Yes, the fig is possible in Asheville.

Growing figs isn't always the easiest thing to do in the southern Appalachian mountains. Most varieties that are commercially available tend to be rated toUSDA zone 8, or at best zone 7. While many people will say that we are not zone 6b, but rather a zone 7, every single fig that I have tried to grow in the past begs to differ.

I first tried the Brown Turkey fig the year before our devastating Easter freeze a number of years ago. Just planted it in the ground and hoped for the best. If the moderate winter in the ground didn't kill it, then the 9 deg Fahrenheit in April surely nailed it. Never saw it green again.

Later I tried a Celeste fig. Planted it early in the season to give it enough time to establish a root system before cold temps. I had a few immature fruits form the first year, but nothing ripened. Another moderate winter rolled through the mountains, and that was it, Celeste was dead.

So on an auspicious late summer day last year, another fellow fig killer came into B.B. Barns and showed me her dead fig. We exchanged knowing, disappointed looks. I told her about my own difficulties with the plant, and right before the tear came to my eye she asked for her 50% store credit. Left with a plant that was almost dead, and a satisfied customer with a store credit in hand, I decided to experiment one more time.


I nursed the plant back to health with seaweed solution and harpin protein. Put it in the ground, and built a simple stick frame around the plant. As fall descended, I cut back the Brown Turkey fig and wrapped it in landscape fabric.

After the chance of horrible frost passed in the spring, I unwrapped the plant and let it flush back out as a small shrub. It leafed out well, without any of the vascular damage that knocked out my previous plants. The new growth was so encouraging, particularly given the persistently cold winter we had this past year.



The plant keeps getting stronger, and there are at least a dozen green fruits forming that have gotten bigger than anything I've seen in my garden thus far. It seems that by protecting the vascular tissue from battering winter winds, the fig is able to allocate energy toward making fruit instead of continually regenerating vegetative matter. I know, nerd-speak. If that seems dorky to say, then think of it like this. Nobody feels sexy when they've had their arm frozen off. Figs are in the same boat. Treat them well, and they will be in the mood to produce fruit and try to reproduce.