Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. It’s a joy to walk the streets of Victorian architecture in Cape May, located at the very tip of New Jersey. It has attracted vacationers since the mid-18th century, designating Cape May as the country’s oldest seaside resort. Glorious gardens and monarch butterflies abound, indicating a healthy habitat.
How to Overwinter Fig Trees
As I meandered by a fig tree that towered almost to the roof of a two-story home, I thought, that’s a heck of a tree to wrap over winter. Fig trees are native to the tropics, with a few species considered semi-tropical, and will grow unprotected in zones 8 to 10. Cape May is in USDA zone 7b, one or two zones warmer than ours, but you can grow hardier figs with the proper winter protection.
Cultivars of the common fig (Ficus carica), such as ‘Brown Turkey,’ ‘Chicago,’ or ‘Celeste,’ are best, and it’s best to skip growing them in the ground north of zone 6. Instead, use containers and bring them to a protected area in the winter where temperatures won’t dip below 20 degrees.
Fig trees like to be root-bound (tight in their pot) to produce the most fruit. Up-size the pot each year until your tree reaches the size you care to maneuver. Afterward, you’ll need to root prune every three years and return Mr. Fig to the same pot. Yup, it’s an effort!
A heck of a giant fig to wrap!
Don’t be a Fig Pig
Walking closer to the beefy tree with its shiny course leaves, I noticed a sign: FREE FIGS in capital letters on a bright yellow board. Bulleted below are the rules.
Pick ripe ones (yellow and soft), and Please Take 2 Max per Person. Don’t Be a Fig Pig! Donations appreciated.
While chuckling over, Don’t be a Fig Pig, a car exits the driveway.
“Did you find any?” the gentlemen asked.
“I wasn’t looking to pick, but I love your sign and admire the size of the fig tree. How do you wrap such a giant?”
“It’s the south side of the house, so there is no need to wrap it.”
The idea of offering figs for free and inviting a donation came after learning that someone was coming uninvited and picking the figs clean. Talk about a Fig Pig. More like a Fig Thief! Taking things, picking flowers, or helping yourself to anything that is not yours astounds me. The culprit, Warren found out, is a neighbor who owns a restaurant in town. Seriously? It seems he would be more aware of the wrongs of pilfering food. Warren took it in stride, and now that he is retired, he can oversee his bounty.
“It has been a banner year making $183 for the local cub and boy scout troops.”
A Baby Fig Rite of Passage
I was given a baby fig tree as a rite of passage when I married into a family of Italian descent. I was outwardly appreciative but inwardly dreading the hassles of overwintering it. Never mind the parade of ants I recall seeing on the mother plant next to their pool.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m fond of figs. But I prefer the uncomplicated way of enjoying them, wrapped in the long-loved Fig Newton, rather than wrestling with wrapping a fig tree.
I religiously clothed my potted baby fig in old blankets from the bottom of the pot to the top of the tree, lassoing the garb with garden twine. Carpet, carpet foam, quilts, and pink insulation fiberglass work, too. I was diligent for years, then missed the timeline. Bittersweet.
It wasn’t that I didn’t give a fig; I felt terrible for the baby that grew head high. Rather than intentionally kill the laborious tree, I’d have given the fig away.
(Not giving a fig is an old-time idiom that means not caring at all, originating from the 15th-century English poem The Court of Love. Not that I knew that without a search, but now you have a G-rated option.)
Did you know the first Fig Newton was baked in 1891? It’s incredible how some things last forever and others, well, not so much. Though true, the husband that came with the fig lasted a decade longer.
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone@gmail.com and your favorite Podcast App.
There’s much more to the story in the audio version, including a personal story that I hope will inspire you:
And a related story on root pruning outdoor plants you’ll enjoy: Root Pruning and Journey of Growth featured in Ep. 154 of the Garden Dilemmas Podcast:
