"YX" or "TX"?

I've found that most of our local nurseries, to include Lowes' and Home Depot, generally have Celeste and Brown Turkey varieties. I have ordered in the past few days from Raintree Nursery and Grimo Nut Nursery. Try to buy or order soon and plant a soon as possible.

What have you got to lose?
Figs are usually cheap. I'd plant one in June! If if croaks try again next year.

I ordered a celeste from Paradise Nursery. I have not received it yet. According to what I read on the FF they have nice plants.

Vern

I live across 45 from you. You can plant now, but I wouldn't wait much longer if you want to give it the best chance possible (what you have to lose is time.) If the tree is heavily root bound, cut away about 1/2 to 1 inch of soil from the perimeter and trim any overly long roots. Dig a hole about twice as wide and almost as deep as your root ball. Loosen, but do not amend the dirt, then backfill. Mulch heavily. Water regularly until established. Feed it about two weeks after your plant.

Home Depot on 45 has Alma and Celeste. Lowes carries Brown Turkey and Kadota (if I remember correctly). Houston Palm has Celeste, Hardy Chicago (the one I bought from them last year is NOT a HC, but this years originated from a different nursery) and White Genoa. Lynn's (off 96) Landscaping usually carries Celeste. Maas Nursery (in Seabrook) carries Celeste with the parent tree (huge) on premises and Brown Turkey.

~james

April is actually a good time to plant a fig tree in Friendswood, Texas. Your tree should be well established by the time that the heat of the summer arrives. However, in Houston, you could probably plant a well-rooted fig tree even in mid-summer, assuming that you are willing to water it almost daily. You should be careful to keep the tree well-watered for the first couple of years anyway, until its roots spread out. Friendswood and Houston get a good deal more rain than Austin, so it will not be as necessary to water an in-ground tree as frequently in the summer. Last summer in June I planted about 32 varieties of figs in-ground. Almost all of them survived although they struggled due to the fact that their roots were not well established. If you get a tree labeled "Celeste" from one of the large chains, you may get Celeste or you may get something else. To be sure, your best bet is to order from a nursery that knows figs.

Thanks folks, I will give it a shot. I have a perfect full sun spot and will put in two of them.

bjs496, thanks for the local tips, I was at that Home Depot just yesterday but didn't look at the trees, and will be heading to Houston Palm also for some vermiculite this week, I'll look at theirs too. This is encouraging, thanks for the help!

LOL Mountainman, I was going to suggest if are at a big box store (or Houston Palm for that matter), and you want a Celeste, choose a tree labeled something other than "Celeste".

Blackgumbo, You seemed to be in a hurry to get a tree into the ground. However, if you would like I can save an air-layer of one of my Celeste trees later this year. Also, you might want to try an Alma fig as well. I think I prefer the Alma to the Celeste (both are very good). If you are limited in space, you could put both in the same hole.

~james

James,

Thanks for the offer. I'm really in no hurry now that I know that they aren't as time sensitive as some other fruity things. I still think I may take a gamble on a box-store purchase just to have a tree going, man I just want some figs to eat next year! Heh.

I had read in several places that the Celeste was a pretty carefree variety for Houston, since I've never had a fig tree before "carefree" is good, hopefully that means a tolerance for mistakes by the steward.

I'm completely new to anything other than raised bed veggie gardening, I generally just plant, compost, harvest and repeat, I haven't planted any trees but bradford pears (and I hate 'em now! They shade too much of my garden!). So I'm not sure what an air layer is or what to do with it, but with a little coaching or reading I'm sure I could give it a great home. What would I owe you for it?

Scott in Friendswood

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Gumbo's Blog

Scott,

Layering is a means of propagation. I have a Celeste I am planning on removing from the ground in many pieces. I am not anticipating doing this until September and removing them from the parent tree until November/December.

There are many varieties that should do very well in our area. Celeste, Alma, LSU Purple, LSU Gold are some that do. I have also seen a rather large and very productive Brown Turkey in League City. The first two I mentioned seem to be the more popular in the area. As you drive around you can see many hanging over fences in people's back yards.

It use to be in the early 1900s that the area between Santa Fe and Friendswood was a major fig production area. There was about 18,000 acres of fig orchards and two major fig processing plants in the area. So many varieties are going to be "carefree". Celeste is a popular variety because it has a closed eye, so it won't spoil so easily in our humid environment. Alma has a drop of resin that covers the eye to protect it from souring.

~james