Celeste Fig (Ficus carica 'Celestial') is one of the most widely planted Fig trees in the US and with good reason. This Fig tree produces such sweet and delicious fruit that it often goes by its nickname, the "Sugar Fig".
It earns its nickname each summer with scrumptiously sweet fruit that has a rich, buttery-smooth flavor and texture. The fruit is not only delicious - it's beautiful, too.
The fruit features edible, violet skin and rose-colored, strawberry-like flesh inside. Celeste Figs can be eaten fresh for a delightful treat. No need to peel, you can eat the skin and all! The fruit also dries perfectly for long-term storage and easy snacking.
The tree itself makes an impressive specimen. You'll love the distinctive, deep-green lobed Fig leaves that grace the tree all summer long. The leaves have such a wonderful, tropical shape and the branches have a nice-looking structure.
Celeste Fig is one of the easiest fruit trees you can grow. Here's why:
It's a self-pollinating tree, so you only need one tree. It's a medium-sized tree that doesn't need a lot of pruning. It will stay small enough for you to easily harvest your crop.
This is a 'closed-eye' variety, which means the little eye on the bottom of the fruit stays tight. This helps it resist pests, splitting and souring. This is especially welcome in our humid summers.
Celeste Fig is disease resistant. It's also heat tolerant, versatile and adapts beautifully to most climates. Well known to be a vigorous grower in the more humid climates of the South.
While this tree will produce fruit as a single tree, you'll enjoy a larger crop with two or more trees. For a grove of Celeste Figs, plant them about 10 feet apart. You'll measure from the center of one trunk to the center of the next.
Overall, growers love this easy-peasy, sugar-sweet Fig variety.
How to Use Celeste Fig Fruit
Celeste is a prolific producer. You'll have plenty of Figs on hand to make luscious fig preserves. We recommend trying a mix of fully ripe and still-firm Figs when making your preserves. What a treat on crusty bread over farm-fresh butter!
You'll know when Celeste Figs are ripe when they start turning purple on the tree. They'll also soften up on the tree.
Figs can dry in a dehydrator, or you can leave them hanging in the tree to dry on their own in the sun. Chop them with almonds, cashews, dates and cinnamon to create healthy fudge, or use as a mainstay sweetener in homemade energy bars. Of course, you can also enjoy these fabulous natural desserts all on their own as the perfect way to end a healthy meal.
Want an easy gourmet appetizer? Slice figs and stuff them with an artisan goat cheese. Then add a wrap of bacon (or prosciutto, if you can find it!) and place on the grill for a few minutes or bake about 10 minutes. Yum, now that's a perfect late summer treat.
You'll feel good about these nutrient-dense, fiber-rich snacks loaded with calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Figs are great for bone strength and to improve digestion. The taste? Think Fig Newtons without the mealy, cakey coating. Fresh or dried, Figs are a nutritional powerhouse for your whole family.
Hardy from Zones 6-10, please give Celeste a planting location in full sun and well-drained soil. Once established, it will require very little supplemental watering.
Very easy to grow, figs can be trained in a number of different ways. Grow it with a single trunk as a standard tree or allow multiple trunks to grow and create a shrubby tree. No matter how you choose to use it in your landscape, it's simple to keep the plant to an "easy picking" height with regular pruning.
When growing in a container, please select a deep container that has plenty of drainage holes in the bottom. Drill a few more, if you need to. Give container-grown fruit regular water, but don't use a saucer under outdoor containers. You won't want to let Figs sit in standing water, allow the water to drain fully.
Figs are one of nature's perfect foods. Celeste is one of the best of the best, with an exceptional flavor and ease of care.
Celeste does set a small early - or Breba - crop, but this variety is all about the high quality of the late season main crop. This fruit is an exceptional variety for drying.