you could plant one of the better varieties like "Black Mission" and place one of those mini greenhouses over it in winter.

Since you're in a zone 7, there are a lot of figs you can grow. If you mean cold hardy then I would suggest Marseilles Black VS. Small to medium is size. If it's late frost that you're concerned with, then Gino's would be a good selection. It breaks dormacy later then just about any fig we sell. Or Bayourfeige Violetta that handles early frost. Plus, it coud be considered supermarket size fruit. But, it is ten times sweeter.

Bob

You might want to reconsider Brown Turkey. There's obviously some variability, but my bushes (four in the ground and one in a half barrel planter) produce plump, 2" to 2.5" fruits that are quite delicious and, here in NC zone 7B, they overwinter without protection with little or no cold damage.

Bayourfeige Violetta! I think the spelling is closer to Bayerischen Violetta, because I started researching it. This is the fig I would like. I went to the site figs.net but couldn't find it for sale. I thank you all so much for your help and information. Violetta sounds sweet and delish. If any of you know where I could purchase one that would be a huge help. Thank you all very much, ps 'Gino' sounds great too! Mrs. G

I would cross out brown turkey based on taste. Its good until you try another fig.

For outdoor zone 7 figs, I'd try Nordland, Marseilles Black VS or Kathleen's Black.

Another option is to visit Greek restaurants in the area and sneak a cutting. Greek restaurants always have fig trees and if its standing, you know its hardy in your area...

Hey Mrs G,
Not sure if you're looking for cuttings? I have Chicago Hardy, Marseilles Black VS, Gino and Brown Turkey cuttings I could sell you. For all of the bad talk of BT, I expected it to be horrible but this past season it was easily one of my best tasting varieties plus the figs are large and prolific. Not sure if that was due to the strain of BT I have or the climate...
Because I've heard varieties can be great in one climate and awful in a another.
Tim

Florea is saposed to be one of the most cold hardy .

well that's what READ ha

The Bronx, NYC is maybe a little warmer (7-b). "Atreano" grows without protection, in a container, and makes very large, sweet, golden-yellow figs. It's a prolific producer, and is also a vigorous grower. Easy to train into a ...tree...bush...or, whatever.

Make sure you get it from a clean source that's not infected with Fig Mosaic Virus, or you might have problems from the cold temps. and weak plants. That goes for any fig variety that you will plant.

Frank