Lattarula Fig Breba Tasting 2016

Lattarula Breba Tasting 7/24/2016

AKA - Marseilles = Oregon Prolific, White Naples, Figue Blanche, Lemon, Marseilles, Lattarula, Oregon Prolific, Italian Honey, White Marseilles

A couple of weeks after eating a ripe Oregon Prolific, my Lattarula Breba is now also ripe. And there wasn't much doubt but yes it is the same as Oregon Prolific. The taste profile is exactly the same and they even ripen around the same time. I do think that the main crop on Lattarula is much better tasting than the Breba. The sugars are much more concentrated and the flavor is more intense than the breba. More on that here.

Lattarula: Breba
Taste: 5
Size: 3
Productivity: 2 (But still too young to tell)
Total = 10

Oregon Prolific Left and Lattarula Right

The breba weighs 30gram

Lattarula Breba

Oregon Prolific Breba

Watch the Video

Nurseries that sells figs

I have been going a bit fig crazy. Ebay is a great source but the price can be somewhat elastic and sometimes nuts. Nurseries are a great source for figs that have a reasonable price. I've looked up dozens of nurseries and what varieties they carry. Let me share what I've learned below in no particular order.

Northwest Nurseries:
Burnt Ridge- (Great nursery in WA, they also sell at the Olympia farmers market. I purchased some figs from them and highly recommended. Most of the plants were about 3ft tall)
432 Burnt Ridge Rd.
Onalaska, WA 98570

Atreano, Cordi Stella, Desert King, Hardy Chicago, Italian Honey (Latarulla), Olympian, Violetta,  Violette De Bordeaux

Raintree (Great source for NW figs and other fruits. Good amount of tested PNW figs. I would buy from them again)
Raintree Nursery
391 Butts Road
Morton, Washington

Black mission, BT, Conadria, Dan Favorite, Dauphine,  Desert King, Excel, Flander's, Hardy Chicago, Lattarula, Mary lane, Nordland, Olympian, Osborne Prolific, Panache, Peter's Honey, Petite Negri, Tashkent, TX Blue, Violette de Bordeaux, Desert King

Calendula (Call first family nursery)
5111 36th Ave E,
Tacoma, WA 98443

Stella, Peter's Honey, Lattarula, Negronne, Desert King, Vern's BT

One Green World
6469 SE 134th Ave
Portland, OR 97236

Atreano, Black Spanish, Desert King, Lattarula,  Negronne, Peter's Honey, Stella, Vern's BT

Portland Nursery (Multiple sites. I visited one of their stores and was impressed with the selection of plants.)
Portland, OR

Atreano, Black Spanish, BT, Lattarula, Negronne, Oregon Prolific, Peter's honey, Stella, TX Ever bearing, Verns BT, King

Northwest Harvest (Operated out of someone's home)
10470 NE 6th Dr,
Portland, OR 97211

Atreano, Black Spanish, Chicago Hardy, Conadria, Desert King, Lattarula, LSU Purple, Magnolia,  Negronne, Peter's HOney, Petite Negra, Stella, Vern's BT, Black Jack, Black Mission, Celestrial, Italian Everbearing,  Osborne Prolific, TX everbearing, Ischia, Olympian, White Kadota, BT

Sky Nursery (I've visited this place a few times, no online list of plants, best to wait for the 30% off sale that happens often.)
18528 Aurora Avenue North
Shoreline, WA 98133

From what I remember. Chicago hardy, Desert King, Petite Negri, BT, Violette De Bordeaux, 

Mclendons (They have a couple varieties and only in small qtys. If you like  BT or Desert King that's about it)
Locations throughout WA

The Grange (This is a co-op and is hit or miss but great quality for a good price)

Lattarula, DK, BT, Peter's honey

Kent Hill Nursery (great nursery with a good selection of fruit plants, only a handful of figs)
116th Ave and 240th St
Kent, WA

Atreano, Peter's honey, Desert King Stella, BT

Molbaks
13625 NE 175th St,
Woodinville, WA 98072

Not a lot of selection and sells fast. Desert King, Olympian, Violette De Bordeaux

Flower world Been here many times. It's a huge nursery. Lots of everything and only a handful of figs
9322 196th St SE,
Snohomish, WA 98296

Black Spanish, Desert King, BT, Peter's Honey

Furney's They only get figs in around March. The plants are large but somewhat pricey. Upwards of $50+
21215 International Blvd,
Des Moines, WA 98198

Panache, Desert King, BT, Black mission


Reputable Online Nurseries: 

Rolling River (I made a purchase the other week I have a review on this blog. I'm very pleased with the purchase the trees are very tall and established)
Orleans, CA

Alma, Atreano, Barnissotte, Nero,  Beall, Black Jack, Black mission, Black Spanish, BT, BT South, Bursa Siyahi, Calimyrna, Celeste, Chicago Hardy, Conadria, Dauphine, Deanna, Desert King,  Emalyn's purple, Excel, flanders, Hollier, Ischia White, Kadota, Latturula, LSU Gold, LSU Purple, Marrabout, Monstrueuse, Nazarti, Negronne, Normon's Yellow, Osborne Prolific, Panache, Peter's Honey, Snowden, Tena, TX Everbearing, Ventura Strawberry, Vern's BT, White Genoa

Just Fruits and Exotics - (Prices are a bit high)
30 Saint Frances St.
Crawfordville, Florida 32327

Alma, Beall, Black Jack, Black madeira, BT, Celeste, Champagne, Conadria, Flanders, Green ischia, Hardy Chicago, Hollier, Hunt, Mary Lane, LSU Gold, LSU Improved Celeste, LSU Purple, SLU Scotts Black, Miss Hall, Nero, ORourke, Panache, Smith, St Peter;s Tena, White Tx Everbearing

Almost Eden  (Great prices and great selection)

Almost Eden

Address

1240 Smith Rd
Merryville LA 70653

 Alma, Calvert, Atreano, Banana, Beall, Bisirri, Black mission, Brooklyn White, Brooklyn Dark, BT, Capelas, Celeste, Champagne, Conadria, Creech Family Sugar fig, Cucumber, Danny's delite, Delcon, Dr. Monticeillos, Deanna, Excel, G and A Violette, Gillette, Hollier, Ischia Black, Jack qtr pounder, Jurupa, Kadota, Kathleen Black, LSU Gold, LSU Pruple, LSU Gold, Lyndhurst White, Magnolia, Marylane Seedless, Mega Celeste, Negronne, Nero, New Dan, Osborne Prolific, O'Rourke, Pan Tiger, Peter's Honey, Purple Passion, Red Italian, Salem Dark, Salem White, Sal's Fig, Smith, Stanford Fig, Stella Cordi, Strawberry Verdonne, Syrian Long, Yellow Magnolia.

Edible Landscape I've purchased my Che fruit and jujube from them. They were very healthy looking plants
361 Spirit Ridge Lane
Afton, VA 22920

Hardy Chicago, Celeste, BT, LSU Purple,  Conadria, Violet De Bordeaux, Petite Negri, TX BA-1, Latarulla, Verte (Green Ischia), Black Mission, Kodata, Panache, Marseilles, O-Rourke

Hidden Springs They only ship from Nov to April.
170 Hidden Springs Lane
Cookeville, TN 38501

Celeste, LSU Gold, LSU Purple, Chicago Hardy, Magnolia

Encanto Farms (runs figs4fun)
San Diego, CA

Too many to list. Here's the link. Encanto Figs

Figtrees.net
 721 American Legion Hwy. 
Roslindale, MA 02131 

Paradiso or Genova, Whiter triana, Votata, San Peitro, Tarantella, BT, LA GOCCIA D'ORO, black triana, Black Mission, Petite Negra, Italian Honey

Figrific Another great micro nursery with rare fig varieties, sells mainly on  ebay. The actual site seems to be under construction
North Carolina

Atreano, Black Madeira, Galicia Negra, Genovese Nero, Jolly Tiger, Maltese, Martinenca Rimada, Mary Lane Seedless, Red labanese, Souadi, Sals Corleone, Zingarella, Ronde De Bordeaux, Marseilles VS black, Black Greek , Col De Dame, Violette De Bordeaux, Markopoulou, LSU Purple, Sals Gene

Bay Flora
 1563 Solano Avenue, 
#428, Berkeley, CA 9470

Janice seedless Kadota, Panache, Lattarulla, White Genoa, Negronne, Peter's Honey, Black Jack

Three Fold Farm ($100 minimum order for shipping, no limit on pickup orders. Sorry, no shipping to AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, or WA)

Adriatic JH Fig, Atreano Fig, Black Madeira Fig, Bryant Dark Fig, Dark Portuguese Fig, Col de Dame Gris Fig, Col de Dame Noir Fig, Latarolla Fig, Florea, LSU Gold Fig, Kathleen's Black Fig, LSU Tiger Fig, Keddie Fig, Longue D'Aout Fig, Lyndhurst White Fig, Macool Fig, Malta Black Fig, Maltese Falcon Fig, Marseilles Black VS Fig, Neri 1 Fig, Nero 600m Fig, Niagara Black Fig, O'Rourke Fig, Panache Fig, Takoma Violet Fig, Large Negronne Fig, Petite Negri Fig, Ronde de Bordeaux Fig, Sal's Corleone Fig, Smith Fig, Tim Light and Vista  

Figs Galore - Backyard grower

Charlotte, NC

Alma, Black Italian, Celeste, Dark Portuguese, LSU Black, Lyndhurst White, Marseilles, White, Mary Lane, Osborne Prolific, Petite, Negra, Purple Passion, Red Italian, Salem Dark, Southern BT, Strawberry, Syrian Long, Violet De Bordeaux, White TX Everbearing, Wuhan

Trees of Joy Has a great selection of rare figs. Also sells on Ebay
Bethlehem, PA

Varieties Link

Willis Been around for 22yrs

 200 McCormick Road
Cartersville, GA. 30120

Black jack, Black Mission, Italian Everbearing, Conadria, Desert King, Peter's Honey, White Kadota, Brown Turkey, Celestrial Fig, TX Everbearing,

Trees of Antiquity  Heirloom fruit trees
20 Wellsona Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Black Jack, Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Conadria, Flanders, Genoa,  Osborne Prolific, Peter's Honey, TX everbearing, Verte, Violette De Bordeaux, White Kadota

Petals from the past  Focuses on growing old world plants
 16034 County Road 29
Jemison, Alabama

 Celeste, Green Ischia, Lemon fig, LSU Black, LSU Purple, O'Rourke, White Marseilles

French Fig Farm - Family grower, Specializes in french figs
NYC
Battaglia, Calliopes Red Greek, Col De Dame Blanc, Col De Dame Blanca-Negra, Dalmatie, Doree, Blanquette, Frank's Salermo, Dauphine, Italian 258, Longue d'Aout, Madeline De Saisons, Negronne, Pastilliere, Sucrete, Ronde De Bordeaux, Volette De Bordeaux, Violette De Sollies

Ebay Sellers:

Plant-Creator
Driveway Farmer
KK
Willys-a-gas
churl82
treesofjoy
mgwillis55


This list is by far not complete and will continue to grow. Feel free to comment on nurseries that you know of.

The varieties and stock may change yearly so be sure to visit the sellers website for the latest.

My Visit with Kiwibob

7/19/15

I love seeing how other people grow their figs. Especially those who have been growing for over 40 yrs.

Today was extremely hot well into the 90s, which is unusual for the "cool Summers" of Seattle. I took a field trip today to Kiwibobs house in Seattle. He has a jungle of figs and specialty kiwis on his small back yard. Bob's a special guy. He has a big white beard, retired and has a passion for figs and kiwis. There's about 30 something varieties all growing in various pots and stages. Bob's my kind of guy not an inch of grass in the backyard. Every little nook and cranny was filled with plants and fruit trees.

Upon arrival he immediately let us sample some of his raspberries. They were tasty but I had my focus on the many of varieties of figs in his garden. I wanted to pick his brain and learn more about his experience with what works well in Seattle, what's his most productive variety and how he maintains his plants.

Most of his larger trees were in 50 gallon planter, but he also had an abundant amount of rooted cuttings growing in the green house or as under story plants around the property.

He gave me the grand tour of his lovely backyard. Each tree he had came with their own story and how he attained them.  Maybe I'm a bit of a fig geek but I found it to be fascinating.

Bob's main goal in growing figs here in Washington are to maintain them for their breba crop.  We have a short summer and cool winter and most main crops do not ripen in time. I was surprised to learn that he has had very little success with main crops on most of his plants. Including the Chicago Hardy, Monstreuse, Beall, Adriatic,  Longue DAout, Petite Negri, Kadota, Peter's Honey and a few others.

His successful breba trees include the following which he ranks in taste.

Based on about six Breba crop taste-tests the Fig varieties rank as follows:
1. “Vashon Violet” (aka “Brunswick”) is clearly in first place with a “rich” flavor that one taster described as “figgy”.
2. “Dan’s Favorite” is second with a fairly rich flavor.
3. “Gene’s Vashon” third, also with a fairly rich flavor.
4. “Violetta” (a patented variety) and “Tilbury’s Turkey” were about a tie with a fairly rich and subtle fruity (cherry or berry) flavor.
5. “Desert King” and “Lattarula” sometimes switched places depending on the taster’s personal preferences, but generally in that order.
6. “Gillette” which must be fully ripe to be edible some times beat “Lattarula” depending on the taster’s personal preferences. Personally I like “Gillette” better than “Lattarula” which I find sweet but lacking in character.
7. “Negronne” came in consistently mildly sweet but flat flavored.
8. “Petit Negri” was last, lacking sweetness, flat flavored, and somewhat mealy.

Bob believes that a plant is not worth growing if you have to shuffle it in and out. I'll probably agree more with that philosophy when I get on with age, but for now I want every variety I can get my hands on, even if it means I have to shuffle them.

We got a chance to sample some ripe of the Gillette figs and they were very tasty. This variety has been on my wish list for a long time.  Check out the honey dripping from this fig. The interesting thing about these Gillete's are that they need to be nearly dried on the tree before it's full flavor and sweetness are at their peak. The flavor was like a sweet thick honey with a hint of melon. I would have loved to have purchased a cutting from him but at the moment kiwibob was not selling any plants due to AYLS.

 Visit his site and learn more about his fruits and figs trials here in PNW.
https://sites.google.com/site/kiwifruitsalad2/

(Unfortunately my phone rain out of battery and I did not get chance to take some photos but Bob was nice enough to offered up his little camera and sent me the few photos we snapped from our trip)

Fig Ripening Chart for the PNW

In my mind there's 4 types of figs to categorize in terms of when they ripen here in the Pacific Northwest Zone 8B

1. Breba Figs (June-August)

2. Early Main Figs (July-August)

3. Mid Season Fig (September)

4. Late Figs (October and Later)

This list will evolve:

Breba Figs (June-August)	Early Main Figs (July-August)	Mid Season Fig (September-Mid Oct)	Late Figs (Mid-October and Later)
Black Spanish	Brandon Unk	Atreano	Abebereira Preta
Brandon Unk	Celeste	Black Madeira	Abicou
Brunswick	Florea	Brown Turkey	Adriatic
Cordi Stella	LSU Tiger	Celeste	Blava
Dalmatie	Marseilles	Chicago Hardy	Brunswick
Desert King	Mt Etna	Conadria	Col De Dame (All)
Fiorone Di Ruvo	Long Yellow	Cordi Stella	Dalmatie
Gene's Vashon		De La Gloria	Dans Favorite
Genovese Nero	Wuhan	Excel	Dauphine
Gillette		Fiorone Di Ruvo	Deanna
Grantham's Royal		Flanders	Emalyns Purple
Green Goliath		Golden Riverside	Fracazano Bianco Fig
King Fig		Green Greek	Fragola Nero
Lattarula		Hmari	Galicia Negra Figrific
Lebanese Red		Lattarula	Galicia Negra Willis
Marseilles		Longue Daout	GE Neri
Mavara Sika		LSU Champagne	Genoa
Olympian		LSU Tiger	Ginos Black
Oregon Prolific		Malta Black	Greek Papa
O'rourke		Marseilles VS Black	Green Goliath
Peter's Honey		Mavara Sika	Green Jolly Tiger
Petite Negra		Natalina	Grise De St Jean
Princessa		Osborne Prolific	Gros Monstreuse Di Liapri
Vasilika Sika		Palermo Sicily	Hardy Hartford
Vincenzo		Pellegrino	Hollier
Violet De Bordeaux		Preto	Igo
Atreano		Princessa	Italian 258
Bayernfeige Violletta		Qusaaya	Italian Black
Conadria		Red Sicilian	Jurupa
English Brown Turkey		Ronde De Bordeaux	Kadota
Madeleine d Deux Seasons		Salem Dark	Karachi Green
Negronne		Sals Corleone	Kathleen's Black
Nero 600		Smith	Lake Spur
Orphan		Sugar 12	Lampeira Preta - Harvey
Jin Ao Phan		Takoma Violet	Lampeira Preta - Slavi
De Tres Esplets		Texas Everbearing	Laradek EBT
Italian 376		Valle Negra	Loura Black
GT-1		Vern's Brown Turkey	LSU Gold
San Miro		Verte	Madeleine des Deux Saisons
GM20		Violet De Bordeaux	Malta Purple
		Improved Celeste	Maltese Beauty
		Colderwood Unk	Marlow
		Hardy Chicago	Mary Lane
			Melanzana
			Mission
			Native Black Becnel
			Nazarti
			Niagara Black
			Noire De Barbentane
			Noire De Bellone
			Noire De Caromb
			Nordland
			Norella
			Ohra Tabahanosika
			Orphan
			Panache
			Pananas Purple
			Pappa John
			Paradiso Gene Gr
			Paratjal Rimada
			Pastillere
			Ponte Tresa
			Mary Lane

Fig of the week. #13 Lattarula

Fig of the week. Lattarula AKA Italian Honey | Marseilles

Hardiness: Survives the Seattle Winter
Type: Bifere
Fruit Ripens: July and Mid Sept
Fruit Color: Green with Dark Spots and honey colored interior
Taste: Sweet and has nice flavor
Fruit Weight: 25grams

Another great fig for the PNW's cool summer and mild winters. Also known as the Italian honey, this fig bears two crops and works well for areas with a short season. Once mature this fig will produce a ton of figs over 2-3 months.

This fig adapts well to container growing, as it maxes out at 8-10ft. Be careful when winter pruning to not kill off all your breba branches.

Notes:
Main crop ripens in Mid September.
Greenish fig with dark spots that appear with ripeness
Amber flesh
Honey sweet with slight berry tones
Thin skin
Best to harvest when it's overly ripe

Breba:

The future fig orchard

This is the site of my future figs orchard. For 2017, I plan on testing some more in the ground.

1. Lattarula
2. Gene's Vashon
3. Gillette
4. Olympian
5. Excel
6. Marseilles
7. Brandon Unknown
8. Grantham's Royal
9. ORourke
10. Dalmatie
11. King Fig
12. Osborne Prolific
13. Gino's Black
14. Battaglia Green
15. Improved Celeste
16. Vasilika Sika
17 Mt Etna Unknown
18. Improved Celeste
19. Florea
20. Conadria
21. JH Adriatic
22. Atreano
23. LSU Gold
24. Stella
25. Jurupa

Time to get more figs in the ground

This year I plan on planting more varieties in ground.



So far I already have.

1. Chicago Hardy
2. Peter's Honey
3. Desert King
4. Longue D' Aout
5. Vern's Brown Turkey
6. Violet De Bordeaux
7. Ronde De Bordeaux

All of the above have fruited for me here in Seattle.

for 2017, I plan on testing some more in the ground.

1. Lattarula
2. Gene's Vashon
3. Gillette
4. Olympian
5. Excel
6. Marseilles
7. Brandon Unknown
8. Grantham's Royal
9. ORourke
10. Dalmatie
11. King Fig
12. Osborne Prolific
13. Gino's Black
14. Battaglia Green
15. Improved Celeste
16. Vasilika Sika
17 Mt Etna Unknown
18. Improved Celeste
19. Florea
20. Conadria
21. JH Adriatic
22. Atreano
23. LSU Gold
24. Stella
25. Jurupa



The list will continue to grow after I sort out the greenhouse.

What figs will produce reliably grown outdoors here in Seattle?

As part of my on going trials on fig growing here in Seattle. I have amassed a large number of varieties. 225 is the last count. But because we have sooo many "made up" names out there I'm sure the actual number is close to 100 or less true varieties.

Read my Post on "Whats in a name"

There are some figs that have 10 different names. I truly wish that folks would do their research before making up a name of a fig.  I too have made the mistake when I asked a forum member to help ID the Gene's Vashon fig. I was initially told that it was called a "Vashon Violet" when it was really the Gene's Vashon. Vashon Violet is really a brunswick. And the variety I have is way different from a Brunswick.

Anyhow, I love collecting figs but I'm also tired of maintaining so many pots and plants. So my goal from the beginning has been to grow figs that do well here in Seattle. In most cases it means looking for Figs that have a great Breba crop.

My Ultimate Breba Crop list:

I also want to plant the Seattle Hardy Varieties in Ground. In the pass few years I have planted the following varieties in ground:

1. Violet De Bordeaux - Very great producer of Brebas the 1st year I put it in ground.
2. Ronde De Bordeaux - Ok producer of main crops here. I would've had more if it wasn't for the squirrels
3. Longue D'out - It did not ripen this year, but it did last year when i had in in a pot. It may take a little time to adjust to being in ground. If it doesn't produce this coming year I will re pot it and put it in a sunnier place
4. Chicago Hardy - Good producer, I got a few main crop this year in ground
5. Vern's Brown Turkey - Super productive in ground tree! Must have for Seattle In ground
6. Olympian - Reliable producer of long beautiful brebas
7. Gene's Vashon - Very reliable and tasty producer of breba and main crops on more established trees
8. Osborn Prolific - A single crop that produces late
9. Desert King - My favorite breba!
10. Peters Honey - The brebas on Peter's Honey is way tastier than the main crop which I find too sweet

in 2017 I will plant the following varieties in ground:

1. Grantham's Royal
2. Marseilles
3. Conadria
4. Petite Negra
5. Lattarula
6. Cordi Stella
7. Unk Brandon St Fig
8. Takoma Violet
9. Excell
10. Flanders
11. Nordland
12. Florea - this is a real early producer
and more

I only want to keep a handful of figs that require protection. Specifically those that have a taste that makes it worth the extra effort. It's a short list.

1. Black Madeira
2. *Golden Riverside from Santa Cruz

And some rare ones
1. Galicia Negra
2. Ponte Tressa
3. Any of my Col De Dames
4. I-258
5. Preto
6. Martinenca Rimada
7. Paratjal Rimada
8. White Madeira
9. Black Ischia
10. Genovese Nero
11. BB10
12. Pellegrino
13. Dolce calderai
14. Mutante
15. Biffaro Zeus
and more

Tasting a Black Madeira, Lattarula, and Texas Everbearing fig

Its the beginning of Octobor in Seattle and the figs are still ripening here. Luckily the weather has been cooperating. It's been chilly at night but still quite warm in the daytime with a decent amount of sunshine. 

Black Madeira

The days are shorter and I'm running into less light to do my videos but it's still fun to eat figs in the evenings.

Upcoming Fig Tasting Videos 2016

I'm hopeful that a good majority of my figs will ripen this year. Stay tuned because these are the Fig tasting videos that I hope to produce this year in 2016.

I'll add more to the list as they begin to ripen.

1. Black Madeira
2. Texas Everbearing
3. Longue d'aout
4. English Brown Turkey
5. Gene's Vashon
6. Olympian
7. Takoma Violet
8. Red Lebanese
9. Petite Negra
10. Ronde De Bordeaux
11. Violet De Bordeaux Main Crop
12. Peter's Honey
13. Kadota
14. Desert King
15. Gillette
16. Dan's Favorite
17. Chicago Hardy
18. Cordi Stella

19. Smith

20. Sucrette

21. Lattarula

22. Leon's Green

23. Grantham's Royal
24. Atreano

25. Malta Purple
26. Black Bethlehem
27. Alma
28. JH Adriatic
29. Violette Sollies
30. Dark Portuguese
31. King
32. Sicily
33. LSU O Rourke

If you like the Videos please subscribe to the youtube channel and help me out by buying some fig pops =).

Fig of the Week #20: Oregon Prolific Fig

Oregon Prolific AKA Marseilles

Hardiness: Hardy to Seattle's winters
Type: Bifere
Fruit Ripens: Mid July and September
Fruit Color: Green and amber pulp
Taste: mildy sweet, moist and soft texture with seed crunch
Fruit Weight: 33 grams but may grow larger

Purchased from Portland Nursery

Like so many other figs, the Oregon Prolific is really a Marseilles and it has been renamed without proper research into it's true origin. But even the name Marseilles or white Marseilles or St. Anthony, is it really the original name? Of course not. The problem is if we truly go back to the origin of the fig, in many cases it would be somewhere in the Mediterranean, that's really the name we should be using.

However the fact that figs travel well doesn't help it's naming convention. Every new conutry a fig lands in they inherently pick up new name in it's new country. So the fact of the matter is, most figs have about 4-10 synonyms and it's impossible to keep up.

But to keep things straight. An Oregon Prolific is really a Marseilles.

Historical Anecdote: Marseilles was Thomas Jefferson's favorite fig.
 https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/marseilles-fig

Marseilles = Oregon Prolific, White Naples, Figue Blanche , Lemon, Marseilles, Lattarula, Oregon Prolific , Italian Honey, White Marseilles

I was surprised that such a small tree would produce so early. It came off of a small tree.

Oregon Prolific: Breba

Taste: 4.5
Size: 3
Productivity: 2 (But still too young to tell)
Total = 9.5 

The Fruit weighed in at 33.4 grams

If you already have a White Marseilles or Latturala no need to add this to the collection. It's a good fig but doesn't rank in my top 5.

Top 10 of the best Figs for Seattle other than Brown Turkey & DessertKing

If you are researching figs and you're just starting out, it may seem like every nursery you go to in Washington State (minus Raintree Nursery & Burnt Ridge Nursery which carries a nice collection) seems to have the standard handful of varieties, Brown Turkey, Desert King, Brunswick (magnolia), Osborn, Peter's Honey, or Atreano. You also get the occasional Panache, Mission, or Black Spanish.

Now Desert King is a Phenomenal fig but it is also very common here. Some of the other varieties have their own charm but they too do not compare to the list compiled below.

Well where do you start? At over 1400 different names of figs out there the research can be daunting. How do you know what will work here? And taste good? I've done a bunch research and tested various varieties and I've compiled the top 10 best varieties that any fig grower should have  here in the Pacific Northwest. Most of these you've probably never seen in a Nursery here in WA.

I've taken into account that most people do not want to shuffle their figs in and out for the winter so most of the figs listed below will survive the Seattle Winters. I might make exception to the Smith fig which may require a bit of protection from any deep freezes. It's a Southern fig originally and one of my very favorites. In my book, it's worth the extra effort to protect this fig.

Here's my Top 10 list for the PNW other than the standard varieties listed above. (In no particular order)

1. Olympian
2. Ronde De Bordeaux
3. Negronne / Violette De Bordeaux
4. Smith  (May require a little protection in the winter)
5. Verte
6. Takoma Violet
7. Chicago Hardy
8. Marseilles / Lattarula
9. Gene's Vashon 
10. Longue D'Aout
* Marseilles vs black gets an honorable mention

As my collection grows I'm sure this list will evolve with every year. So stay tuned.

I'm also trialing...

1. Grantham's Royal
2. Gillette
3. Brand St. Unk
4. Mt Etna Unk
5. Wuhan
6. Peter's Honey
7. Green Greek
8. Florea

Portland Nursery Figs

While on a friends bachelor party trip in Portland. I had a moment of weakness...
We wound up a Portland Nursery and I purchased 4 fig plants. Oregon Prolific, Lattarula, and King fig. I bought a 2nd Oregon prolific for my brother who is also into growing figs. I couldn't pass up on the no sales tax in PDX.