Fig lovers can choose from hundreds of fig tree varieties. These differ in leaf shape, vigor, frost tolerance as well as the taste and color of the false fruits. However, the flowers of numerous fig species must be fertilized by the fig gall wasp, which is not found north of the Alps. That's why you should only use varieties that produce fruit without cross-pollination.
Which fig tree varieties are suitable for the home garden?
Popular fig tree varieties for the home garden include Dalmatia, Dauphine, Madeleine des deux Saisons, Negronne and German varieties such as Palatinate Fruit Fig, St. Martin, Lussheim and Violetta. These varieties are hardy and offer tasty fruits.
Hardy fig trees
Due to fruit development without prior fertilization, the harvest yield of the house fig (Adriatic type) is greater, which is why these varieties are grown on a large scale today. The fig trees not only thrive in warmer wine-growing regions and in well-protected places, but are frost hardy down to minus twenty degrees Celsius. However, in our latitudes, these fig tree varieties only produce ripe pseudo-fruits once a year in late autumn.
Choice of variety: Depending on the future location
If you are planning to plant a fig, you should consider the location conditions in your garden and choose a suitable variety from the wide range available. Not all varieties are suitable as potted plants that can be overwintered indoors because they do not produce fruit in the cramped planter.
Particularly tasty and robust fig tree varieties
Listing all fig tree varieties would go beyond the scope of this article. Therefore, below are just a few representatives that are considered very hardy and thrive well in our latitudes:
- Dalmatia: Grows well even in rainy areas. Suitable for containers due to its compact growth. Large, sweet and aromatic fruits that ripen from the beginning of August.
- Dauphine: Even when grown in pots, it produces many large, green-purple false fruits that taste excellent and ripen from the beginning of August.
- Madeleine des deux Saisons: Loves a sheltered and warm location where it produces numerous yellow-green striped, juicy, sweet-tasting fruits. Early fruit set from the end of July. In very mild years, this fig even produces twice.
- Negronne: Small black-blue fruits that are considered by connoisseurs to be the tastiest.
- Palatinate fruit fig, St.-Martin, Lussheim, Violetta: Fig tree varieties bred in Germany that are very robust and can temporarily tolerate temperatures of up to -15 degrees.
Tips & Tricks
Fig tree varieties whose cultivation has been tried and tested in our latitudes for decades or centuries are often preceded by the term “recognized” or “old” variety in the plant description.