Herman, I heard good things about Florea especially if
it is picked in the riper state. I know your standard is extremely
high which is a great asset for me. It makes deciding on
variants choices easier as my zone & yours are quite similar.
A few questions I hope you can help with answers:

a. How would you rate Florea to Desert King or Pastiliere?
b. How's the breba crop, productive ?
c. Do you manage to get most of the main crop to ripen?

Thanks.

Paully

When ripe in normal dry Sommer,they are both ,just as good.
In the rain Desert King was better.
Florea have no breba crop,and the main crop get ripe exactly at the same date as Desert King,on 25ft,of July here in NJ.
Absolute all main crop get ripe because it starts very early.
Herman2

I would also add that Desert king isunproductive here ,because the fruits buds ,are hard to keep alive trough winter,as most will die for many reasons,so,like other people noticed DK ,is not a cultivar tobe shure you get a harvest from here.
Maybe only a few good fruits yes,I did,but for the work it takes,to get them,it is not worth.
I keep it anyway,because at this point I do not mind putting on the effort.
H2

Florea main crop ripens in JULY. This is good news. Is it productive, laden with figs? I have a source encouraging me to trial this variant here & I look forward to it. I think my source tree is much smaller than the one in the pic. Thanks for the info.

Desert King is the best performing variant here. On a poorer year, a moderate tree size like 10ft will give more figs than any other variant I know. However time will tell when other variants like Granthams Royal, Filicciano, Dauphine are bigger. Wind chill temp here can get up to -2*F for up to a week during the artic outflows. Such wind chill outflows usually happens twice during winter.

Yes It is ladden with figs ,positivelly,very productive,in fact only Marseilles vs black is just as productive here,but is 3 weeks later to ripe compared to Florea.
H2

Hi Herman, as always your insight is great. Where can I buy Florea, as I live in Connecticut I would love to see if would survive the Connecticut cold as well.

Herman, I have had some people tell me that their Florea taste good to them. So, I'm thinking that for the average person, Florea may be good enough. Especialy those of us in very cold areas of the country. The other thought that I had was that if it is possible that besides to much humidity, Florea does not taste as good here as in your father's home town, is that maybe there was something in the soil there, that is missing here? Does any one know how one would go about getting a soil test from the area were the Florea mother tree is and then have the soil report email to us. Maybe if we are lucky it's something in the soil we can simply add in the planting spot here? That way we would have not ony a cold hardy fig for Zone 6, but one that also taste great, also. At any rate Herman, would you secure 5 cuttings for me. Email please with details. Big Al 41, What part of Conecticut are you in. We are in the very early process of testing for Hardy fig selections here. Thanks. Bob

.... laden with figs. Wow. Thats the bright note I need Herman. Thanks. Your average standard may be great here. Perhaps better than Gilette. My source tells me Florea is pretty good.

Al :Conecticut is mild compared to where the original mother tree is growing.
Florea is good,inground ,down to -25*C
Yet I will protect the first 2 years,while planted inground,or plant it after being in pot for 2 years.
I am selling it on Ebay now,I have 40 cuttings that was given to me,by the present owner,for sharing the profits with me.
I also gave ,and planted for him,and his doughter,2 Marseilles vs black in their gardens ,one for each.
Bob:I can tell you how the soil,is better:It is less acidic,by nature in Europe,+the garden is close to the Building,wich is plasteret with mortar,and when it was plastered 40 yrs afo,all cement and plaster and lime,and pieces of bricks, was buried,when they placed top soil in top.That is how is done,and resulted in a less acidic site.
You can do that to,by applying large amounts of dolomitic lime,on the spot,and mix it in the soil.
One can also diminish the efect of soggy soil,by building a mount of soil containing the above ingredient,and plant the fig,high in top of that mound.You will see incredible results in quality of fruits.
I just have too many and i can't do that.
H2
H2

And :Do not forget:all the above + full sun.
The Fig in the above pix is in full shade on the north part of house,because I was not there when he planted,it and even if I was Jon is hard headede and would not have listen to me any way!!!

Florea last Sommer,Jon is 6foot2inches

{{gwi:746275}}

Wow, now make me wonder how it'll do here in Toronto. I know we definately go down below -25*C most years, but I think if you plant it near enough to the lake (Lake Ontario), it might stand a chance.

Well, here grows my wish-list by one and not my fault at all.

herman,
I looked at your ebay items and saw you're also offering "zucker georg". george originally got the cuttings from me some years ago. actually its translates as "sweet georg", not to bring more confusion into fig names.
please correct the other wrong information also:
the plant does not originate in vienna, none the less vienna(and the figs origin, which is in the same zone) is not zone 5! its zone 7b, you cannot conclude the zone by a places latitude.
I'm sure you didn't intend to spare wrong information.

regards

Oh, I missed that.
Yes quinoah, I did get (quite a few cuttings) from you
as Susser(or Super) Georg (no "e"end ) translating as
Sweet (or Sweetest) Georg. There were some dots
on some letters in Susser/Super (with the "p" looking
more like a "beta").

Yes, I did distrbute it to some seasoned fig-people.
Not sure where Herman got the "Zucker" part though;
most probably it was an innocent
mis-spelling/communication thing.

BTW, "Sweet Georg" has nothing to do with MY name or ME
(George, aka gorgi). I did not come up with the name...
Lately, I have been called many UGLY names, much very short of "sweet".

quinoah,
maybe you can shed some more clear info about this fig?
Nothing can be better coming from a horse's mouth.

I very much doubt it is zone 7b,in Vienna Austria,at 48* 20 minutes northern latitude.?
It is zone 6b,here at 40 * NorthL?
They are more than a couple hundreds north of us.
If Vienna is 7b,then their climate zones are not the same with ours.?

Speaking of Sources

The above poster is and was my Guilbeau source

That is a fact (not invented)

Thanks Herman2

Regards
Cecil

from this map it looks like Vienna, Austria is in zone 6.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardiness Zones of Europe

This map might be more toward the warmer side...

Here is a link that might be useful: Swedish Fuchsia Society Map

I was wrong ,i said is zone 5,I admitt,Quinoah,was wronger than me saying zone 7b.
In my experience is that the northern a place is the more possible an extreme cold can occure,and kill the fig,
even when the locality is in a warm climate pocket,and sheltered from north wind.
As for the Zucker,I just could not make the name right :Su..ser.susex,,sucker,etc.
S o I looked in the Dictionary,and found that in German the word for sugary sweet,is Zucker,and that is why I used it.
Any way my customer rest assured I do not sale them,worthless hybrids,but only fruitting figs that fruitted for me,and resisted to the climate vagaries here in New Jersey,and that is what is important.!!!
H2

I love and appreciate Herman's honesty!

If he told me chicken poop was honey I would get me a biscuit!

Cecil

maybe the figlovers bad handwriting is to blame for most of the name confusion ;)

I got the "sweet georg" fig from a nursery near vienna. the grandfathers owner brought there arround 1930. he got it from styria, a region in the south of austria(but not warmer!)
thats what I was told.

believe me vienna is zone7b, I live there. most winters are on the border to z8. zone maps are just a guide line, topography is influencing winter minimums a lot. also the altitude is important.
in the link below there's a zone map of europe.
here the temp.min of the last years measured at a official weatherstation(in deg.celsius):

2009 -12,4
2008 -9,0
2007 -7,7
2006 -16,1
2005 -10,6
2004 -12,3
2003 -13,7
2002 -12,3
2001 -13,1
2000 -9,8

unfortunately I couldn't test my sweet georg to its limit because last years our winters were relatively mild.
herman(and others), what was the coldest temp yours had to withstand in the last years?
I'm sure you're not selling the first cuttings you can reach of a random plant.

if someone else wants to trade the sweet georg fig, contact me. I hope we find something to trade!

Here is a link that might be useful: europe hardiness zones

The warm Gulf stream that goes up the Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of the US then towards England, France, etc. gives those European countries much warmer winters than their latitude would otherwise indicate. Topography, nearness to large bodies of water, elevation, prevailing wind direction and water stream currents.....all can significantly affect one's growing climate zone. In short, its more than latitude that affects one's climate zone.

Dan

quinoah,

You have email.

-Little John

Sorry Quinoah,You are showing Average minimum Temperature,in Celsius.
There are average minimum Temperatures,
And lowest Temp for the month, winter,decade etc.
Those are much lower than what you are showing,and that is what it kills the fig tree.
For Example:Willingboro:February 10 1948 Record low -10F
Quinoah:Thanks for the explanation,about the Sweet,(Zucker)Georg,and here is the information,you want.
The lowest this fig made it trough so far,was,8*F,because we did not have cold winters for a few years now,but we had cold Sommers.
Best Regards

quinoah, you have mail.

herman, lets say it gets cold every winter, thats for sure...

this winter we also had about 8F, lets see what comes, winter is not over.
on your ebay pic, theres also a second crop for the sweet georg. mine here never get ripe. do you get a second crop every year?
best wishes

I forgot to mention the first crop of my sweet george ripens at the beginning to mid july

sorry for going to much off-topic...

quinoah and herman2,
Thanks much for clearing the info about the "Sweet Georg" fig.

Other fig-people that got it from me (you know who you are),
please take note and (if need be) update your records and enjoy...
To the best of my knowledge, I did supply a label showing
both Austrian and English names with the specimen.

Re USDA zones: here, we also have some latitude/differences too!
In the PNW (near Canada), the Desert King (a breba-only
fig) does very good compared with a same East-Coast
latitude place. I am not a weather expert; but I read
that it has something to do with the prevalent
wind/jet-stream being west-to-east. Water acts like a
heat buffer, because it is slow to cool/warm.
This applies to oceans, lakes and rivers...

While looking for "SUCRETTE"description, I just bumped into this at F4F varieties (just name & description):
http://figs4fun.com/Varieties.html

SUSSER GEORG
DESCRIPTION

SKIN COLOR:
FLESH COLOR:
BREBA CROP:
ORIGIN:
etc etc

one last addition:
georg(george in english) was the name of the nurserymans grandfather who brought it to its current place.

name explanation:
german: süsser georg
english: sweet george

this night was very cold here, the following temps show that minimun temp can be very different not far away(in F):
vienna 10F
vienna city 15F
city 60km(~37miles) away from vienna -18F !!

happy fig growing!

Quinoah:I do not know,if I will get ripe Breba every year.
Tree was inground for the begining(3yrs),and second year 2008,none got ripe,and in 2009,both breba and main got ripe,but not all fruits,only a handfull of each,because the Sommer was cold and the Fig was very young.
I can see it will get better in the future,in production,that is for sure because of how healthy it is.
Best Regards

Quinoah:Do you mean ,that the area you pointed,that is 37 miles,from Vienna is the general area ,the Nursery,Sweet Georg came from?,Isn't that right.
-18*F,that is very cold,no doubt.
George:In Central and eastern Europe there are 3 directional winds.
Nortwest:From Baltic See:Brings rain and clouds.
North East winds,From Siberia,wich brings extreme colds.
South Wind:From Mediteranean see:Brings nice dry warm weather.
The Jet stream,is the north west wind ,explained above.
The North east winds when it Blows,Temperatures go down to extremes colds as noted by Quinoah:-18F
Of Course In large cityes like Viena ,the Buildings and people activities,create warmer Temperatures,but as soon as one goes out of town,it is a different Ball game.
Also the fact that Vienna is on paralell 47.20,that does not help,it to get warm eather.
H2

it was just an example how cold it can get not far away from vienna. the city with -18F is not the origin of sweet george or the nursery.
the nursery is not far away from vienna, I assume it's just a bit colder than here.

very cold winters also have positive sides. next spring/summer is a good time to go fig hunting. but I think large trees at such cold places will be rare.

Great find Herman.
I have also discovered a tree locally that doesn't get covered in winter and it survives the winters fine and produces early as well. I called it Black Bethlehem, it was one of the best figs I tasted last summer.

Sweet Georg is spelled SüÃer Georg in German.

Bass

Common Bass,I am not going to Comment on that,If Quinoah,said is Sweet Georg,then it is Sweet Georg,after all,he is the one that brought this cold hardy fig here ,and not me or you!!!!!!.
So if you spelled your exemplar that way(I know you got one,Just go ahead and make it "Sweet Georg" like the originator wants).
This is so all of us play the same note.
And thanks,again, Quinoah for introducing this cultivar in the Fig comunity.
Herman2

The English name is Sweet George...

Sorry for any confusion that I may have caused to anyone.
As I said, this is not my fig (sooo, pl. no rolling of
the eyes - as my wife did when I first mentioned the name!)

For all you newbies that do not know me, my first name also
happens to be George - hence the eye-rolling thing...

George, your wife already knows you're sweet.
Herman,
I'm not arguing the name, it is "sweet Georg". Last thing I need to do is name confusion. I just wanted to show the à letter.
It can be typed easily by holding the alt button and typing 225.

Bass

Isn't that wonderful Gorgi. Now you have a standard to up-keep,Sweet George.

Please allow me an introduction,

My name is Elizabeth. I live in South Central Idaho; my elevation here is 3,670 ft. Annual Precipitation is 10.4in. Our mean snowfall is 31.3 in. the high temp in July of this year was 90.0 and our low temperature for January was 18.6. Snowfall distribution is affected both by availability of moisture and by elevation. Annual snowfall totals in North Idaho have reached nearly 500 inches in the past. The greatest long-term (1942-56) seasonal average was 182 inches at Mullen Pass(which is over 5100 Feet), while the greatest snow depth (also 182 inches) was recorded at that station on February 20, 1954. The major mountain ranges of the state accumulate a deep snow cover during the winter months, and the release of water from the melting snow-pack in late spring furnishes irrigation water for more than two million acres, mainly within the Snake River Basin.
I desperately need the taste of fresh figs on my tounge. My question to you knowledgeable people is...Are there figs trees I can grow here?

Yes:you can ripe an early fig like Florea,Marseilles vs Black,or Improved Celeste.
Your lowest Temperature was 18.6,I understand.
If your average Temperature for Jan.was 18.6 then that is another thing.
You have to find out lowest extreme temp for your winter,not Average low.
If the lowest is under 0*F,the plant need winter protection,especially when younger than 4 yrs.
Yet you have the Summer Temperature to successfully ripe fig tree.

Herman, are you selling any Florea (Serbian Fig) cuttings on ebay? FYI - I received a small fig tree from anotehr ex-Tugo republic - Southern Montenegro (a town called St George outside of Ulqin) this winter. I have it in a pot for now but may put it in the ground in the next 1-2 years to see how it will do in the CT climate. It's about 15 inches big, dark fig variety I believe

If I prune My friend Florea this year I will sell a few,if not I will only ask him for a few cuttings for people I done business with them in the past and requested cuttings ahead of time in the Spring.

Herman,

Thank you for getting back to me. I looked up our record low and it is -25 in 1990. Also I have picked a spot in the front yard (The front is out of the wind but still gets 8 to 9 hours of full morning sun. I do not plan on putting it in the ground until it is too big for a pot though.

E.

That is very cold indeed.
Without serious winter protection,no fig will make it trough the Winter in your climate.

Epenrose, We are in a zone 5, in Connecticut, and we have had figs in ground now for around six years, total.

One Hardy Chicago, 6 years. One Violtta Bayernfeige, 2 winters, and Marseille Black VS, Sal's Corleone. Ronde de Bordeaux. Hardy Hartford, and Brooklyn White have all been in ground for two winter now. Sals's EL, and Danny's Delight, one winter.

Last year alone it got now to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
we planted our trees at a 45 degree angle. That way we only hae to step on them to bend them to the ground, and cover with soil. We then cover the soil with aluminum insulation.

We do a dozen or so trees, each winter. I would guess It takes us only about two hours.

The key is to have the soil already in place, each year.

In doing research before we planted, we found for a zone 5, The English Brown Turkeys, were a good choice to expierment with. There are reports of at least a couple that can take down to minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hope that helps.

Bob

Got any photos Bob??

Hello all and thank you to those who have helped me so much with information. I do have a question though:

Does anyone have fresh off the tree figs they would be willing to send? All of this talk has made my mouth water.

Yes, send it.

Thanks,

Nazmi Cardak

Nazmi Ali Cardak