Ficus carica (the edible fig) has been grown in UK gardens for many hundreds of years.
The UK is too far north for fig wasps to establish so that the only fig varieties that can be grown in the UK are self fertile (parthenocarpic).
These parthenocarpic varieties normally ripen a first (Breba) crop in July/August. A second (Main) crop follows in September/October .
Most years the UK summer is not long enough or hot enough for the Main crop to ripen, and the young Main crop figs wither and fall off in the winter months.
Spring 2026 in the UK was the wettest spring on record and the 2026 summer was the warmest and driest on record.
As the saying goes Every Cloud has a Silver Lining !
The 2026 weather was ideal weather for Ficus carica.
The result was that in 2026 many fig trees in London produced a bumper double crop with a normal Breba crop in July followed by a second Main Crop in September 2026.
The photos below show a Jackdaw raiding Main crop figs from the kitchen garden at Hampton Court Palace in SW London on 01 October 2026.
Thanks to Cosmo Phillipps for photos and information.
