In November I obtained fig cuttings from a fellow Marylander I met through the Gardenweb. The actual variety is unknown. She propagated it from a very large fig tree she found growing outside of Mildenhall Air Base in England several years ago...hence the name. Here is what she has told me about this variety:

- produces sweet, golden figs in Maryland zone 7

- in 7 years it has produced a breba crop at least once (after a mild winter)

- seems to be quite winter hardy in this part of the mid-atlantic area; the tree she has growing in the ground is quite large and does not seem to suffer much if any damage from the winters here

- the tree is a good producer (harvested 150 figs last summer)

- tree grows more horizontally from the base than many, arching in a bowl-shape rather than a vase-shape.

Right now I have several cuttings that are growing in cut-off 1 liter bottles in a mix of perlite/vermiculite/compost. This weekend I plant to transplant a couple of these to 1 gallon pots.

I only need a couple good ones so would be willing to trade a couple of these for another variety that is known to grow well in the mid-atlantic area with little or no protection. I am a beginner with figs but from what I have read Violet de Bordeaux and Celeste would be good choices. If anyone has cuttings of these varieties and would like one of my Mildenhall rooted/leafed out cuttings in return please send me an email. (Click on my name above and this will take you to a page with an email link.)

The only issue is that completing the trade through mail would not be practical given that my cuttings are in a fragile state. I would be willing to drive a couple hours. Alternatively, I do still have a couple dormant cuttings in the refrigerator that should still be viable.

Cheers,

Steve