How do you think figs entered into our lives? Well there is an Italian in the wood pile. Diane"s Father buried the figs over winter in Chicago (zone 5). 
 
What a good time he had when he moved to zone 8 near Memphis, he had figs everywhere. So that is how we got started, cuttings, pass along plants, getting excited and collecting varieties from nurseries and friends. Here are some of our selections:
 
Little Miss Figgy
is an excellent ornamental and fruit-bearing landscape plant. With a dwarf compact habit, it is smaller and more cold hardy than comparable figs, yet bears large and more prolific fruits spring and fall. It boasts dark green deeply lobed leaves and deep burgundy fruits with a sweet center.
 
The debate will go on about the hardiness of figs. We are zone 7 and all our potted figs have survived the last couple of winters here pretty much unprotected in containers. Of course there always can come the unexpected killer frost that will wipe them all out. So love them and grow them till that happens, then start over with new varieties.