'Celeste' (aka ‘Celestial) is a small, brown to purple fig that is adapted to the most diverse portions of Texas. 'Celeste' appears to be the most cold hardy of all fig varieties that have been evaluated in Texas. The tree is large, vigorous and very productive. 'Celeste' usually ripens in mid to late June, well before most other fig varieties in Texas. 'Celeste' fruit has a tightly closed eye which inhibits the entry of the dried fruit beetle and rain that may cause fruit souring. 'Celeste' has excellent fresh dessert quality with a rich sweet flavor. It is an excellent processing fig, either frozen or processed as fig preserves. Do not prune mature Celeste trees heavily because this can reduce the crop. Although relatively cold hardy, 'Celeste' usually does not produce abundant fruit in years where winter injury is sustained.
