My son lives up near Aberdeen. He has a tree of Black Turkey which is loaded with fruit every year.

I grow Texas Everbearing (which some claim is the same as Hardy Chicago -- it is certainly very similar). It is almost annoyingly prolific. I usually refer to it as "the fig tree that ate Southern Maryland." I also grow a no-name large green fig started from cuttings from a friend. It ripens very late, but also does quite well. Many people in this area grow Celeste successfully.

Oscar, I have heard that Brown Turkey is very prolific but some say the flavor is not as good as many other varieties. Others really like it. It's definitely one of the most popular in this area.

Mary,thanks for the information on your figs. I hadn't considered Texas Everbearing. Do you like the flavor? When you say "prolific" it sounds like you are referring to vegetation rather than fruit. Most experts on the Figs4fun forum have said that growth varies between varieties but any fig can get large under the right conditions and the way to keep a fig tree/bush relatively small is via pruning. Your figs are in the ground, correct?

I grow mission figs, which I prefer over other types. The brown turkey are very common but a little boring because they are so common (neighbors gave us en pounds of them last summer because they have so many). I tried Peter's Honey but didn't much like them. I tried Celeste but found the fruit is small and uninteresting. With the recent mild winters, overwintering has not been a problem at all.

PS - The black snakes looooove figs. Some have a little V bite mark. Deer don't seem to care for them.

I have avoided Black Mission because I had understood that this variety is not very winter hardy but I might need to re-think that. They are supposed to be really tasty. Do you protect your Black Mission trees?

Again, Texas Everbearing is in all liklihood the same as Hardy Chicago. It's a smallish brown fig with red flesh. I think it's quite good, if common as dirt. It makes excellent preserves. The trees bear lots and lots of fruit and the tree itself is a monster. My figs are all in the ground.

I do nothing to protect my trees. They've suffered little or no winter die back in the last couple of years, but a few years back there was major die back on all types of figs across southern Maryland (where I live).

The quality of any fig depends as much on the growing conditions as the variety in my opinion. A hot dryish August produces excellent fruit. Lots of rain produces burst, watery fruit.

My advice? Plant varieties that don't routinely require winter protection and don't over-think it. They're figs. Basically, they're weeds. Enjoy the fruit and save the fancy horticultural maintenance for a plant that really demands it.

I planted a couiple of small figs last year and so far this year cannot locate them (Brown Turkey and Black Mission. Apparently they had too much competition and not enough sun).

I plan to plant a Hardy Chicago in a newly cleared spot soon. Wish me luck--I am North of Reeser's Summit.