen).

Hey Pete, those look wonderful. looking forward to seeing some pics of the inside and hearing about the taste. Got a few small figlets on my bryant dark, and jim lite and tim lite. really looking forward to trying them out. te only figs i have had fresh are hardy chicago, and a kind of honey fig. but the way things are looking this year i might get a shot to expand with all the new trees i put in. keep up the good work finding those lost jewels.

Hi Pete, so happy to see the Rose Dk. Hope you get to taste one and post a report ! Can't wait for mine to come of age.

Great looking figs and trees.
If they turn our as exceptional tasting as they look I hope that a memeber who has one can share a couple cuttings. That Dark looks GREAT!

Update 7/26/13
Pictures of Timlight figs picked earlier today. On my way to lunch, I saw Pat (I've been posting pictures of his 2 trees) and his next door neighbor John talking curbside. I struck up a conversation and was invited into John's backyard for pictures of his Large Tree (a dark fig that ripens in September, a one crop). After taking pictures he pointed out that he had 3 Timlight trees and offered me two figs. One was completely ripe and the eye had opened, it had a few ants inside, but was unspoiled. The other was a few days from being ripe. They both were mildly sweet with a very light (faint) fig flavor. The ripe fig had a rich (creamy) taste.

As always Pete, than you very much for the photos and keeping us updated on these great NYC trees.

Pete:

The Bronx "unknowns" that you show us seem to produce a breba crop and also ripen main-crop figs, which makes them, two-crop, fig varieties, growing in 7a/b climates.

That's good to know.  I have never allowed any breba to form and always nipped them in the bud hoping to cause the main-crop to set and ripen earlier.  Maybe after reading all your information regarding the Bronx Unknowns, I will try letting a few of my trees set a breba crop, and hopefully get twice the amount of figs per season.


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Anyone in Zone 7a/b getting two crops p/season....  i.e. breba and properly ripened main-crop?  If yes, do you also pinch back the new growth after 6 leaves, and pinch out terminal buds to control growth so that main-crop figs will ripen earlier?


Frank

Thanks Pete, great info and pictures. And thx again for the sticks.
mgg

You're Welcome...
Here's a picture of my Timlight, it is the same plant pictured in post #29 and has been up potted to a 5 gallon bucket. I've removed several of the smaller figs. Hopefully at least one of these will ripen before the weather gets cold.