So, my sister lives in Louisville and I want to gift her two fig trees that will thrive in her area.  She and her husband both love figs.  They have a very nice big yard so the trees will have plenty of space to grow.  I want something that will be prolific and will grow fast. Also, I want to buy them and have them shipped directly to her since I can't send them from California.

What would you suggest I buy for her?

If you have two good figs for her area, please PM me.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions?

Owensboro
Sal's
Marseilles White or Black
Gino's Black
Tacoma Violet

What climatic zone is Louisville?  If not 8 or > then you will need to let them know they will need to protect the fig trees for the winter. 

Assuming Louisville is around zone 7;
For black figs any of the mount Etna family of figs or RdB..., for white figs Dalmatie, Atreano ... will be easy to grow, produce delicious figs and are cold tolerant.

[QUOTE=snaglpus]Owensboro
Sal's
Marseilles White or Black
Gino's Black
Tacoma Violet[/QUOTE]

Thx, for your suggestion, Dennis! I will keep these on my list!

[QUOTE=pino]What climatic zone is Louisville?  If not 8 or > then you will need to let them know they will need to protect the fig trees for the winter. 

Assuming Louisville is around zone 7;
For black figs any of the mount Etna family of figs or RdB..., for white figs Dalmatie, Atreano ... will be easy to grow, produce delicious figs and are cold tolerant.

[/QUOTE]

Thx, Pino!! Not sure of zone but I think you are correct--maybe zone 7. I will confirm. Yes, they will need to protect the trees & I have mentioned this to her. This may be a silly question but I am a novice--do any of these trees require the wasp?

Thank you!

[QUOTE=sppsp]Dominick, may also be great choice, it grew in NJ very well, it's a fast grower, taste good, and has a wonderful story. Look it up.

The varieties mentioned in above post are great too.[/QUOTE]

Thx, Shailesh. I agree, the story is great about the Dominick tree. Also the Tackoma sounds good but all of them sound good! I will look at all of these great suggestions. touch choice! I really want to buy them all...lol. Typical of fig collectors, right?!

In addition to Takoma Violet (yes it is spelled with a 'k') and other Mt. Etnas, you might consider Malta Black or LSU Improved Celeste.

none of those need a wasp

I started that thinking it was the same as Florea. After further analysis this year, the results is they are not the same. But Letizia is an excellent choice too.

[QUOTE=alanmercieca] the only thing I can think of that I have that for sure fits all of those things and that may be good down to 6a or 6b is Dominick which has already been suggested, yet I already am having  trouble producing it fast enough for people LOL. I have one that I am not sure how fast it regrows back yet since it's still in a pot yet it should do fine in Louisville as far as handling the cold winters there, it's called Letizia and it's rumored to maybe be Florea, some people think that Florea is the most cold hardy variety, my Letizia is not reproducible yet.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Alan! It looks like Dominick is one fig tree that I will gift my sister for sure. What a beautiful story. It makes this variety that much more special. And, how perfect that it will grow well in my sisters zone?! Now I just need to narrow down the last of these suggestions for the second fig.

Wow, I have a nice list to choose from. Everyone on this forum is always so generous & I truley appreciate that you took the time to post your opinion to help me out. Thank you!

If you want productivity, I still have to find a more productive tree in pot than a Celeste. To make my story short, to my surprise this year the flavor became more complex than in previous years and over a period of two weeks I was harvesting about 4 or five figs almost each day. I used to describe the flavor as just sweet but this year, I found myself saving the Celeste figs for last. I'm almost certain that this strain of Celeste which I got from my local Home Depot is totally free from any FMV and a fast grower.
Here's something interesting that I found out. Home Depot in each state and sometimes location within the state gets their plants from diferent growers. So a Celeste in TX might not be the same Celeste sold in another location. By having more than one Celeste, I found out that there are more than one strain of Celeste out there and they behave diferently. As an example one kept dropping its fruit while the other one never did. So finding the right one is key.

Alan: my next thought was that I would need to give my sister some tips on how to protect for winter and you just answered that! Dominick really sounds like a great fig for her.

Sas: this is interesting about celeste. I have seen some at my home depot as well. Good to know. And, i know she wants to plant it in ground so maybe she will get others later. Thx!

In zone 6 Illinois MvsB is my most reliable producer. even unprotected and after full winter die back I have since year 1 gotten ripe figs. hardy Chicago was my number one never having any die back until a couple of years ago. with it just seems to depend on how bad winter was and how warm spring is. not that its a bad cultivator or anything. I grow all my trees unprotected to see which does best in colder climates. MvsB being in my number 1 spot. 2nd place is a difficult choice however as I would say its a 3 way tie between Bryant dark (unknown), hardy Chicago, and lattarolla. I over the past year have added Nero 600 and it looks promising with amazing growth after full winter die back but that its still to early to tell on that one. hope this helps.

Thanks, Garden Whisperer! Dennis also mentioned MVS black/white!

[QUOTE=Rewton]In addition to Takoma Violet (yes it is spelled with a 'k') and other Mt. Etnas, you might consider Malta Black or LSU Improved Celeste.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the spell check Rewton. I made the correction. Also, thanks much for your suggestion. I am keeping a talley of votes that come in for each variety so hopefully in a few days I will have #2 fig choice.

Best,
Meg

Marseille Black is just outstanding! I'm planting 3 more in my orchard. And the same goes for Black Greek and others.

I love Marseilles Black, so I can't disagree with that choice.  But based on my limited experience here in Z6B, my 1st pick would be Ronde de Bordeaux.  It's earlier and IMO tastier; I picked my first two of this season today.

I like light figs too, especially the Adriatics.  But they all run later than RdB, Florea, and Mt Etnas like MB.

Thanks, again for your suggestions, everyone.  It looks like the second fig choice will be either Marseilles Black or RDB.  I will have to decide.  Thanks!

I don't know anything about Dominick other than what I read in 2 minutes, but the pics make it look like a Mt Etna-ish fig not too different from Marseilles Black.  Do others agree?  Are you concerned that you'll have two very similar varieties?

[QUOTE=jrdewhirst]I don't know anything about Dominick other than what I read in 2 minutes, but the pics make it look like a Mt Etna-ish fig not too different from Marseilles Black.  Do others agree?  Are you concerned that you'll have two very similar varieties?[/QUOTE]


You make some good points! This is much tougher than I thought!

Hey, Alan! Thanks and yes, I am still looking for Dominick. I do appreciate your help very much. I can send you a PM so we can coordinate :-)