On a recent field trip for my UC CA Naturalist class, I was able to obtain several cuttings of a white fig. I rooted them in water, but after some investigating I discovered that the cool weather may be impeding the development of roots. I gave the process another week, and finally one of the stems developed root buds. I transplanted it to potting soil and put it outside in the garden. A week of warmer temperatures later, root buds formed on the other two stems, and I planted them as well. Apparently the roots formed in water are fragile, so it is important to plant the cuttings in soil as soon as the roots begin to form.

Now that I have the beginnings of fig trees, all I have to do is figure out where to put them. If we prune them aggressively, we can keep their size manageable. The parent trees these infants sprung from were huge.

It is taking quite a bit of patience to watch this garden unfold. The idea of planting something that won’t produce fruit for years is pretty overwhelming for me. It’s like parenting. You have to keep your eye on the present while planning for the future.