I live in zone 7a. I don't trust the temperature outside at all it kills the trees. Even the fig trees will come from the root you will have very short season. I have Brown Turkey, Black Jack, Hardy Chicago, Italian ever bearing Black Mission and Celestia. My figs are planted in Pots and Hide in the Garage in Winter. I dig the pots into a raised bed in the garden in summer. I make sure my season is as long as it could be last year I had two crops. Starting in March I wheel the pots out in the sun which we had nice sun in March so far and back in the Garage at night. I have the Italian and Celestia in full bloom and the others are breaking pods all over. The last Frost we had last year was April 10. So I say April 15, the tax day the trees will be out and I am hoping to be eating riping Figs in June. Then have another crop in late August.

Well, it seems my breba figs taste better than my main crop figs. I put the blame on weather. We had cooler weather this late, late Aug & Sept thus far. More rain in Sept except for the past 3 days. Also the evenings are cooler & colder nights till early morning. There were some souring. I attribute this to rain and likely early morning moisture on the figs. I have an abundance of main crop figs ripening. Not sure whether this is related to my olive oil touch I did on tuesday and whether it will affect taste. The 2 variants that have so far tasted poor are Black Jack & Brooklyn White(1st harvest).

Yes Herman I'm speaking about the dark Danny's Delight. The fact that so many collectors received a green Danny's Delight has caused this fig to have a bad reputation. But, the one that we have in ground, is indeed dark. We have been winter protecting it, now for three years by bending it to the ground, covering it with compost, then insulating it. I hope to start testing it the 2013/2014 winter, without winter protection. It is reputed to have been able to handle Michigan zone 5b/6a weather. Because we are also in a zone 5b/6a, we wanted to grow and test it here. So far it is the best tasting cold hardy fig I have ever tasted. I'm happy to hear that you will be comparing it against Malta Black, to see if they are the same. This is an impressive fig. Not only for it's great taste, but also, it is a heavy bearing fig, wet soil resistant, and is another early bearing fig, for those of us in very short growing areas. Now if it can handle as much cold as Marseilles Black VS, it will be truly a great northern fig. Bob - Connecticut - Zone 5b/6a

A few more notes on my fig trials..... Today I ate a few figs from a cultivar that was given to me as a "Southern" Brown Turkey.....not to be confused with the South Eastern Brown Turkey, nor the California Brown Turkey, nor the English Brown Turkey. The figs were good but not as rich tasting as its earlier figs. The person who gave me this fig told me that it is believed to be a bud sport of Celeste that was found growing in an old Celeste orchard. According to some collectors, the South Eastern Brown Turkey produces red eyed figs early in their development.....while a Celeste fig's eye does not turn red until perhaps just before ripening. In this supposedly "Southern" Brown Turkey strain the eye stays completely closed and non-colored. It looks just like a regular Celeste but tends to be more of an ever-bearing fig. This cultivar will be watched much more closely by me next year as I compare it to the many other Celeste and Brown Turkey stains that I am trialing. I can see where this story might have some merit. At one time there were many fig orchards in Louisiana to supply the needs of the canning and fig preserve business....most trees were Celeste. A fig tree in a Celeste orchard that produced more crops of figs than its other Celeste neighboring trees would attract the attention of the orchard owner and probably would be propagated. Time will tell if this southern cultivar is really something different or just a fluke of the weird weather.....more fun for me next year. Also, late ripening Smith figs are still very good to excellent tasting....sweet and rich tasting with a very deep red interior pulp. The figs ripening now have a thicker neck and the skin is tinged with purple/violet stripes. Dan