• The Louisiana gardener can enjoy home-grown figs.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  When you look inside a fig fruit, the "seeds" you see are actually clusters of tiny flowers. Several varieties of these very sweet fruit, which can be eaten fresh or dried, are suitable for Louisiana: some were even developed there. Figs originated in the Mediterranean but have been grown in the United States for centuries.
  
  

Brown Turkey

• Brown Turkey fig is known by several names, Texas Everbearing and Eastern Brown Turkey among them. This variant is frequently grown in the southeastern United States. In Louisiana, the first crop ripens in July, with the main crop arriving a month later. The fruit has bronze skin and golden pulp; it's suitable for eating directly off the tree and can survive a frost. If your climate is particularly wet, though, be warned: the fruit might crack.
  
  

Celeste

• Celeste figs also go by other names, such as Blue Celeste and Little Brown Sugar. This fig tree is more cold hardy than Brown Turkey and produces small to medium-sized fruit that range from purple-tinged bronze to light brown in tone. In Louisiana, the fruit starts to ripen in early July and can be eaten fresh or processed. There is usually only one crop and the fruit is somewhat resistant to dried fruit beetle.
  
  

LSU Gold and LSU Purple

• LSU Gold was created at Louisiana State University. The fruit is large and yellow with pink to red flesh. The fruit should be picked as soon as it's ripe, which happens from July through August. The variant first appeared in 2001 and has good flavor and cold resistance. An older version, LSU Purple, has purple fruit and is not as cold-resistant -- though it can, and does, recover from frost damage. LSU purple fruit is medium-sized and sweet.