Yesterday morning my dad called and said “Guess what I’m eating!” He lives in Louisiana and is a Louisiana native so my first thought was some kind of roadkill. You never know what those Louisiana folks might be eating.
He told me he was eating figs off the fig tree that I planted probably 22 or 23 years ago. It made me smile . . a really big smile. Every place I’ve lived, I’ve always planted a magnolia tree and, except in MO, I planted a fig tree too.
I always plant the magnolia in the front and the fig in the back. I don’t know why — maybe so everyone who passes will see and enjoy the magnolia but no one will bother the figs.
The house in Westlake, LA where I was living 22 years ago, I planted a magnolia tree in the front yard that was so small that Chad was able to run and jump over it when he was 6 years old. I could only afford a tiny little tree but I planted it. The last time I passed by that house, the tree was probably 30 or more feet tall.
I figured the fig tree was long gone but Dad said it’s just covered in figs and he said they aren’t huge figs but they’re very sweet.
It really made my day to know that tree was alive and producing.
Here, we’ve planted a magnolia . . out front. There are 9 or 10 fig trees. We won’t be here forever and I’ll probably have no contact with the folks who buy this place when we leave but I hope they enjoy the fruit trees that we’ve planted.
I tell myself that figs don’t grow easily in MO but cherries will so . . it’s a trade off I’m willing to accept.
Joan from Alaska says
Figs DO grow in cold climates…in the house! I brought one back from California on a visit three years ago, and it has rewarded me with figs every year. Right now it is almost five feet tall and has over thirty figs on it. Just be sure you buy it before you leave TX as you will likely never find one in MO. You can pack it in a box of fabric or yarn and Vince will never know until you arrive! 😉
JudyL says
What I said is “figs don’t grow easily”. They grown them in upstate NY and pull them over and cover them with mulch and keep them alive. It’s more trouble than I want to go to and I don’t want any kind of house plants. We could probably keep them in the greenhouse too but . . 30 figs just isn’t worth it for me. I can buy figs in the larger grocery stores.
Angie Kiker says
I love Figs! I have a small Fig tree, maybe 4 feet tall. It look more like a bush right now. No figs in sight—yet. Every once in awhile you mention leaving your place, I thought it was a forever place when you first moved there. Where are you planning to go? at some point.