Plant Encyclopedia

Description:

An attractive deciduous garden tree producing exceptional, tasty, brownish purple fruits with pink-amber flesh that ripen in early summer; attracts birds; needs hot exposure to ripen fruit in cooler areas

Edible Qualities

Brown Turkey Fig is a small tree that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces coppery-bronze fruit (technically 'pomes') with a plum purple blush and gold flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The fruits have a sweet taste and a fleshy texture.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Preserves

Features & Attributes

Brown Turkey Fig's attractive lobed leaves remain dark green in color with distinctive light green veins throughout the season on a plant with a round habit of growth. The fruits are showy coppery-bronze pomes with a plum purple blush, which are carried in abundance from early to mid summer. The fruit can be messy if allowed to drop on the lawn or walkways, and may require occasional clean-up.

This is a multi-stemmed tree with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cut back to the ground in late winter before active growth resumes. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Brown Turkey Fig is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Brown Turkey Fig will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. Although it is technically a woody plant, this plant can be expected to behave as a perennial in our climate if planted outdoors over the winter, usually regrowing from its base (crown) the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Brown Turkey Fig is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, this plant may be too tender to survive the winter if left outdoors in a container. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.