I had another Papaya for breakfast this morning. Several people commented about the size the Papaya tree attained in six years. Not sure everyone realized what a weird thing it is. It may be 20 feet tall, I am not sure. The tree in the background is a Thai Dessert Mango (Nam Doc Mai) it is about 10 feet tall.
I am told it is okay to chop the trunk of the Papaya off and it will grow another set of leaves and the fruit will be easier to reach. I am going to give this a try after the fruit is gone. The last crop of fruit was pulling the tree over with its weight.
The Mangoes are flowering and setting fruit. This is a Glenn Mango flower.
The fruit setting on the Glenn Mango.
The Bromeliads are making pups. November through March is the optimum time to move them around. This is a Little Harv Aechmea. It is so sharp I am moving them to a place where I won’t walk by and get stabbed.
My first Atala Butterfly sighting this year. These butterflies appear in January and June. He or she was scouting my Coontie Cycads, their favorite host plant. Still looking for the eggs.
Gardening experiment number bazillion. I find the tiny seed starting trays too fiddly and decided to cut water bottles in half for pots. This has worked well, making mini greenhouses. I have Calendula, Basil, Spinach and Cilantro in these. I can cut the bottles to get the seedlings out and then recycle.
That’s my Six for this Saturday. Check out http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for more fun from other gardeners.
Happy Gardening.
The Shrub Queen 
Thank you for sharing the flowers of the mango tree… I didn’t know. Here, mango trees are only house plants. Those I saw were in Cairo, full of tasty mangoes !
Good idea of having used water bottles as recycled pots. What are you doing with the upper part? some cloche to keep moisture for a time?
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I think the flowers are interesting as well – they make loads of tiny mangoes and then 97% drop off and you get 2 or 3 fruits from the flower. I filled the soil to below the top of the water bottles and put them on my porch where the pavers retain heat – it faces south and is warm, that is all, it is too warm here to cover seedlings they roast.
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A weather that we don’t have except in July and august …
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Not quite year round here, but I don’t put anything over seedlings. 72 F/54 low here today typical for January.
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Well, I have never seen a papaya tree! I Love they way they flower, very beautiful! Great idea for the water bottles too!
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The tropical fruit has been fascinating me – I am from Atlanta. Thanks.
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Must be the tropical side of Atlanta! You are so close to me! Do you go on the garden tours there? Last year I had a membership to the Botanical Garden there but am waiting to renew this year!
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I am from Atlanta, but live in South Florida now. I doubt there is a Papaya like that in Atlanta. The Botanical Garden there is awesome. I thought you were in the Carolinas?
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North Carolina near border with South Carolina!
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I am about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach.
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Do you wait for the papayas to fall? My neighbor that had one was not that tall and of course it froze.
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I have been using the pole saw to pick the Papayas – it is vital to get out of the way! One hit me in the arm on the way down. I think it is oddly tall, maybe I should have cut if back sooner, no clue!
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Papaya and mangoes, so yummy, and very sweet that they are homegrown. Love your little mini-greenhouses, brilliant idea. And the butterfly is so pretty – flying flowers for sure!
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Thanks, I hope to see more butterflies and fruit!
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Wow. The papaya is truly a giant, and I can easily imagine the difficulties with harvesting at that height. I have never seen mango flowers, so thank you for sharing those.
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I have been using a pole saw ro harvest the fruit. Tha Mangoes are flowering early this year, usually March.
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That papaya tree really is weird. I do not believe that I have ever seen one so tall. They are mostly in greenhouses here. It used to annoy me that people would plant them just inside the doorway on the north side of a greenhouse where we grew other horticultural crops, but they really do not take up much space. I would like to try one in a spot that does not get too cool outside, although I do not expect good results. I think that if it were possible to grow them outside here, they would be more common in home gardens. Mangoes would be easier. I have seen them in Los Angeles, in situations that get almost as cool as here.
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(Of course, I would give the fruit away after bragging about growing it.)
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I think it is weird, too and think it will probably blow over if I don’t cut it off. Try a Pickering Mango, it is a dwarf you can grow in a pot and bears fruit after a couple of years.
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When I get around to growing one, it will likely be what is given to me by those who start the seedlings. I do not know what they are. Why does ‘Pickering’ sound familiar? Is it a variety that I would have seen in the supermarket?
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I have never seen one in the supermarket. It is well known for good fruit among Mango people.
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Oh, of course. I am getting mango and papaya confused again. ‘Pickering’ sounds familiar because it is cultivar that is popular in Los Angeles. Mangoes are commonly grown from seed (I believe), but ‘Pickering’ is popular with those who purchase known cultivars from nurseries. It stays fluffy and low enough for an atrium of an apartment building. When I get around to trying papaya, it will be any random seedling I can find. I work with people who grow them from seed taken from fruit purchased in the market. I doubt it will survive for long in the garden anyway.
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It is interesting to see both your papaya tree and mango flowers. 😃 Pretty butterfly too.
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Sometimes the pawpaw trees grow several side branches after you chop it. I used to live in Mauritius as a child, there is nothing quite as sweet as a ripe pawpaw picked when the sun has warmed it.
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I am chopping soon! Yes, I have been enjoying the fruit. Have you heard of the native American fruit tree called Paw Paw?
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Your bazillionth experiment is successful. Hurrah for that. Indeed its good to realise improvisation is the mother of invention.
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So far…
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