There is a good chance that ‘U. Spadafora Dark’ from ‘NJ Fig Farm’ could be the same fig cultivator as Jean-Talon, I shared a link for their website a few posts above this.
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I just about disagree with everything typed so far. I grow in containers and I got rid of Sweet Diana as it always dropped its figs. I did get a few one year and they were good! But the dropping kept happening.
Also it’s not desiccation. It’s the cold. Hardy to about 20 F. Wrapping traps ground heat. That is the objective. Some may survive colder temps. Desiccation is not good but in my opinion that is not the issue. Figs have waxy leaves and stems. They do not dry easily.
Here I can get figs from winter killed figs that grow back but only Florea. All others don’t ripen in time. Zone 6a
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Thanks for sharing a link to my nursery. As an FYI, fig trees will only be available for shipping during the dormant season as I ship all plants bare root. Local people can stop by the nursery year round though. I’m still scaling up production for ‘Sweet Diana’ which is why it is not consistently in stock yet, but availability should be more consistent in the future.
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Yes, in some climates it certainly does that, like I said in my description.
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You must know Danny well. I’ll say let’s wait until others who are in zone 5, or even zone 6a, to grow Sweet Diana successfully unprotected.
If the fig is that cold hardy and tasty, I am sure it will be as popular as Nadia hybrid plum was. So far, even the nurseries that sells it lists it as zone 7.
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Nurseries way warmer than zone 5, although that is not true the first link that I shared says USDA Zone : 5 at the bottom of the description, it says two different hardiness zones. Based upon what Danny told me, it seems like he might be done distributing it himself, he told me that nurseries in upstate New York are selling it. By the way I feel certain that ‘Sweet Diana (unknown)’ could not survive a -30F freeze unprotected ‘year after year’, no fig cultivator can deal with the max cold year after year.
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@alanmercieca – You should edit the post with the -30 F claim to remove that statement. Otherwise the misinformation will propagate. “-30 F Fig” will be the new meme.
FWIW, I’d wager any amount that NO common fig is hardy to -30 F. I’d bet $1000 that no common fig is hardy to -10 F.
Meanwhile, while I love RdB I agree with comments that Florea or Improved Celeste would be better. They start to ripen here in mid-August. In Z5, some head start is strongly advised.
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Do not recommend Ronde de Bordeaux as a first fig for a cold zone grower. Like others, I have found it very cold sensitive. I’ve had it since 2018, and in ground it has died back completely or almost completely every year, regardless of protection, and we’ve not even had an extreme 6b winter for a few years. Got my first ripe figs from a winter topkilled RdB last season—and only two of them, last half of September. The figs need to be wrinkly overripe to be good; a merely ripe RdB is only okay, and I find that the skins have a greenish flavor at that stage that I don’t really care for: far inferior to a Mt. Etna-type fig such as “Hardy Chicago.” But RdB is a very pretty specimen, and I’m sure it’s a real trick in a Mediterranean climate.
If I were you, I’d get a cheap, healthy “Hardy Chicago” tissue culture, and experiment with that before jumping into any more figs. (EDIT: Wellspring Gardens has 'em for only 12 smackers; and “Letizia,” a very similar Mt. Etna-type that’d also work fine as a first fig, for only 11.) Once you’ve grown it out a bit, you can easily make clones to try different things with. Growing in ground in zone 5, you’ll need a good microclimate (e.g., the south side of a building), a winter protection method that takes maximum advantage of ground heat (e.g., low cordon training with good winter cover, or tipping and burying), and a way of hastening growth and fruit set. Microclimate can help here, possibly also things such as black plastic mulch, perhaps even something like a low tunnel to get things rolling in the spring. If you’ve got a good place to store during dormancy—such as an unheated attached garage or a root cellar----you can also grow as a potted specimen and do the famous “Shuffle”!
To get a decent crop at a decent time, when summer heat ensures flavor and before the approach of fall brings problems such as blandness, yucky skin-infecting fungi and SWDs and African fig flies (as it does here, anyway), you’ll need to do something to preserve some older fruiting wood. Unless you don’t mind sparing the space and just want to try for fun without any expectations of real success, I wouldn’t try unprotected in-grounds in Zone 5. If they’re topkilled every winter, I don’t think you’ll ever have a meaningful crop, regardless of cultivar.
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Good suggestion.
We have tried hard to provide accurate info on the forum. There is too much misinformation out there already.
Extremely Cold hardy fig is the Holy Grail.
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Speaking of allegedly cold hardy figs, has any brave soul here purchased a “Lola Martin” fig from Gurneys? According to the catalog copy:
Now gardeners in cooler climates can grow sweet figs outdoors year-round. The fruits taste very similar to the popular Celeste Fig, considered one of the best for fresh eating and preserves. In fact, renowned plant breeder, Jeff Bloodworth, who has been growing this fig for 28 years, called it “Hardy Celeste.” Bloodworth originally received this fig cultivar from A.J. Bullard, who dubbed it Lola Martin, after the property owner where the fig tree was growing. The tree survived winter temperatures of -5 degrees F. with little injury.
Obviously some strain of “Celeste.” Might be fun to try on sale, but I certainly don’t have $50 buck’s worth of confidence in its hardiness.
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Very well put especially for a fig from Gurney’s
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I agree RSB is overrated. It does produce early, and the figs are good if left on to full ripeness. But it’s not early enough to produce if winter killed. I almost culled it like I did Sweet Diana. I need to remove some. I have about 70 fig trees and have been growing them for 8 years. I tried everything to stop fig drop on Sweet Diana and nothing helped. I have some that like to drop if they get too dry. So the last season I had it, I made sure it never dried out for long. Still didn’t help.
In the end I decided Sweet Diana would not work for me. RDB was worth keeping though. It produced well and early. Sure not the best fig, but not that bad either.
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I have tried for 40 years to get one to live here. I’m right up against zone 6 a few miles and 1000ft north. So we get some of that weather on occasion.
Looked up cold hardy varieties, looks like there are two that may work and I’m not on that page right now, suggestions? Don’t care if it burns back every year, but seems that limits fruit production.
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IMO, Celeste-type figs are not worth growing in the north. The fruit is small. When properly grown, they are very sweet. So to me, they are like large dessert grapes. Sure, we’d all grow grapes because we can eat hundreds of them. In my experience, a grower needs a large in-ground tree for these numbers on a Celeste. Also, I am quite sure that no Celeste-type fig is especially cold hardy. I can believe that “the tree survived -5 F with little injury” but Z5 growers need better than that. So that means a cover, and a cover means a small tree. There are hundreds of better choices.
All that said, Improved Celeste is definitely worth growing. The fruits are not huge but they’re bigger than Celeste. The variety is productive and very early. It performs well in the ground.
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I’m baffled at why ‘Chicago Hardy’ always gets recommended for cool climates. I’ve been growing it for about 4-5 years now and almost every year it has attempted to make figs, but they never ripen before the season is over and the tree doesn’t even get any winter die back because I’m in zone 8a.
As I said, I love RdB. But it does work better here (Z6B) in a pot than in the ground. And it tends, as noted, to fruit poorly if damaged (e.g., cold). It also seems very sensitive to self-shading from crowded branches – poor pruning leads to poor fruiting. And it can split in humid weather.
All that said, it’s a robust grower; it’s a very early ripener; and it’s very productive when managed properly. There’s no variety that ripens here in August that tastes better. And IMO it is a superb choice for a northern greenhouse.
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I wonder if you have the real Chicago Hardy. I have them in ground and in potted. I am in zone 6a.
CH can fully ripen here esp. in pots. When fully ripen, they are really good.
My inground CH dies to the ground because I do not protect it. Most years, it ripens in time. I am more worried about rain in the fall ruin its taste than it not ripen in time.
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Mine appears true to type. It just seems to need a longer ripening period than I can give it. Where I’m at figs need to be really early ripening types.
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Looked these back up and the suggestions are: Hardy Chicago, Violette de Bordeaux, White Marseilles. In zone 7 smack up against zone 6 so get those spurts of cold at least every other year.
I like a smaller frame tree.
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Not sure why your does not ripen in zone 8. Members here have CH ripens in zone 7.
Mine ripens in time most years after dying to the ground in zone 6a.
That why I think something is not right about your “CH”.