This spreadsheet prepared by Ampersand has been extremely helpful: Cold Hardy Fig List by Flavor. There is something I can't quite figure out though. Why did these three figs, Ronde de Bordeaux, Stella, and Florea not make Herman2's list of cold hardy figs for beginners. 

The info I'm getting from searching the forum and YouTube seem to indicate that all three of these are cold hardy, taste amazing, produce heavy, ripen early, and are not super sensitive to climatic conditions. Was there something I missed? Do any of these have some disadvantage that kept them off of Herman2's short list?


Scott

You'll have to ask herman why he liked one fig over another..lol

IMO
all three are fine for cool climate fig growing;
- Stella is not an easy grower and takes a few (3/4) years to start producing figs and has a tendency to split in wet harvests.
- RdB is easy to grow but takes its time starting to produce figs (3/4 years).
- Florea seems easy to grow but from what I have read has a blah taste.  But then again taste is subjective.  My Florea has figlets this year so I should find out for myself what it tastes like and may have to come back and edit this post.

Ronde de Bordeaux - IMO, this should be on anyone's short list, especially in Zones 5-7.  It is hardy, early, tasty, and reasonably productive (maybe 50-70% as productive, in my experience, as Florea).  It is also very pretty -- both the tree and the fig.  I see no special shortcomings.   

Florea -- This is a also a hardy, early fig.  It is very productive.  The taste is good but not outstanding.  Nevertheless, I would highly recommend it as an in-ground tree with winter protection in the northeast.  Even a modest tree can produce >200 figs.  Of course, Florea was introduced by Herman; it's a fig that his father grew in Bulgaria.  In Z8B, however, there are lots of other options.  If I lived there and space was limited, I might not grow Florea.

Stella -- I don't grow this variety, so I can't really comment.  I have avoided it because I'd read many growers who described it as not very vigorous.  Reportedly the following varieties may be synonyms: Dalmatie, San Pietro, Makedonian White, Vasilika Sika BC.

Note that Herman sells both RdB and Dalmatie in his "top twelve" (which is really at least 18).  But this list is focused on growers in the northeast.  

One other caveat: RdB seems to tolerate cold temps that come steadily and remain stable; I've kept it outside through winter temps ~-5 to -7F.  But a grower in CA has written that his RdB's are killed by a drop in temps from ~60F to 30F.  So (probably like many other figs) RdB seems vulnerable when not dormant to cold snaps. 

I don't know who told you that Stella was not vigorous, but they told you wrong, I have been growing her for 4 years and she is as vigorous as any!

Frank --

Some examples:

If you believe that Stella and Dalmatie are the same, there's this:

     http://planetfig.com/cultivars/fcveng8589.html

And the grower in this thread says that Dalmatie has a dwarfing growth habit:

     https://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/dalmatie-4841842

And Pino (above) grows Stella and finds that it is not an easy grower, at least not in the north.

But I'm willing to believe that the variety might do better in the deep south than in temperate Europe or the northern U.S.

Joe, to be clear, I don't have any problem with Stella.  Its a very healthy plant and grows nicely.  I love it and also RdB.  My comment is just my limited experience with these figs;

As per the topic question;

I had to wait 3 years to get 1st fig from these.  I prefer the mt Etna and similar, usually get figs 2nd year sometimes 1st year.

Also some figs are easy to grow (complete novice will get figs) - Some other figs (Stella) require more skill/care.

Learning how to grow figs better is part of the fun and reward! 

My experience with RDB has been mixed.

Growing in a pot it has grown fast and produced figs the first year and is usually loaded every year. The dormant tree stores well in an unattached and unheated garage and has no die back with temps of -10 F (in the garage) while it was -20 F outside.

Growing in ground has proven to be poor for me. No matter how much I protect the tree it has always died to ground level. It makes a comeback in Spring but doesn't form any figs until late and only ripens 1-3 figs before frost hits. I thought it was just my tree but other members have told me that they've had the same results. Maybe if I lived in a zone warmer results would change. As long as I live here my main tree will remain potted. My zone is listed as 6a but I think it's closer to 5b.

Florea and Vasilika Sika a.k.a. Stella are recent additions. I'll be trying them in ground in a year or so after I make some air layers.

Pino --  OK, I misunderstood.  When you said "not an easy grower" I thought you were commenting on the health or vigor of the variety, not the skill of the grower.

Frank -- Thanks.  I appreciate it.  Let me see if my current (growing) collection of pots fit into the garage in December.  If so, and if there's any room left over, I'll take you up on it.

All -- I'm four years into the fig passion.  So far, I've been adding varieties expecting (?) eventually to cull the weaker performers (growth, productivity, taste).  In the group of Adriatic-ish figs (green skins / red interiors), I've got Gene's Paradiso, Smith, JH Adriatic, Emerald Strawberry, Vasilika Zika (vs), Sumacki.  Does Stella / Dalmatie add something that I'm missing?  FYI, I've tasted only the first four.  They all seem to be keepers, though ES might be a notch below.

Stella splits easy with rain here & it ripens later than Florea & RdB.

RdB tree can get really big fast - a good grower in ground. Ripens bulk of crop usually when
we get more rain in Oct. & split. In spite of this negative trait, we still get a good harvest before
more rain comes. Usually by the time of more rainy days, we are already not in the mood to
have more figs. We are into persimmons.

Flora -- nothing negative about it. It is most welcome in my Pacific Northwest zone. If allow
to ripen nicely, it is a gem as it is productive. The surplus allows us to dry them and they are
perfect in size for this purpose.

Hi,
Never tried rdb since it is in the shelf of the big trees (as in, not well suited for pot culture) and I have a small one ( garden ).

Dalmatie and Stella are different IMO . You can tell them by the brebas.
Stella has short perfect pear/bell shaped brebas with thick skin.
They ripen later due to their thick skin.
Dalmatie has long brebas with a violet line under the skin. I recently posted pics of my Dalmatie.
I can see a problem with Stella and with people that are not patieeeeeeeeeeeeent .

Florea I read was close or the same as dorée/Goutte d'or.
My dorée might well go to hell this year. The skin of the fruits is thick. The fruits take ages from swollening to perfect ripening . They are hard to tell if ripe. They get yellowish faster on one side than on the other. Leaving me with half ripe or half rotten fruits.
My dorée is a shy bearer. The fruit is light in taste ( as in watery with a leathery skin - Did I too kill the beast now ?).
The tree is nice and has a tendency to stay small, but I want fruits. 7 years of pampering to just wack it all ...

So I can understand Herman's point of view.

<< I can see a problem with Stella and with people that are not patieeeeeeeeeeeeent. >>

Yeah, that's me.  I don't want to wait 5 years to see if a fig grows well and tastes good here.  If it was the only fig available and I was 25 rather than 65, I might see it differently.  But I already own ~40 varieties.  I don't want one that is temperamental.

p.s.  I'd have to agree with Max, if only because my Florea is extremely productive.  The complaints re Doree don't seem to apply to my Florea.

<< To be fair, I am not a 100% certain the fig I have is a "true" Florea >>

FWIW, I'm sure.  I bought it from a grower who got hers straight from Herman.

I harvested over 200 main crop figs from a modest in-ground tree last year.  Basically it holds a fig at every leaf node and ripens until cold weather (~mid October).

Max -- Agreed.  Here's my Florea today.  Normal date for 1st ripe figs is 8/15.


 

Ed --

As you may recall, I've had RdB in the ground here.  With protection, it survived the winter here with minimal damage.  So yours should do fine there.

Sadly, voles ate off all the bark this past winter, so I had to cut the trunk at ground level.  It is regrowing vigorously, so I should be back in business next year.

My inground RDB survived a z6 winter(it was mild, only down to -7F) with protection and had a 3.5' stem to start the season off with. Regrowth started a bit later than other inground plants, and although I pinched a couple shoots it has not set figs this year. What others have said is that the vigor of this variety actually works against it as far as fruit production when it is inground. I have some rdb in pots that have set figs at nearly every node, so perhaps the root constriction of being somewhat pot bound helps curb vegatative mode. I will also make allowances for inground plants as they acclimate to survival in the north..and hope for better results next year.

Does RdB usually produce one crop or two. I have one that seems to alternate
from year to year.

Mine hold virtually no brebas.  I've had regular annual crops over 3 years.

My RdB has also performed better in a pot than the one I planted in ground. It hasn't been particularly cold hardy for me for far as a young tree. It has suffered a fair amount of winter dieback for being planted on the south side of the house and being wrapped (albeit with a rush wrap job). Maybe that will improve as I get more thicker wood to survive the winter. It grows like a champ, but so far has been pretty stingy with fruit set. I got 1 fig from it last year, and it looks like this year it set 6 or so. The potted RdB is covered in fruit.

My Florea is in its second leaf. It's got an impressive number of figs for the size of the tree. If it tastes "good enough", I'll probably keep mine because that amount of figs it sets puts it in the workhorse tree category.

When I had Stella, it wasn't my fastest grower, but it wasn't a dwarfing variety either. I had a 6-7 foot tree in the first season after winter starting the cutting. It wasn't particularly productive for me, but then again it gave me enormous fruits. I got 12 fruit off a 2nd leaf tree. Equating those fruits to be the equivalent of 2-3 smaller figs, the productivity doesn't seem too terrible.

Here's my experience:

RdB in ground - moderately productive after 2 years in ground at my old place.  It seems to set figs late but fortunately once the figs set they develop quicker than most.  Cold hardiness is ok but not great.  The airlayer I planted in ground at my new place this Spring has two very small figs set that might ripen before frost.

Vasilika Sika (Belleclare) - I'm going to assume this is the same or highly related to Stella.  Is a healthy/beautiful tree that grows a moderate rate in ground.  It is very cold hardy.  Unfortunately after 4 seasons in ground it has never produced more than 2-3 figs.  They were excellent though.  I should qualify this to say that after the 2nd season in-ground I transplanted it to a new location Spring of 2016.  Since then it has put on lush/healthy growth in full sun but has not set one fig.  Yes... patience required!

Florea - I don't have one but from the comments here it sounds like a winner for in-ground growing in zone 7a.