The month of May is coming in like a lion here. Stormy weather and cool temperatures are across the US. In Florida, it is a refreshing 70 degrees but the wind kicks up and it a bit too windy to sit outside. Some of the warm season shrubs are starting to flower.
Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) can flower anytime, but is more prolific in the summer.
Firebush (Hamelia patens) and one of my favorites flower more during the warmer months.
The Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini) is flowering. I don’t get any dates, though these will bear fruit if you have a male and female palm.
The Papaya has produced its second crop this year. This one fell off the tree – there is a moth that lays eggs in the fruit and causes it to drop off. You can tell by the sap oozing out that the moth has been there. If I had cut the fruit open it would be full of worms eating the flesh of the Papaya (I didn’t). The fruit that falls has to be picked up quickly to halt another generation of moths.
The Thai Dessert Mango is tantalizing me. This is a Nam Doc Mai.
The Nam Doc Mai is also flowering again, so I should get a few more Mangoes this summer. These can flower year round, though mine usually don’t.
There, six things happening in my garden in May. For other Six on Saturday posts, go to http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
Happy gardening.
The Shrub Queen 
Yuck to bugs. It seems to be a never ending fight in the South…inside and out.
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Those Papaya things are particularly gross…yuck indeed.
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It’s never fun to compete for our food! A shame about your papaya. I think that is why I gave up growing veggies. The battle was too tough to win.
Are you thinking of getting a mate for your date palm?
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I agree and just planted flowers in one part of the veggie area…we’ll see about the rest. I did not realize the size of the thorns on the date palm when I put it in. So, I will not be getting another.
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The Plumbago flowers are delicate and beautiful. How lovely it would be to grow mangoes in the garden, that’s something I can only dream about! 😁
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Thank you, the Mangoes are really no trouble and I love to eat them!!
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Yep. You are on another planet Queen.
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I love your exotic six. I had no idea you could get worms in papaya, how revolting. There is a pest for everything.
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Laughing!! thank you, pests for everything indeed, I would never cut one of the Papayas open that looked like that..
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Beetles essentially do the same thing to my squash. Something lays eggs on the outside, larvae dig their way in and turn the insides to mush. But squash is one thing. It’s tragic that it can happen to papaya!!!
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Yes, ugh, squash borers- I stopped growing squash aafter my first borer experience tragic all around.
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I’m trying butternut this year in a different location. Butternut is supposed to be resistant. We’ll see.
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Good luck!
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WHAT? Phoenix roebelenii makes dates?! I have known this species since 1985, but never bothered to consider that it could make fruit. The fruit of the Phoenix canariensis is just a worthless but significant mess. Are the dates of Phoenix roebelenii any good or just pretty on the tree?
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Not a clue about the dates and was surprised to read this, though it makes sense. I can imagine this only happens where they are native? I have one.
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Date palms make plenty of dates if pollinated adequately, and they are not native. The same applied to Canary Island date palms. So, I suppose it should apply to pygmy date palms as well. I just never thought about it. They are not very common here, so the few that are out and about may not get adequate pollination, or might be male.
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The robellinis are everywhere here and I have never seen one with dates.
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Nor have I, although they are uncommon.
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