I don’t know how they would do in your Growing zone. I’ve always just grown Celeste figs . A couple years ago I planted LSU gold I really like it not as sweet as a Celeste, but large with good flavor
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For figs, Longue d’Août (LDA) is my go-to. It has had the best winter survival for several years. I now have 3 of them at different properties and those 3 had the best survival of the 25+ in-ground figs, Actually, I also planted a 4th and even that small one (maybe 2’ tall) did not die to the ground. The figs are huge and have very good, but not exquisite flavor.
I second Korean Giant and Anne raspberries. For mulberries, Oscar is my absolute favorite. Though that may be because it has more acid than most mulberries. Almost like a blackberry.
If you can grow pluots/pluerry, then Geo Pride and Flavor Punch are my standouts.
And don’t forget jujubes. Honey Jar, Black Sea and Sugar Cane are good ones to start with.
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My advice: Get like three varieties of whatever, that is dead reliable in your area. I mean dead reliable, even if there are a couple of houses in the neighborhood growing the same thing.
By all means, adventure with new varieties. But even there, make bets that are likely to pay off.
—-the voice of sad experience.
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Korean Giant is a solid choice if fireblight is a concern, it’s one of the few Asian pears that genuinely shrugs it off rather than just tolerating it. And yeah figs that need babysitting are not worth it when you’re still establishing everything else. Once you’ve got the low-maintenance stuff in the ground and thriving you can always add the fussier varieties later when you have bandwidth for it.
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Thanks!
Raja might not be highly resistant, but it and two other Asian pears (including Shinko or Shinseiki, maybe both, I got cuttings from my Dad’s friend and he forgot the variety) were way more fireblight resistant than the Hosui cuttings that he gave me, of which died.
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Hello, we are a fig farm in the Chattanooga region, which is 8-A. Our climate here is more like N. GA than the rest of TN, but perhaps I can help. A lot of great varieties have been list here. One thing you should know is that growing figs for you will mean that they will died back to the ground most winters. For that reason, I recommend that you focus on varieties that are early ripening. Also avoid any know to not produce well after a die back. Here’s a few that I will add to your list to consider:
Florea
Longue d’Août
Dr. Gowaty
Naples Dark Unk.
Green Michurinska
Nero 600m
Hâtive d’Argenteuil
Mt. Etna type figs ripen early and handle winter better than most. There are numerous varieties in this category, of which Chicago Hardy is a good example. Some other stand outs to consider are:
Takoma Violet
Azores Dark / São Miguel Roxo
Malta Black
Ciliegia Dolce
One last word of advice. I would not plant very many Asian persimmons if it were me. One polar vortex or untimely late fros will completely kill them. There are many really great American-Asian hybrids available. Those are a safer bet for your area. I wish you the very best of luck with your new orchard. If you get to the area before Sept., I invite you to Chattanooga for teh 7th Annual Southeast Fig Frolic. (for info: FigFrolic.com )
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As of right now, my plan is to do what @TNHunter does, and cut all my fig trees back to 18-24” trunks before every winter, cover them with hay bails, and a tarp. According to him, they’ll regrow each year, and still produce a respectable crop. Do you have any experience with that strategy?
For early ripening cultivars, the strategy is merely avoiding fall frosts?
Thanks for the invite. We might just drop in.
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My RdB is a very fickle producer and then can split. I keep it just for the one year in three it has a good year. If you’re 7B, life is not complete without a strawberry jam tasting Adriatic type fig, like Green Michurinska or Adriatic JH, a fabulous fig. Chicago Hardy can’t hold a candle to AJH in taste.
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Bull’s Heart Asian persimmon is really cold hardy, it won’t bear fruit where it’s so cold, but it will survive very dwarfed, the fruit it’s huge, up to 4 inches and heart shaped not small and flat. It will survive down to -8 F so I think he’s got plenty of extra for a polar storm.
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Yes, I have done that, too. I cut all of our figs back to 18-24” every year as we sell cuttings annually. I have covered as you described, and many other methods, over the years. In Zone 8, that should have been sufficient. The issue is that winters are no longer “normal” here. The last 4 years in a row, we seem to have one or more polar vortex events which cause our low temps to drop into the low single digits. That is enough to kill them back to the ground despite the protection of the straw and tarp. (Straw has a little more insulation value than hay.) Like, @kokopelli5A , I too am the voice of sad experience, and I concur. Grow what is proven in your area. The varieties of figs that I listed have performed well for us here in Chattanooga and ripen fruit. We grow over 300 varieties of figs and those I listed are good bets for you, as are many of the ones already listed in this thread. I wish you all the best with your project.
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