Chicago Hardy, Fig
This variety is top on the list of the most reliable varieties of fig trees to grow outdoors in cold places - even down to zone 5. Though temperatures below 0 degrees (USDA zone 7) will kill the tops and stems, this variety's roots can survive temps down to -20 degrees (USDA zone 5) and still resprout next spring. The other important feature that makes this cultivar work outdoors in places this cold is that unlike most cultivars it produces fruit on new wood. That means that it will sprout from the roots in spring and produce abundant fruit during the growing season. The fruits on this variety are rather small, but they are of excellent flavor and you’ll get lots of them. A plant with 4 new stem growths can produce up to 150 purplish brown figs. Please note that root hardiness improves with age. This means you should really baby them while they are small and not yet established. Mulch very heavily in the fall for the first few years at least. Like all figs it will need to be located in the hottest most intense sunlight location you can find in order to ripen fruits by end of summer.
Self-fertile (can produce fruit on it's own).