Was splitting them to dry and found this weird one.
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Wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets are killing me. Itās been so hard to get good ripe figs the past month or so because of them. I hope itās not a sign of an extremely cold winter coming. They are sure stocking up for something.
Iāve gardened for over 20 years and always considered wasps the good guys - at least with veggies. I have 1 inground fig with which I had a minor problem with ants, but they are easy to dispense with (sugar/borax syrup). As a newbie to fig growing what do wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets do? Are they attacking you or do they damage the figs?
@JustAnne4 In fall they eat figs and other fruits but they seem to love figs the most. In spring they are good guys and their diet is mainly meat so the pray on other bugs.
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Back to the subject Sweet Diana (SD) is a fig I put in ground. I put 5 in ground. SD grew the best. Itās 7 feet tall from a cutting rooted last winter.
Sorry for the poor photo, the plant is back lit from the sun. SD is most likely a strain of Celeste. A good one though!! I got it from nycfigs on f4f. Here is what he said about itās hardiness.
"I know that I posted somewhere that we
planted a Sweet Diana in-ground in the northern garden, Oneonta, NY,
zone 5b. Although we are zone 5b, temperatures are still regularly
recorded in the -20F and -30F range. I think the low in town was
recorded as -23F last winter. Weāre on the very top of the mountain and
get much colder so going to guess we were -30F or colder. But we
regularly sustain negative single digit temps for days at a time. Last
year we planted a Hardy Chicago, Florea and Sweet Diana all in-ground
with no protection. All three varieties were 2 years old and healthy.
The location for planting wasnāt ideal but they do receive 9+ hours of
direct sunlight every day. The HC and Florea did not make it. Sweet
Diana died to the ground but pulled through. Came back strong and
healthy and is a little over 2 feet tall now. Definitely a testament to
the good genes of this variety. "
Iām in 5b too! Not as cold though! Still it may not fruit well after being killed to the ground. I want to try and keep some of the top growth alive. I guess I will wrap the tree this winter. it is in a southern exposure right next to the house;. It is next to a cement porch attached to the house. Iām hoping ambient heat from the house will help it get though the winter. I have one in a pot too I will keep in the garage.
Both in container and in ground fruited the first year. This is a small fig, and here they are, they can get a little bigger than this. No berry taste, more like a date, very sweet.
I think the taste is good! A perfect fig for preserves and such. It does well in wet conditions too.
Well that beast in the first photo will be cut down to 3 or 4 feet, so if anybody wants to try Sweet Diana, I will have cuttings this winter. All I ask for is postage.
Wow, it looks so nice. Another candidate for me too.
Was sent Celeste cuttings last year in a trade that were supposed to be something else. Have had a bad experience with it in ground here so I dug it up once I figured it out. Used some roots to graft onto, this is a Ginoās grafted onto a Celeste root with Barnisotte T budded on. No suckering right?
Planning to keep the Celeste in a container because they are really good, just difficult in ground.
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Do you know where he is located in Canada?
I hope Sweet Diana is OK in ground, but yeah I have a backup in a container. The mother tree was in ground in Staten Island, NY, Zone 7a. Brought from Italy 36 years ago, so it may be something besides Celeste? A Celeste like fig for sure, yet who knows? Leaf pattern is not matching Celeste that well.Also the fact that Florea died and Sweet Diana didnāt, for nycfigs tells me it appears to be very hardy.
I must say Iām having more fun with unknowns than anything else!
Unknown Teramo appears to be a small fig with amber flesh. Not much to look at. Not a deep flavor profile, but it does taste good. I found they taste best when they ripen when itās hot out. Good news itās an early ripener.
Another unknown Iām even more excited about. Just Fruits and Exotics sold what they called a Black Madiera. They got it from the island of Madiera but it is not one. it ripens way too early, yet looks like a BM. It was extremely hard to propagate so they donāt list it anymore. Collectors have named it JF&E Black Madiera not. I have a small plant from an air layer. I am tying to find a decent fig that will work here from Portugal, so hoping this one works? I had another promising one from Portugal, but it fruits too late for here. I may bring it inside for the winter under lights. I probably will.
I have some blackberries by the south side of my house and they kept their leaves all winter. So yes it can make a big difference. If you were to tent them with aluminum foil bubble wrap insulation you could probably guarantee keeping them good all winter.
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Thanks for that post, I remember your efforts now, yes I will obtain some, thanks!
Drew I know you know that 1 tree is not a proper sample size for an experiment. There were probably no buds available to grow from the below ground portions of Florea and HC.
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Yes, which makes me think I should have buried it a little when planting. I donāt remember if I did? Yes, same with your in ground tree. Although itās all we have to go on. If I have your experience I will rip it out. From most posts on the net, I can conclude that in general Celeste is about as hardy a fig that exists. I looked for itās origins, but it appears to be such an old fig nobody knows. In the south itās been here for centuries.
Oh good job on the grafts, I wanted to mention that.
Also with Scott mentioning the bubble wrap, that old discussion is good.
It reminded me of all my options, wrap, bury, dig out and put back. I think the best is burying the tree, yet also the hardest to do. I donāt have room to do it in the front garden.
One of my goals in all of this is an edible landscape that looks good. Another idea I had in that regard is using grains instead of ornamental grasses. Where they would look good, so would many grains. I never grew any grains. Not even sure how to use them?
Drew,
You can also add a mound of dirt around the base for Winter protection and remove it at Spring time so no digging. Too much work.
Tony
Thanks Tony! I will do that, and mulch it to death.
The heavy fall rains caused one of my ripening figs to split. What do you think pick it and see how it tastes? I think itās very close to ripe.
Yes, it will spoil if you donāt grab it.It will not be the best. i just pulled off 3 that split. I will dry them.
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I dry them some. That makes them sweeter and more flavorful. Just ate a few that dried one sunny warm day in the greenhouse. They were still soft and pliable but very tasty. They were cut into thin slices.
My two new favorites from this yr: Cendrosa and Maltese Beauty. Cendrosa is a nice sized green/grey that develops surface cracks as it ripens. Pretty and very tasty. Maltese Beauty is a black fig thatās similar to Preto. Both are very healthy fig plants. I hope to root some cuttings this winter.
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Thanks Steve for the report on those figs. I just ate some Scottās Black. I liked them. They didnāt split with heavy rains, some even dried a bit and shriveled. The stand out for me this year Is Lebanese Red Bekaa Valley. A deep red, small fig. A lot like Celeste in size, but darker, thinner skin. It had the most berry flavor of any I have tasted. Which is not that many. I donāt have any of the premium figs.
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I just had that one tree, but it was unproductive because of vigorous/juvenile growth for five years. Ground layers in a pot made more figs than the mother! Iāve also found some out āhuntingā in the past and the only one that was productive was well protected and had a mature growth habit, zone 7b proper with a warm microclimateā¦