I tried a breba from my white marseilles aka. lattarula yesterday which went great with a salad and for some reason it started me thinking firstly back to the history of this particular tree and from that if I could keep only one of my figs,all container grown, which would it be. My white marseilles is a cutting from a tree bought in the early 1980s from the famous old nursery Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth, responsible for the breeding of many different varieties of fruit trees and which ironically closed later in the 1980s after some 250 years of trading. My original tree was planted in ground at my previous house and by the time we moved in the 1990s to our current house it was much too big to move, hence the cutting.
Now I have 15 fig trees in total, 11 different varieties, and I think if I could keep only the one it would be my white marseilles. Some of my other figs may have a more intense taste, but taste is anyway a very individual thing and I think the white marseilles has a nice light sweet flavour.
The reasons for my choice are
Nostalgia. As my first fig it holds that special place.
Reliability. It gives a good crop twice a year every year.
Freedom from pests. Growing in a greenhouse some of my other figs get scale insect but never the white marseilles.
Taste. My wife and I, and the neighbours like it.
It would be great to hear about other aficianados favourites.
Here are a couple of photos taken yesterday of the white marseilles.

i have a young st.anthony ,but haven't got any to eat yet from it yet here. where i am out of 22 diff. varieties my 2 year old Florea has given me ripe figs 2 weeks ago now,so florea wins now, but  it was Letezia but she's moves to second top choice now~zone 6b in pa.~

Mine would be Hardy Chicago.  The cuttings came from a friend and I learned a lot growing them out.  My first fig came from one of the trees, which to me tasted very good.  I've got one plant that's a year and two weeks old 5-6 feet tall in tree form with a bunch of fruit forming on it.  That is my keeper. 
Number 2 would be a two-year-old Hardy Chicago trained as an espalier with tiny fruit forming now.  Yeah, I know you said single tree but she deserves an honorable mention ;-)

Celeste

Comfort food as I grew up with Celeste trees in New Orleans.

I second Hardy Chicago, if I could have only one. Last year when we had tons of rain at harvest, all the other figs split and soured, but not the HC. Also, even on the hard winter when it froze to the ground, it came back and produced a small crop that year. Besides all that, it is one of the best tasting in my yard. Its a winner! 

I would have to keep my Celeste. 

Valle Negra is my girl. She's very productive giving me two crops. The figs rank high on my flavor list too. All around good tree to have.

It's great to see to see the different reasons for everyone's choice.
Hardy Chicago and Celeste seem to be popular. These are two figs that you don't really find in the UK. We are currently having the hottest June weather for many years. This is good and bad, it ripens the figs nicely, but too many breba ripen together. Still got quite a few white marseilles to come and the heat is causing my brown turkey brebas to swell up now. Oh well there's always the neighbours and the fridge for the surplus.

I love to see these "favorites" posts.  Looking forward to some zone 8 posts.  My trees are all too little to say yet.  Looking forward to the day when I have tons of figs and can rank them.  Happy figging everyone!

Tonycm are your figs in ground or in containers?

Thanks,

Brad

el, you might look for mongibello.
in  sicily, that's the correct name for hardy chicago.

I would have to say both the Celeste and the Southern Brown Turkey, as both are delicious and versatile.  I prefer the Southern Brown Turkey for fresh eating, but both are very good.

noss

Brad, Most of my trees are potted, including Valle Negra. I have 12 trees planted in ground with varying results. I'll be planting a Valle Negra in ground to trial it, with hopes of a good outcome since it comes from the foothills of the Alps.

Battaglia Green

Figo Preto.

1. Produces 2 main crops a year. (Hawaii)
2. The most productive variety out of 60 so far.
3. Average size main crop fruit of 80 grams.
4. Best looks.
5. Best tasting.
6. Healthy/Vigorous growing.
7. Flavor is consistent.
8. Does not need to be picked dead ripe to be good.

Strawberry Verte....................YUM YUM!! : )

If it is inground, it would be Granthams Royal. If it is pot culture, it will be either Florea
Or LSU Improved. Preference based on reliability, hardiness, good taste & productivity
For my zone.

As of right now it would have to be the one I don't like to share! lol Angelo's Dark, but that may change after I try Figo preto, black Madeira, or smith this season! We will see, if I start giving all my AD to my 2 year old so I can eat all the figs from those mentioned above, and find myself not sharing any of those varieties! But until then it's got to be Angelo's Dark!

Still getting brebas from my white marseilles, so that's still tops on productivity and that plus its greenhouse pest resistance and suitability for container culture keeps it just ahead but I have to admit if it was on taste alone as some posters have chosen, some of my berry flavoured figs like ronde de bordeaux, rouge de bordeaux, verte and petite negri would beat it.

Hi John,

How is it that the White Marseilles is greenhouse pest resistant?  What kind of pests would be a problem in a greenhouse?

Thanks,

noss

Hi Noss

Good question. The pests I see in my greenhouse are red spider and scale insect. My figs don't usually get the spider, my peaches are more susceptible, but they are prone to scale.
My white marseilles never suffers. This might not be entirely variety related as it is also my oldest fig and my verte which is my second oldest also seems scale free.
It may be that as my other figs age they will also become scale resistant. If that does happen then my single fig choice could change.

I have an Italian Unknown that came from my great-grandfather's house.  No idea what it is but it's cold hardy and as kill-proof a fig as any other variety that I've come across, so I'd keep that one. 

One guy wrote: 'the best fig is the one currently in my mouth'.
So, the tree I'll keep would be the one producing that fig !
 I have some unknowns and "healthy longue d'aout". Since it will be easier for everyone to find and try it, I'd say healthy longue d'aout.
Dalmatie is good too, but since I had to choose just one ...