Ficus

Cultivated since ancient times for its fruit. An ornamental, easily grown small tree; often shrub-like in cultivation. Begins bearing fruit at a young age - sometimes the first year. Hardy from the warmer portions of zone 7 southward, but can grow and produce fruit outdoors as far north as zone 5 if it is given winter protection. Various means can be used to protect fig trees for the winter. It appears that what is important is to keep the tree reasonably dry, and above about 10° F. Plastic sheeting and insulating materials such as dry leaves can be used to accomplish this. The amount of protection required depends on the severity of the climate. Fig trees are quite flexible, and even trees with trunks up to 3" or so in diameter can be usually bent to the ground without breaking to make it easier to protect them for winter. A very satisfactory approach to protecting a fig tree is to grow it, preferably planted in the ground, in a simple greenhouse. Just enough heat need be provided to keep the temperature from going below a safe level, which for a fully dormant fig tree would be about 10° F (for potted fig plants, however, it is safest not to allow the soil to freeze solidly). A greenhouse provides the considerable additional advantage of lengthening the ripening season for the fruit. Fig trees can also grow and fruit quite well when grown in containers. Fig trees tend to fruit best when the soil is on the lean, dry, side so that their vigor is restrained somewhat. Allowing the trees to become somewhat rootbound in containers will accomplish the same purpose. A fig tree which makes excessively vigorous growth is likely to produce little or no fruit. We offer the following cultivars of Ficus carica: