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Pacific N.W and figs

simplicitygardens

16 years ago

Would like to try growing a fig. Particularly interested in Adriatic. YUMMMM. Will they grow here? Is there a reputable catalog anyone might recommend or am I better off to start calling local nurseries? I have dreams of espalier on the south side of my barn. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Also, is there any particular variety that dries better than another and does the Adriatic dry well? Thanks!!

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Comments (7)

paully22
16 years ago
Sure Adriatic will grow in Z8 but no idea whether it will do well. The fig varieties that will do well in PNW are Desert King, Lattarula, Negronne & Brown Turkey. As for drying type of figs, no ideas. Check out "ENCANTO FARMS".
I am very happy to have done business with them for varieties,quality of information, service & quality of plants received.
boizeau
16 years ago
I'm near Tacoma and my favorite is magnolia, so far. Also latarulla is good. Desert King is very productive but the fruit is soft and rots easily with summer rainfall, 'Which we seldom get'. Also Violet DE Bordeaux is a good one.
I have had Osborne but it was too late, and my Conadria is almost too late as well. Negronne is OK, and Brunswick has not many but very large figs.
Brown Turkey is OK and a good fresh eating fig.
Otherwise there are surely a lot of other good ones that I am not aware of.
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jhjohn
15 years ago
Boizeau,

I live on the Sammamish plateau - USDA Zone 6/7. From your favorites, which fig tree is the smallest in size. I have a rather limited space and don't want to have a big tree there.

Thanks
eukofios
15 years ago
I live in Vancouver WA. Although I am a fairly new fig grower (6 years), I have several varieties. The smallest variety so far is Petite negri (several spellings exist). They have this tree at Raintree Nurseries (in Washington state) and some other sources. I bought mine via mail order from Wayside Gardens but the one that they sent me was only about 6 inches tall. Still, it grew. It is productive of good tasting figs, they are fairly small, black, red inside. The tree seems to stay small, mine is about 6 feet tall now. The link below is a photo of these figs, except for one which is brown and came from a Brown Turkey.

Others can be trained in bush form, and kept to small size as well. The best tasting that I have had is not one that I grew, but the figs were given to me. Those were from Desert King. That tree would grow a lot bigger, but might stay small with good pruning practices. I just got one this year, so I don't know how it will do yet.

Good luck with your figs.

Here is a link that might be useful:
jhjohn
15 years ago
Thanks, Eukofios.

Your Petite Negri looks great. I would like to try both Petite Negri and Violette de Bordeaux in a pot.

Thanks for the advice.
boizeau
15 years ago
My smallest tree is the Violet De Bordeaux.
Desert King is the tallest, going beyond 24 feet high.
boizeau
15 years ago
Would be great to arrange a fig cutting trade somewhere in the NW this winter. I am looking for Green ischia and Gillette fig right now. Have a lot of Conadria and Violet De Bordeaux wood to share.
I think everybody has Desert King already
The ideal location for me would be Federal Way somewhere.

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