One small thing on the spice bloom part. You don't want to toast ground cumin and chili powder in beef fat for a couple minutes, that's way too long and they'll burn bitter on you in like 30 to 45 seconds. Ground spices hit that sweet spot fast. Whole seeds are the ones that can take a couple minutes in the pan. If the longer bloom is what woke your chili up, fine, but watch that pan close because scorched cumin will wreck a whole batch.

Guess someone at the paper went overboard with a filter list they never checked.

Man, that nursery guy gave you bad advice and I bet he knows it too. Here is the thing nobody talks about with figs in Phoenix: the problem is not the air temp, it is the root zone. Those trees can take 110 if their roots stay cool, but in a pot or in bare soil that bakes all day, the roots cook and the leaves go crispy no matter what variety you plant. So before you go buying a new tree, try mulching heavy around the base and watering deep in the early morning, you might be surprised what comes back next spring. As for types, hit up the local extension office list, they have tested stuff like Black Mission and Kadota here, but even those need that cool root zone to make it.