In Vancouver, WA (no idea if there is a wasp or not in WA or OR) I saw yesterday at a nursery 5 types of figs:
Brown Turkey
Desert King
Black Spanish
Stella
Fignomenal
Portland Nursery has a longer list, not including Desert King or Fignomenal though including the rest above plus:
King
Lattarula / Italian Honey
Negronne
Olympian
Peter’s Honey
Petite Negra
Vern’s Brown Turkey
Portland, Ore. is both 8b and 9a, depending where exactly
Vancouver, Wash. is 8b
It is somewhat rainy, more than in Cali., and so while lots of things will grow here that will down south due to the mild climate winters and warm summers (up to 115 degrees but usually just a day that is 100 as a high) a lot of plants will not ripen or freeze here that do great south of us
I would love to know more about the flavors of those figs I listed, growth in pots, and if you personally think some of them are worth growing
I grabbed some from GardenWorks in Vancouver BC last weekend to plant in pots. There isn’t as much info out there about growing figs in pots, but all the varieties they had seemed to have pretty good reviews here so I just got one of each:
Desert King
Italian Honey
Lattarula
Stella
Will see how they each do for a couple years and then propagate the ones that I like best, and report the results here later.
It hit 5 degrees F in Vancouver last winter and I saw a lot of dead-looking fig trees with no leaves or buds on them around town, but maybe they just wake up later than everything else.
Yes your Vancouver II is much chillier than ours south of you. I am interested in what you think of the results of each when you get some to taste. What works well up there is likely to do well here too.
This particular variety is said to grow up to just over 2 feet tall and wide, and be a mutation from Chicago Hardy fig. I am interested in knowing if anyone tries it, and if some other short cultivars are coming soon that you are aware of.
Italian honey and Lattarula are the same. But it is a decent fig for our area.
Stella is very good but late and stingy producing.
Desert King is the most reliable. And very tasty.
The wasp hasn’t made it north of the Siskiyou Mountains.
De Tres Esplets is my favorite.
I’m in Portland.
Any San Pedro Varieties are great here, includes Desert King. Grantham’s Royal is probably my fav or those.
Oro Rosato has great Breba here.
Go to One Green World, and talk to Sam.
Hardy Chicago, Violette de Bordeaux, Olympian and LSU tiger have done the best for me in Portland. My neighbor has a large lattarula that produces very abundantly.
Unlike others, my desert king figs that is 6 years old has produced only a single fruit and it only a few inches taller than when I bought it. I may have to try again with a new desert king.
Some figs like hardy Chicago, Violette de Bordeaux and lau tiger have a nice berry taste like raspberries mixed with strawberries. Others like lattarula and English brown turkey taste more simple and just sweet like honey or agave.
Other varieties that I have seen do well here are longue d’aout, Verns brown turkey, ronde de Bordeaux, strawberry verte, granthams royal, Osborn’s prolific, mt Etna’s, florea, peters honey, but there may be more.
Ourfigs.com, Ben b Seattle in YouTube and Park Rose permaculture on YouTube may have some good info for you.
I grow LSU purple, gold, brown turkey, pingo de mel, there all doing “okay”. And i have this undetermined fig tree that is one of the thickest toughest tree in my area that i know of. It produces an abundance of big figs and dont need the wasp, and is super frost Hardy, alldough the brebas dont ripe in my country. Some fig expert around? This is the tree, some of the yearly shaping and the fruit. I would like to hear a variety guess a lot!
I have this variety, it bears breba and main crop reliably. Tree is vigorous, and mine had spread 13-14 feet. One of our friend in Vancouver, WA has 10 or 15 year old VDB, it fails to ripen fruits if the end of summer quickly turns to cold and rainy.
No they are one tree, with two trunks, i dough one time to see. they are connected under the soil, bit problematic cause it sends many shoots from there.
That’s it. That’s the excuse I’ve been looking for to compost my ‘Stella’. It’s still in a pot, but has grown quite large and even with the greenhouse hasn’t been productive.
Yeah, I think I personally prefer a honey sweet fig taste not the berry sour notes, which may be why I liked the plain brown turkey figs from the store best too.
Which of the figs I mentioned would be suitable for growing in a planter not the ground? How short can I keep them pruned and do not harm to the plant?
