South Florida gardens provide some interesting treats from trees. I was looking up during my garden tour this morning and took note of the flowers and fruits on the trees. Some are treats for me, others for birds and bees. To see more SOS garden treats visit Jim’s blog, Garden Ruminations.
The Thai dessert mangoes are tantalizing to me. Every morning I walk out to see if they are changing color yet. This morning I noted a slight peach haze on the one on the far right. I’m waiting with baited breath.
I like palm flowers. Talk about different. These are Dwarf Pygmy Date Palms (Phoenix roebellini) flowers. They need a male and female tree to produce dates and I have one, so no go on dates in the garden.
Another palm flower. The Christmas Palm or Adonidia merrillii. Most people cut these off so they don’t have to deal with the fruit. I use them in flower arrangements and enjoy the fruit. It looks like Christmas ornaments.
Flowers on the White Geiger tree (Cordia boissieri). I enjoy this little tree, though it is a puzzle to prune.
Fruit on the White Geiger tree. These eventually turn into good sized white berries and the varmints eat them all. I am told they are edible but not tasty.
The Gumbo Limbo (Bursea simarouba) is currently the bee magnet in the front garden. The entire tree is buzzing with bees pollinating the flowers.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
THE MANGOES! You are so lucky. We are just too cold here in the winter, sadly. *I’ve tried, lol.
I like how crinkly the White Geiger flowers are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you tried the Condo mangoes you can grow in a pot? I have a Pickering – it is really cute and you get about 6 mangoes a year. The Geiger tree was completely new to me, I like the flowers too.
LikeLike
Let’s hope no critter goes after your ripening mangoes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed, I saw the Rainbow Agama eyeing the fruit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lots of exotics for Florida. I hope your mangoes make it.
LikeLike
Those mangoes are looking fine! We’re coming to the end of the season where they are available here in stores. Velvety and delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fingers crossed for mangoes and room in the freezer. Do you only get honey mangoes there – the season goes til September here and is just getting started with other varieties. I think the only ones that ship well other than honey are tommy atkins and not worth eating (mango snob here)
LikeLike
The ones we get are generally from Mexico, so that would explain the earlier March-early June sales here. We get the green/rosy ones, too, but I’m not a big fan. They’ll do in a pinch, but I prefer the honey, naturally!
LikeLike
Yes those Tommy mangos are not good.. frozen is better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow for those mangoes … 😋
Thanks for the palm tree photos. Are the fruits of the Christmas palm red when ripe? I just sowed my last seeds last weekend…🤞 they germinate …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the Christmas Palms seeds are red when ripe and very easy to grow. I have a couple in the garden grown from seed by friends, one is probably 15 years old and 15 feet tall. I hope I get to the mangoes before the animals do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fascinating trees and fruits. 😃 I saw a whole page of mango recipes the other day… here is a link in case you have a bumper crop! https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/mango_dessert_recipes
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ohh, thank you, Cathy. I think there are about 20 mangoes right now. I usually freeze bags of them and make weird desserts and mango salsa. The recipes look delicious, I want to try the sorbet. I have to figure out the American version of the ingredients!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am determined to grow a mango of some sort! I see them performing (relatively) well in Los Angeles. They grow in areas near Los Angeles that get some degree of frost. I am not totally convinced that they can not grow here. Cherimoya is rare here because we are all so convinced that they succumb to frost. However, I know that they can grow here, and even closer to Sacramento.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are condo mangoes that grow as far north as Orlando. I have one, a Pickering that makes excellent fruit, it can be grown in a pot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘North’ is relative. Although Orlando is North of there, it is south of the southern extremity of California. Nonetheless, I know that some of the mangoes that survive in Los Angeles ‘might’ survive here also, even if they need a bit of shelter. Of course, confining one to a pot facilitates sheltering portable trees for winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes but you get mangos..many mangoes in the Tampa area were killed by cold last year.
LikeLiked by 1 person