Fig Trees for Sale​

How I Choose the Fig Trees I Sell

I'm Ross, the Fig Boss, and I've been growing figs since 2014. I test the varieties I sell in my own yard in the Philadelphia area, where we get cold winters (zone 7A), humid summers and only about 180 frost-free days. The notes on each card are my own, not copied from a nursery catalog.

Lesson one for any new grower: the most famous fig is rarely the best. Pick a fig that fits your climate first, then pick the flavor you want.

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Start With Your Climate, Then Pick a Flavor

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• Short season (about 180 frost-free days or less): start with early ripening fig trees and breba fig trees. The main crop needs roughly 150 frost-free days, and a breba crop needs about 120.

• Cold winters (zones 5–7): browse my cold hardy fig trees.

• Flavor first: shop berry fig trees, honey & sugar fig trees, or the varieties I rank as the best tasting fig trees.

Still deciding? My fig variety directory has my notes on each variety, and my fig flavor profiles sort them by taste. My guide to choosing a fig variety walks through the whole decision. If you live in the Northeast or the South, start with my top 5 picks for Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore & DC or Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville & Houston.

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Pot Sizes and What Arrives

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I list trees by pot size, not gallons, because gallon sizes are misleading. You can choose 3.5x9 or 4x9.5 inches, 5x12 inches, or 10-12x10-12 inches. My fall sale trees come in the 10-12x10-12 inch pots and are cut back to about a foot so they fit the shipping box. They're the option I recommend for new growers who want figs the following year. Trees shipped in October and November arrive semi-dormant or dormant, without leaves.

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You Only Need One Tree

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Most fig trees sold in nurseries are Common figs. They ripen fruit without any pollination, so you don't need a second tree. A few, like Desert King, need pollination for the main crop, and I say so in their notes. More here: do you need 2 fig trees?

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Where I'd Start

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• Violette de Bordeaux: if you could only choose one fig variety, this one makes a lot of sense.

• Celeste: one of the most humid-tolerant figs there is.

• Hardy Chicago: the baseline for cold or humid climates, easily surviving 0°F.

• Campaniere: exceptionally hardy and very early, and my best-tasting figs in 2022 and 2023.

Before you buy from anyone, read my guide on how to avoid scams, noise and hype, and see my guarantee policy.