My garden tour this morning revealed some progress in the fruit area and a few late season flowers. It has been a dry and sunny week that left me puzzling over how much to water the mangoes. If they are watered too much it affects the quality of the fruit and vice versa. A dilemma that rain solves. They have shed a few fruits, but this is normal. I went from about 50 fruit down to possibly 20, which is okay. It is a bit difficult to deal with 50!
Glenn Mango coming along. These flowered magnificently and then powdery mildew set in causing much of the fruit to drop. I expect to eat these in about a month, they flowered at the end of January.
Finally! A good crop of Rangpur limes coming along. These won’t be edible until December.
New to the garden – Australian Finger Limes. These won’t be ready for years! I need to read up on these to determine what to do with them. They look a bit like jalapenos when ripe and are relatively rare. The foliage is much smaller than conventional limes.
A surprise Snapdragon in my pot of basil. I did not have any snaps this year, so this is a reseed from last year. I love garden surprises like this.
The Lotusleaf Begonia (B. nelumbifolia) is flowering luxuriantly, despite getting very little water. These form large tubers and I suppose that is what sustains them.
The annual sighting of a Ruddy Daggerwing butterfly. These host on Strangler Figs, I have a huge tree beside my house and it seems odd I only see one every year.
That’s all from South Florida. I will be contemplating butterfly and mango dilemmas later. Until then, follow this link to Jim’s blog for Saturday morning garden tours around the world.
The Shrub Queen 
If you had 50 mangoes, you could send half to me and I would eat them all! Such interesting fruits you are growing! I have never seen a butterfly like the one you have pictured – very nice!
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Now I know what to do with the overstocks! The butterfly is relatively rare.
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How wonderful to grow mango!!
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I loved each photo. I enjoy surprise plants, also.
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Thanks, Flower
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Ah, those mangoes! I hope you show us one cut open when they are ripe. Love it whens a snap manages to seed or make a comback.
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I will, the Thai dessert mangoes are interesting cut. Snaps always surprise me.
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Your fruit is coming along nicely. I love surprise plants. I had some this year, but I think it is because I forgot I planted the seeds.
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Thanks. The thing that always gets me is if I had tried to grow a snapdragon from seed it probably wouldn’t work, but there it is.
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I knew where lime caviar came from, thanks to Ilena and I’m happy that you were able to swap with her, thanks to me…. I grow some here of a yellow-skinned variety. Ilena’s is dark-skinned. Not very demanding and easy. Well drained soil rather acidic, and regularly watered, with npk 6-4-10 fertilizer or equivalent. Don’t hesitate to prune the tips from time to time and it will quickly flower, even in small size . I had 20-30 lemons last summer and another 5 at the moment which will be ready in a few months
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Thank you, Fred. I am surprised at how prolific the lime is for you. I can’t wait to try it.
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What a pretty butterfly and thanks for all the fruit updates. Exciting times!
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Yes, I hope the lizards don’t eat everything.
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So many fun things coming up in your garden – hope the finger limes work out.
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So do I..are they common in NZ?
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No – you can get them I think in specialist stores but I don’t remember ever seeing any for sale.
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Same here. Thanks.
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I’m envious of the fruit you grow, fresh mangoes and limes straight from the garden, yum!
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I am waiting with baited breath.
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I really want to grow ‘Rangpur’ lime again, but lack a source of scions, and can not think of a good excuse to get any. I got cuttings of the ‘Seville’ sour orange before I considered justification for such an odd fruit that I have no use for, and ‘Rangpur’ lime is prettier and more easily justified, . . . right?
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Well, Rangpur limes make a great pie and my neighbor makes rum cocktails with them. Two good reasons.
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Well, I do not drink rum, but I do like lemon meringue pies made with other odd citrus, such as ‘Seville’ orange.
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I feel the same about rum, though I make rum cake! the pies are delicious.
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It’s always a treat to see what grows in your garden Amelia! I suspect mildew is often a problem in your climate. Hope the mangoes ripen nicely for you. I watch a youtube channel from Australia and often think their climate is similar to yours… https://youtu.be/wkSbZJ_S8bE?si=2UyA1WynDpJkwI9K
He grows an amazing assortment of veg and fruit in raised beds.
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Thanks for the video. I think there are parts of Australia similar to here. I grow conventional veg in the winter, the tropical vegetables grown in summer I think you have to grow up eating! Like rhubarb. Although I slow down considerably in summer. Oddly, not much mildew here. I had the first fungus ever this winter. It is fairly windy here and I think that keeps the fungus down.
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