Violette de Bordeaux Fig

Violette de Bordeaux is a traditional French cultivar with a documented history extending to the seventeenth century, when it was grown in the famous kitchen gardens at Versailles. Its name reflects its primary French cultivation region, the Bordeaux area of Aquitaine, where the Atlantic-moderated climate provided sufficient warmth for fig production alongside the great wine estates. The variety traveled to North America through French immigrants and horticultural collectors and built a devoted following among enthusiasts who prize its intensely flavored small to medium fruit over the larger but blander selections favored by the commercial trade. It circulates under an array of synonyms — Negronne, Vista, Petite Negri, Valle Calda, Nero 600m, and Petite Negra among others — reflecting the informal networks through which it spread across climates and continents. No hybrid parentage has been documented; Violette de Bordeaux is a traditional Ficus carica selection of French regional cultivation, not the product of a formal breeding program. It carries no plant patent and propagates freely from cuttings.

Plant in full sun with at least six hours of direct light daily; afternoon shade in the hottest climates can moderate fruit split. Violette de Bordeaux adapts to most well-drained soils in the pH range of 6.0 to 7.5 and tolerates both sandy loam and heavier clay as long as drainage is adequate — standing water is the primary cultural threat. Space in-ground plants 6 to 10 feet apart to allow mature canopy at 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. In Zones 5 and 6, planting against a south-facing masonry wall captures reflected heat, extends the season, and buffers winter lows. Container culture works well; use a 15- to 25-gallon pot and move indoors or into an unheated garage once temperatures fall below the variety's cold threshold. Young plants can fruit in one to two years. Moderate irrigation through the growing season and a gradual reduction in late summer concentrate flavors in the ripening main crop.

USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-10
AHS Heat Zone: 4-11
Chill Hours: 100-200
Sun Requirements: Full Sun (8+ hours daily for best fruiting)
Soil pH: 6.0-7.5
Soil Type: Well-drained loam with organic matter; tolerates sandy and rocky soils if nematode-free
Soil Drainage: Well-drained
Water Requirements: Medium (1-1.5 inches per week during fruit development; established trees tolerate brief drought)
Drought Tolerance: Yes — tolerant once established
Heat Tolerance: Performs well in cool-summer climates; moderate heat tolerance
Plant Spacing: 6-10 ft apart
Container Suitability: Yes — good for containers

Violette de Bordeaux grows as a compact to medium-sized deciduous tree or large shrub, reaching 8 to 10 feet tall with a tidy 6-foot spread — smaller than many common figs and well-suited to urban lots and mixed edible hedgerows. The deeply lobed foliage is bold and tropical in texture, providing ornamental value through the growing season before dropping cleanly in autumn. The bifera bearing habit delivers two distinct crops: a breba flush on prior-year wood in early to mid-summer, followed by the heavier main crop on current-year growth from mid-August through mid-September. This double-season pattern extends the harvest window considerably compared to single-crop cultivars. The relatively low chill requirement — 50 to 150 hours — means the tree breaks dormancy reliably even after mild winters. Established plants in Zones 5 and 6 may die back to the crown during severe cold but regrow vigorously from the root system.

Mature Height: 8-10 ft tall
Mature Spread: 6 ft wide
Growth Habit: Small tree; naturally compact
Growth Rate: Moderate
Foliage Type: Deciduous
Food Forest Layer: Sub-canopy
Permaculture Role: Edible fruit producer; wildlife food (birds, mammals); deciduous shade in summer; suckers freely (manage for layering propagation)
Leaf Color: Green
Fall Foliage Color: Yellow
Thorns?: No
Attracts Wildlife: Birds and small mammals (ripe fruit); bees and wasps visit ripe split fruit for sugars
Life Span: 50-100 years

Violette de Bordeaux is a common-type fig that produces fruit entirely through parthenocarpy — the botanical process by which fruit develops from the flower cluster without fertilization. No pollinizer tree, no companion planting, and no fig wasp (Blastophaga psenes) is required under any circumstance. A single tree planted alone will carry both its breba crop and its main crop to full ripeness every season. This self-sufficient fruiting biology makes the variety practical for small yards, balcony containers, and any site where planting multiple trees is not feasible. Because the variety's closed ostiole — the small eye at the fruit's base — resists interior entry by insects, the fruit cavity remains sealed during ripening, contributing directly to its strong resistance to fig souring, dried fruit beetles, and African fig fly.

Pollination Requirements: Self-fertile (parthenocarpic common-type fig) — sets fruit without pollination; no pollinizer or fig wasp needed.
Pollination Mechanism: Parthenocarpic (common-type cultivars set fruit without pollination)
Flower Color: Not applicable — tiny flowers enclosed inside the syconium, not externally visible
Ploidy: Diploid (2n=2x=26)

Modest in size at about 2 inches in diameter at peak ripeness, the fruit is notable for depth of flavor. Purple-black skin deepens to near-ebony when fully ripe, and the interior pulp is a vivid deep red — visually striking when sliced. The flavor profile centers on concentrated sweetness layered with wild berry notes, richer and more complex than many larger-fruited varieties that sacrifice intensity for size. Texture is dense and jammy rather than watery. Harvest runs mid-August through mid-September for the main crop, with brebas arriving weeks earlier. Fresh eating straight from the tree is the first-choice use, but the concentrated flesh also makes excellent preserves, fig pastes, and dried figs with minimal processing. Fruit drop quickly after peak ripeness, so frequent picking — every two to three days during peak — keeps the harvest at its best.

Ripening Season: Late
Harvest Window: Mid Aug - Mid Sep
Fruit Size: 2 inch
Flavor: Distinctive sweet, rich flavor
Fruit Color: Purple-black skin, deep red pulp
Fruit Texture: Concentrated texture
Fruit Skin: Dark black exterior; small ostiole/eye
Bearing Habit: Bifera — breba crop + main crop
Years to Bear: 1-2 years
Storage Life: 5-7 days refrigerated; 1-2 days at room temperature
Culinary Uses: Fresh; Drying; Preserves

The closed ostiole of Violette de Bordeaux is the variety's most practical defensive trait: the sealed eye at the fruit's tip physically excludes the yeast and bacterial complex behind fig souring, bars dried fruit beetle access, and blocks African fig fly entry — the tree rates virtually resistant to all three. Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) encounters similar difficulty breaching ripe fruit and is rated moderately resistant. On the disease side, granulate ambrosia beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculus) poses a moderate susceptibility risk primarily to stressed or declining wood; maintaining vigorous trees through consistent irrigation and avoiding mechanical wounds substantially reduces attack rates. Fig rust (Cerotelium fici) and fig leaf blight (Pellicularia koleroga) both register moderate susceptibility in humid seasons — remove and compost affected leaves promptly and avoid overhead irrigation to slow spread. Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) and fig mosaic virus are the two highest-concern vulnerabilities: plant in nematode-free soil or in containers with pasteurized media, and source cuttings only from known virus-free stock.

Root-Knot Nematode: Susceptible
Fig Rust: Moderately Susceptible
Fig Leaf Blight: Moderately Susceptible
Fig Mosaic Virus: Susceptible
Fig Souring: Very Resistant
Dried Fruit Beetle: Very Resistant
Granulate Ambrosia Beetle: Moderately Susceptible
African Fig Fly: Very Resistant
Spotted Wing Drosophila: Moderately Resistant

• Heat-wall planting in cold climates: Positioning the tree against a south- or west-facing brick or stone wall adds ambient warmth, protects late breba clusters from spring frost, and often pushes main-crop harvest two weeks earlier than open-sited trees.
• Container cycling for northern growers: A 15–25 gallon container lets you move the tree into an unheated garage once night temperatures drop below 15°F, eliminating crown dieback risk and preserving fruiting wood that carries the following year's breba crop.
• Pick on a two-day schedule: Violette de Bordeaux goes from peak to overripe quickly in warm weather. Check every two days during August and harvest any fruit showing a slight neck droop and skin softness — waiting for visual perfection means some fruit will already be splitting.
• Deficit irrigation before harvest: Reducing irrigation by roughly half in the two weeks before main-crop peak deepens sugar concentration and intensifies the berry-fig flavor the variety is known for. Resume normal watering after the last fruit is picked.
• Source cuttings carefully: Fig mosaic virus spreads through infected propagation material and has no cure once established. Source exclusively from trees that have shown clean foliage for at least two full seasons; root-knot nematode risk is also reduced by planting into compost-amended, well-drained soil.

Our 365-Day Plant Guarantee: We ensure that our plants are delivered to you alive and healthy. If your plant does not survive its first year, you're eligible for store credit under these conditions:

1. Your location falls within the appropriate USDA hardiness zone for the plant variety (refer to our hardiness zone map).
2. You maintain the roots' moisture and plant within three days of delivery, following the instructions in our Planting Guide.

If you're concerned about your plant's health, please consult our guide, How to Tell if Your Tree is Dead or Dormant. Remember, our plants are shipped in a dormant state and may leaf out at different times based on their species. To check for plant vital