The Top 5 Fig Varieties for Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, & Houston
- Ross the Fig BOSS
- 12 hours ago
- 5 min read
I’m Ross, the "Fig Boss," and I’ve dedicated my life to this amazing fruit since 2014. After years of educating thousands of growers through my website, FigBoss.com, I’ve learned one hard truth: the variety you choose is an important decision! Each variety directly impacts the quantity and quality of your figs; picking the right one is the only way to save yourself time, money, and effort.
In the "Southern Comfort" zone—spanning from the coastal breeze of the Outer Banks and Virginia Beach to the humid hubs of Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, and Houston—your fig growing strategy is vastly different than other parts of the US. Extreme, damaging winter lows are less of a concern. Instead, your varietal selections should focus on the summer's moisture that threatens to ruin fruit quality and cause spoilage.
The Top 5 Fig Varieties for Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, & Houston
Interested in more fig varieties for your location?
I created this guide to save you the time, money, and heartbreak I experienced when I first started. By selecting the right variety for our unique corridor, you can transform your backyard into a Mediterranean oasis. I've even created a helpful PDF to help you "fig-ure" it out. Check it out below!
The Four Constraints for the South & Mid-South
To be considered a top 5 recommendation, a variety must conquer these climate constraints:
Rain Resistance: Varieties with a closed eye, an elongated shape with a long stem or neck, and skins that shed water prevent your harvest from splitting, fermenting, or souring during the heavy August and September rains common in the Mid-Atlantic & Northeast.
Harvest Extension: With mild winters, growers in these areas shouldn't just settle for one harvest. The Breba crop (early summer fruit) is nearly a guarantee that ripens 30-45 days earlier than the main crop.
Growers will also want a long, steady main crop ripening at various times, carrying production into the fall.
Consistency: The best-tasting fig is the one that actually reaches peak ripeness. We prioritize varieties that can "dry on the tree" even when the air is more humid than in other areas.
Elite Flavor: Because of an extended growing season, don't settle for "good enough." Choose varieties that growers with short growing seasons can only dream of ripening.
Why These Five? (The Selection Logic)
Selecting just five varieties for this region was a massive challenge because the lack of climate constraints leaves us with almost too many great options. Since these major cities sit comfortably in USDA Zone 7b or higher, winter hardiness is no longer a deal-breaker. This opens the door to a massive library of impressive, humid-climate varieties that I’ve long endorsed—even if they haven't yet proven their grit against a sub-zero northern winter.
Ultimately, I prioritized the best-performing varieties that inherently offer the highest-quality eating experience while filling every gap in the harvest window.
Humidity Heroes: Smith & Black Celeste
My strategy for this region relies on two "anchors"—Smith and Celeste (specifically Black Celeste)—which are the gold standards for humidity and rain resistance. But a world-class orchard is never just about performance.
The Long-Season Reward: CLBC & Coll de Dama
Fortunately, the three classic best-tasting fig varieties can be grown successfully in these areas: White Adriatic, Black Madeira, and Coll de Dama types. However, Black Madeira is notoriously bad in humid climates. By using Colonel Littman’s Black Cross instead, growers get those legendary flavor profiles in trees that can actually handle the Southern rain.
The "Adriatic Hack": Green Michurinska
In these Southern cities, an Adriatic-type fig is nearly unbeatable. While White Adriatic is a world-class must-grow for its strawberry jam flavor and rain resistance, it has two major downsides: limited breba production and a late-ripening main crop.
I chose Green Michurinska as the "Adriatic Hack" for this Top 5 because it solves both problems. It delivers that premium strawberry profile 20 days earlier than other Adriatics, but more importantly, it is a prolific breba producer. Since the other four varieties on this list cannot produce a breba crop, Green Michurinska is a requirement to extend your harvest window into the early summer.
Alternative Varieties: Prioritizing the Breba Crop
A strong argument can be made for prioritizing bifera varieties (those that produce two crops) over unifera varieties (single crop) to ensure you are eating figs for as long as possible. By filling your orchard with the following varieties, you gain an early window of fruit that starts 30 to 45 days before the main crop.
The "Breba Bench": Contenders for the Early Window
These varieties are included specifically because they produce at least a light breba crop at a quality rivaling their main crop:
Vagabond: A superior alternative to Hardy Chicago in every category. It is a reliable bifera producer with better taste and higher rain resistance, performing exceptionally well even as the season cools down.
White Adriatic: A cornerstone of flavor that provides an exceptional eating experience and superior drying capabilities. It is exceptionally hardy and rain-resistant, and while its breba production is limited, it produces high-quality fruit that tastes great well into the fall.
Joualle Noire (syn. Beat Ramon, Molla Vermella): A high-performing season extender with unique, late-ripening brebas. It is highly moisture-resistant, making it a strategic choice for humid climates.
Moro de Caneva: A moisture specialist that "checks all the boxes"—it is hardy, early, rain-resistant, and a reliable breba producer. It is arguably the best variety for handling extreme rain without losing fruit quality.
Violette de Bordeaux: A fantastic, versatile fig that produces a prolific and high-quality breba crop. Known for its intense cherry flavor, it is one of the few varieties that performs reliably in almost any climate.
Teramo: A "Consistency King" that offers a light breba crop. It is a workhorse in humid air, ripening perfectly and drying on the tree rather than rotting.
Italian 258 (i258): One of the absolute best for the later season, with a flavor strikingly similar to Black Madeira. Its most overlooked quality is its production of a very tasty, late-to-ripen breba crop, which extends the window for elite-tier figs.
Verdino del Nord (VR) aka Figoin: Part of a "special trio" of dwarf-sized trees that excel in humidity. It produces small fruits that are incredibly easy to dry on the tree, ensuring consistently high quality.
Hative d'Argenteuil: A notable contender for early-season production, providing a reliable harvest window for growers looking to start their season as early as possible.
Salame / Verdolino: Features a long stem and neck that allows for easy harvesting and sheds water effectively. It offers a high-quality harvest window early in the season.
Nerucciolo d'Elba: Another small-fruited variety that ripens perfectly due to its impressive ease of drying. Its slightly bitter skin adds a pleasing complexity to the eating experience.
Val Camonica Green: A bifera standout that is quickly proving itself for its hardy breba production, ease of drying on the tree, and strong overall performance.
Grise de St. Jean (GdSJ): An underrated European commercial variety with exquisite flavor and texture. It produces a great-tasting breba crop, Pierre Baud claims to be better tasting than the main crop.
