Frankenfig

Frankenfig is a fig tree that is put together much like Frankenstein. This tree which started it's life as a Celeste now has 37 different varieties grafted to it. I have a few pictures but pictures don't do this tree justice. It has to be seen in person to really appreciate it. It the labor of love for Andy and his outlet from the mad world but then again it may be from one mad world to another mad world. Anyway I hope y'all enjoy, I know I enjoyed seeing it in person and hearing some of the stories about it's development. It sure got my wheels turning and I can see something like that in my future. There are many supports as seen in the pictures which are put there to help shape the tree. Andy is in the process of planning to graft support branches from the lower limbs to the upper limbs to hold the tree together so he can remove the wooden supports. That is take another year or two of work. I can't wait to see it them.

It was hard to get pictures of the work of art to fully show it properly but I did get a few.

The tree early in it's building.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...D3D4CC250A.jpg

The tree with many of it's grafts on it.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...AF2F0A8A7C.jpg

The tree starting to bud out this spring.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...A3D79DA7FB.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...552621D233.jpg

Samples of the grafts.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...4A54FE0B35.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...8B7F802520.jpg

The tree in all it glory.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...20C567057A.jpg

Fig friends in front of Frankenfig.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...fig%202015.jpg

A sample of some of the 37 varieties of figs growing on the tree.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...9A5A2B7F52.jpg

I hope you enjoyed,
"gene"

Wow that is too cool!! Now you have my brain churning!! Thanks for posting this!!

That's neat PPG. When are the newton's gonna be ready?

You know I enjoyed that Gene, thanks.

Question. I have figs on the tree you gave me already - four! Happy about that knowing it came from you, kept the engraved metal tag on it you did for identification, stays on the tree of course. Noticed the figs just appeared without any blooms first. This normal? I know how to tend to citrus, but not figs. Thanks.

Never seen this done before with fruit trees. That' awesome. Seen it with roses and some other posey's. Thank's PPG.

Randy a fig is really a flower that's inside out. It is a syconium which is full of druplets. Think of a blackberry, each seed and surrounding pulp is a fruit, it is called a druplet. All together the druplets form a berry. In a fig it the same way. On the inside of the fig are druplets which each have seeds. In the case of a fig the fruits (druplets) are inside and a blackberry on the outside. So a fig is really a flower inside out. The whole topic of figs, the pollination of figs and the method of pollination is enough to fill several volumes. All the figs we have here are common figs, meaning they don't need pollination to produce fruit. That's a good thing as we don't have pollinators here in the US except in a few places in California. It takes a special wasp that is about the size of a small black sugar ant to pollinate figs. Look it up for some interesting reading and somewhat confusing. So on your tree you will not see any flowers, you will see small figs develop. They will grow and then at the given time ripen into a delicious fruit. Next time you have a fresh fig, cut it in half from eye to stem and study the make up. You will see the seeds and the small individual fruits or druplets that make up the fig. I hope I haven't confused you more than you were before. I will stop here but there is much more to say. It's some interesting reading if you look it up.
Thanks for asking.
"gene"

Thanks Gene, very interesting fig tree. I too like Randy have figs on the tree you gave me. I think there was 6 but one of them busted from all the rain we were getting. I still haven't planted it in the yard yet but I do have a place picked out for it. What is the best time of year to plant it?

Dwayne, if you can keep it watered, you can plant it now. It will have time to settle in and prepare itself for winter. If you can't keep it watered now, wait until early March once the chance of freezes pass. Keep it protected from freezing this winter and water it very little now and then while it is dormant.
Good luck,
"gene"

Too cool