The **fig (Ficus carica)** is one of the oldest cultivated fruits, grown around the Mediterranean for thousands of years. With a warm wall and a little understanding of how it fruits, it crops well in southern Britain — a handsome, large-leaved tree for the canopy layer. **Notes:** - Figs fruit best when their roots are confined. Given free root run they grow lush and leafy but set little fruit, so a lined pit or a large pot channels that energy into figs instead. - In the British climate it is the tiny, pea-sized embryo figs forming at the shoot tips in late summer that overwinter and ripen the following year — the larger figs visible in autumn will not ripen and are best removed. - A fig is not really a fruit but a *syconium*: a hollow, fleshy structure lined on the inside with hundreds of minute flowers. - The variety 'Brown Turkey' is the reliable choice for UK gardens — hardy, and able to set fruit without pollination.