BRONX/NYC.....

This year the fig season was short, lousy, and, now it's over.  Spring weather was so cold, for so long, that trees just started to sprout leaves in May!  For the first time since 2007, "Atreano" produced NO figs!  I lost a larger 6 ft. "Red Italian", and the rest of my trees were too small for any sizable main-crop.

But wait, there's more!  The star-of-the-season, was a unknown variety, that a forum member, Pete (ascpete), 'discovered' growing in a Bronx, NY yard.  I had the opportunity to grow a 5 stem bush, and to taste about about two dozen figs, some from my tree, and some off the original, established tree(s).

These medium-large, purple-black figs, about the same size of "Black Mission", had a wonderful flavor which reminded me of "Hardy Chicago" but with a more pronounced jammy, tangy, peach-apricot finish.  The figs were dead-ripe, and I saw no splitting from the rainy weather that we had in the days just before the harvest.  The tender skins and nutty crunchiness of the seeds added to the treat.  Just sweet enough to make you want to just keep eating more, and more.

Leaves: thick, leathery, dark, spinach-green, shaped like a "Hardy Chicago" leaf, remarkably free of rust, and showing zero symptoms of FMV - which is a disease typically not found in NYC, and surrounding areas.  My small tree/bush is growing in a 5-gallon bucket, planted into a modified 5:1:1 mix.  Fertilized with "Espoma, Iron-Tone", supplemented with a diluted tonic of Miracle-Gro/24-8-16 once/month.  Main crop figs ripened by mid/late-August.  Grown in full sun.

I would give this fig at least a 7/8 on a scale of 1-10.  I enjoyed eating "Bryant-Dark" figs as much as eating "Hardy Chicago"...but the "Bryant-Dark" has a slightly more of an apricot flavor, and tang.

Just my opinions.


Frank

Frank
You should be food writer

Great description thanks for sharing.  Isn't it great to find local plants that are so good.

goss

Thanks for the very detailed description Frank . I am sooo looking forward to this variety . Hopefully next season will bring me a few on my young trees. I love hearing all the updates and descriptions of Pete's Bronx heirlooms. 

Frank , so sorry your season has ended. I actually had a few more figs than last year, but I did increase my collection of trees this year . There were disappointments though. A new Mission bush dropped all of it's figs and there were loads on it . There was actually one small one that ripened and I gave it to my husband - he said it was very,very sweet.  Heh heh he's not that descriptive ! It most definitely needs up potting , I should have done it when I bought it - so this fall.
As you said weather was a major factor this spring.

I am also awaiting about 4-6 Atreano's to ripen fully. It will be our first taste of those. Sorry your Atreano did not produce this year.
I have other varieties with a bunch of figs on each , I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one or two will fully ripen depends on the weather. 

Frank you know many of us like pictures .

Great to hear, Frank.  I'm looking forward to mine now.

Frank,
Thanks for the commentary. I would agree with your rating (7 out of 10).

Martin,
Here's a picture that was taken on the same day.

That looks heavenly, Pete!  Thanks!

Thanks for sharing.  looks like a wonderful fig.  Description of taste sounds like something that would probably rate pretty high on my personal taste scale since I am definitely an apricot fan and love a tangy taste. Looks like it is an open eye variety..if so, how early in the ripening cycle does the eye open?  

We had over 2x our normal annual rainfall this year but I am happy to say despite that, all of my fig trees which are producing (Celeste and Magnolia) had bumper breba crops and lots of main crop figs which are ripening now.

Frank your description is great!  I have a few of these on that I'm waiting to ripen.  Thanks for sharing the pictures Pete! 

Martin....

Pete filled in the blanks.  To be honest, I ate the figs before thinking about snapping pictures.  Next season, I'll try to post photos, but I'm sure Pete will get some detailed pictures of eye, leaves, etc. posted sooner, or later.  The photo-enlargement showing the figs is a fair representation of the correct size and color, and the purple-black skin cracks just like a "Black Mission".

Thanks Pete.

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I think it's really a nice  tasting fig.  I especially appreciated that slightly, tangy, apricot-peach, flavor combo that this fig has.  I don't really like overly sweet figs because they just overload the palate, and you can quickly say...."that's enough"....  Just too cloying sometimes.  But this fig, you notice.

The eyes on the ripe figs that I tasted were small, and fairly tight.  The photo above shows what looks to be an open eye, but there are tiny scales covering the opening.  I also liked the fact that after a two day soak, none of the figs split, or spoiled.  I had some white figs off a neighbor's tree, on the same day, and they were beginning to sour.  They came from the same area of The Bronx.  I hope this fig continues to hold up in rainy, humid, weather.  So far, so good.

Who knows, in a few seasons, maybe this fig will not perform well.  But for now, it will have a spot in my limited collection.  I could change my mind, but, I hope not.

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Pattee:

I never grew a fig that dropped the main-crop figs.  "Black Mission' was a real surprise when all the half-formed figs were on the floor!  I think that heat/water stress, and too small a container played a roll in the aborted crop.  The terrible Spring weather didn't help either.  Both Martin and Pete suggested that I re-pot the "Black Mission" into a larger container, which I will do.  I'm hoping that the tree will do much better in the coming seasons.

Thanks to all for the interest, and comments.


Frank

Marianna,
The attached linked topic has all the descriptions and pictures of the tree for 2 seasons (2012 and 2013)...Also, the eye is relatively tight and only opens slightly when ripe. 
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/unknown-figs-1bronx-ny-6028881

Thanks for pictures Frank.

hey, frank. i just got a rooted cutting of bronx  dark. you've had some more years to evaluate this fig since this post. do you feel like commenting on  your current feelings about it?

Susie, I am watching my first Bryant Dark fig that is swelling and changing color!  Really looking forward to this one. 

meghan, when you taste them, will you tell me your impressions, please?

Sure!

i'm counting on you, meghan.

This one just started swelling yesterday.   Color started to show this evening...  After this one there are still 5 more on the Bryant Dark.

Sorry about the picture.  My cell actually has a decent camera, just it doesn't want to focus on what I want it focused on! 

so, this is a late season fig? odd, since frank doesn't have a long season.

This tree was given to me a month ago and it had the figs on it already.  I was told by Steve, the one who started it from a cutting, that he had already had several figs off of it already.  Since this is it's first year I wouldn't say anything about whether it is a late or early producer.  It was started in Jan if I remember correctly. 

Susie:

Just saw the request for information.

This "Bryant-Dark" thread is up to date, and the critiques that I posted were based on this variety's performance for this current season. 

I don't think it is really a "late-season" fig, and it would probably ripen figs earlier, in Zone 7-b if it was planted in-ground, and was an older tree. I grow my tree in a 5-gallon bucket, but it's going into an 18-gallon tub, next Spring. 

As noted, Spring-2013 was far too cold for too long, so trees got a late start, and still, I had ripe "Bryant-Dark" figs by mid/late August. This is the first season that the tree produced figs.  I predict the tree will do better in coming seasons, and, I also think the quality of the figs will also get better....although, I can't see how the flavor can improve.  If figs are picked at various degrees of ripening by different growers, there will be a taste difference. That's just the way it is. The figs I tasted were dead ripe, soft....and if you like ripe apricots and peaches....this is a fig for you.

Hope this helps.


Frank

thanks loads, frank. i'm glad to hear  it tastes like that. i'll give it a place of honor, with your reccommendation.

oops. i see my confusion. it said posted 9/11. i thot that meant sept 2011, not 9/11 this year.

just another instance of the bubble headed chick misinterpreting  stuff.

Susie:

No problems.  I mistake the dates also.

Try to judge this fig, any fig, on your own terms.  The best fig is the one YOU like.  Forget all the hype about fig "A" and fig "B".  If you like it, grow it.  While it might be fun chasing after the latest "must have" fig variety, sometimes the best figs grow in someone's back yard, and, without the fancy pedigree.

Have fun.


Frank

Meghan, Susie,
Keep in mind that the "tree" is actually a 10 month old cutting, and the flavor can never compare to an older plant. Also figs are usually removed for the first year to allow the plant to grow.

The tree should be an early season cultivar in warmer zones especially when you factor in the breba crop. You can calculate the ripening time in your zone by comparing your season start and finish to the posted dates in the descriptive topic. The in ground tree Leafed out the end of April and had ripe breba by the middle of July, Breba in less than 3 months, with main crop figs 1 month later.

Good Luck.

actually, frank, i think my new hobby is figs thst taste like other things. when i tasted the over ripe morle paradisio n i tasted  peaches with just a hint of fig, i was hooked. when you said apricot peaches i knew i hd to try these.

yea, I know not to judge a fig in its first year.  It's just nice to see it actually ripening up some of the figs on it now.  Its a beautiful tree with the dark thick leaves. 

Susie,

I agree with what Frank, Pete and Meghan say.  Meghan's and my tree are less than a year old.  I have another couple of figs that will probably be ready in a week or two on my tree.  These trees were just slow in producing since they are young, in addition to the fact that I picked off many younger figs to force some engery into tree growth rather than fig production.

This past winter hasn't been good to the Bryantdark mother tree, like most unprotected fig trees in NYC, causing lots of dieback and main trunk damage. the tree was already slated for severe pruning this spring so there was no major loss other than scion wood and the Japanese Espalier experiment. Its already producing lots of new growth from the base, hopefully I will be able to harvest scion wood after dormancy this fall.
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BTW, the large stump in the "after pruning" picture is actually 1 of 2 air layers that were not remove last fall, they will be remove in early summer.

Hello everyone....especially growers of 'Bryant Dark'. 

I can see that many of us are growing this virtually, unknown, Bronx, NYC fig.  Enough rooted material from the original tree is out there, and being trialed in different climate zones.  I hope enough younger trees survived, and will start to set figs this season.  I, for one would love to read some critiques regarding this fig variety.  Because this variety is so new....it has no track record, yet.  So, it's up to us to fill in the blanks.  Please share your observations, likes, dislikes, etc. as the season progresses.

My tasting experiences with a large variety of figs is very limited to just the few trees that I'm am growing....but...if I had to grow just one fig, I could be very happy with this variety.  Why?  Hardy in Zone-7 (with precautions/protection)....healthy, clean, thick-green leaves with no FMV/D to deal with...vigorous growth, good producer of very flavorful figs, and, two crops that ripen early.  Also, last season, the leaves on my 'B-D" trees were remarkably free from rust infections, but this factor depends on weather, rain, humidity, etc.  Some of my other trees had rust on the leaves.  Oops...I forgot...it roots very easily too.

Pete, hope the original trees grow like weeds.  Very nice to see that they survived this horrible winter.  I wonder how long it will take for the new, basal stems to produce figs?

Frank

I will have to add this to my wish list! Sounds very tasty & healthy tree to boot. Can't ask for much more than that.

I had the privilege of meeting Pete and receiving a Bryant Dark from the Figfest at Tim's last fall. It was in my garage for the winter and came out of dormancy beautifully. I am so excited to have one of these "Bronx Bombers". Here he is: Thanks again Pete
 

This sounds like a wonderful fig. Is anyone willing to trade some Bryant Dark cuttings for??

This fig looks great! Always wanted to plant a fig outside in zone 7b besides Celeste or Chicago.

Anyone care to donate a cutting or two? Pretty please? : )