History on the tree:
"It was grown in Cupertino, CA. not far from Yamagami's Nursery. The parents of Martin Grantham (an avid and accomplished plantsmen (who had worked at the UC Berkeley Botanic Gardens for a while) were given cuttings of the tree as a wedding gift over 75 years ago from a tree growing in Santa Cruz Ca. It has enormous breba figs on the tree. Typically each terminal branch had only 1 to 3 figs, at most, but the quality and size was very impressive. It appears to match the description of Drap D'Or a rather famous french fig. One would need a rather large tree in order to make a decent fig jam from the fruit. The name Grantham's Royal was my way of recognizing the owners and the apparent similarity to Royal Vineyard (Drap D'Or). (1006) The Breba Crop is 3X as large [as the main crop] and is more pyriform with more brown, green and purple streaks."
This is supposedly the Desert King Killer. It grows 2 crops and is suppose to taste even better than our beloved DK. I can't wait to get some ripe from it this year. Luckily for me I obtained mine from my good friend Slavi.
This is a breba only fig, unfortunately my 2 plants have not been reliable breba producers. I've only seen the main crop and those just wither and dies every year without the fig wasp.
Photo Above courtesy of Paully22 from figs4fun.
It has been known to grow inground in BC Canada. So it should do great here in Seattle.
Nice to see your discussion of my family fig. I do remember them tasting like honey and the extreme lengths my father went to protect the fruit from birds! Unfortunately, I and my family had a big falling out over the mental health of my brother. Under his influence, they eventually disowned and disinherited me. I wanted a cutting of this fig as a reminder of the good things in my rural youth. I did receive cuttings from a family friend purportedly of this fig, but alas, they were a black mission type and that friend died before I got his gift to fruit. If you know of a source, or could provide some cutting material this winter, I would be very grateful.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Martin Grantham
Currently Bio. Dept.
Greenhouse Manager
SFSU
My email is: marhoot@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteInteresting story. Yes I can get you some cuttings this winter.
ReplyDelete