Having spent most of my life much further north of South Florida, I enjoyed eating tropical fruit, but never knew what they looked like while growing. I have included tropical fruit trees and plants for shade and foliage in my new garden, the fruit is a bonus. Some of the fruit producing plants I have in my garden now I had never heard of – because, well, in my opinion, like many things you have to grow up eating them to appreciate the fruit.
Above is the foliage of the Sea Grape (Coccoloba uvifera). This is a native tree that produces clusters of grapes in the summer that are mostly seed and taste similar to figs. Natives of Florida and birds like the fruit.
This is Mango (Mangifera ‘Nam Doc Mai’) a Thai Dessert Mango. Delicious and easy to grow. The leaves were burned by Hurricane Irma.
Silvery backed leaves from a Pineapple I grew from the top of a fruit bought at the grocery store. I have no idea what kind it will be. Pineapples are very easy to grow here and my new hometown, Jensen Beach was once considered the Pineapple Capital of the World. Here is a link to an article I wrote about how to grow pineapples Link.
This is a Rangpur Lime, grown from seed by my neighbor. Rangpur Limes have orange skin and are incredibly juicy. I believe these are not well known because they do not keep very well.
This is a Papaya, I believe Hawaiian, although I won’t be sure until it bears fruit. I grew this from seed last year. Curiously, I sometimes see Papayas growing wild on construction sites. Papayas are native to South and Central America and a bit of an acquired taste. I like them in pork stir fry, bread and sliced.
The new foliage on a Cuban Avocado tree. Cuban Avocados are the size of footballs and I had never seen one until landing in South Florida. The fruit is a bit sweeter and creamier than Hass Avocado and the rare avocado that is true to seed. A friend grew this for me with a seed from her tree, which she got from a Cuban guy!
The trees are integrated into my back garden along with vegetables and a native pollinator area. Everything but the Mango was grown from seed so I have a few years yet before I will taste the fruit.
Gardening in many cases is all about patience. Someday soon I will have some fantastic salsa and guacamole.
The Shrub Queen 
I mostly enjoy the climate where I live (except in mid-summer); but reading this I think I might enjoy yours even more. I love the idea of tropical foliage (all exotically large leaves) and the fruit you describe sounds amazing. I know there is a downside that there are plants you can’t grow but what you can grow easily would keep me happy. Thanks for joining in GBFD; which as you know won’t be a regular feature.
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I think summer is worse here and lasts longer, but the winter makes up for it. I would love to have your evergreens and perennials! Maybe a quarterly seasonal GBFD?
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That’s an idea
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Lush foliage – and luscious sounding fruit. Must be wonderful to grow such exotic fruits – we have to make do with apples, plums and pears, nice though they can be I can only dream about mango, pineapples and my favourite food of all – avocado!
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I am dreaming of avocados as well. I think they are three years out!
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Lovely tropical foliage. The Sea Grape reminds me of Martinique where it grows on the beaches and is a perfect tree for hammocks. A lovely memory for a November day.
Pineapples, papayas and fresh limes! How fantastic.
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Thanks. Salsa someday soon…
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Lovely garden. Thanks for sharing. I live in the Avocado capital of San Diego and have planted 9 over the years. Those suckers are hard to get going but I have one nice Pinkerton and a Zutano hopeful. Citrus has been great but now I’m thinking I need to try Mango, Macadamia, Papaya and Pineapple. Maybe it’s too dry? Thanks for the motivation.
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Thanks, Jeff, good to hear from you. The Avocado tree survived Irma with leaf burn only. Hoping for fruit in a few years. Mangoes are pretty drought tolerant once established and pineapples are easy. I garden on sugar sand, water doesn’t stay around very long on anything. Amy
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