June has actually been very pleasant, all things considered. I am suspicious July will not be, the wet blanket of sweaty humidity has arrived and the second tropical storm of the season is predicted to form next week. High Summer in South Florida has arrived. The good news, we get great tropical fruit and flowers. The bad news, we have to leave the air conditioning to see them. For a grand summer (or in some cases winter) garden tour follow this link GardenRuminations to Jim’s blog and visit the comments.
I am picking mangoes every morning. So many that I have started freezing them and giving them away. I’m currently waiting for a ripe one to make mango blackberry pie. There are 3 different types of mango here – Nam Doc Mai, Thai dessert mangoes, long and green; Pickering mangoes are peach colored; one Glenn mango in the top middle. Mangoes should be picked as they start to change color and easily come off the tree and then ripened on the counter.
Tropical or Florida Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata) are loving the summer heat and rain.
Turkey Tangle Frog Fruit (Phyla nodiflora) “lawn” is flourishing and flowering.
Sea Grapes (Coccoloba uvifera), a native tree that seemingly will grow anywhere is making tons of fruit and dropping it everywhere. I like the tree, but wish someone would come up with a fruitless one. This is food for wildlife, the fruit is edible and I am told it tastes like figs – but, it is mostly seed. One of my numerous greyhounds was the only household member to enjoy it.
Silver Urn Bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata) is almost in full bloom.
That is all from South Florida this Saturday. I went out and looked at the weeds, plucked a few, and came back inside.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Who knew there were so many varieties of mango? I Iove them, how wonderul to have so many fresh from the tree. Always interesting to see your exotic plants.
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I would guess 50 varieties of mango are grown here – you should see how many are available in Thailand, it is spectacular. I think a lot of them are very perishable and don’t make it to the grocery store. I rarely buy one.
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Yes, it is that time of the year when we have to leave the air conditioning to quickly get from point A to point B many times dodging the rain. 😊 I do have to say that it has to be worth it for those tasty mangoes. Mango ice cream would cool you down.
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Yes, I go look at the weeds and pick a few mangoes, the weeds are still there. I have enough fruit for mango sorbet…
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The Bromeliad is glorious! And of course all I can think about now is your pooch’s poop after eating sea grapes 🙂
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Thanks, LOL, a true dog person – it is much worse when they eat Cabbage Palm berries. You have to wonder why?
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LOLOL!
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Can you walk on the Turkey Tangle?
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Yes, mostly the dog walks on it, but I do as well. It is not really a high traffic area and there are some step stones around.
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MMMmmmm, jealous of all those mangoes! Which one is your favorite? The bromeliad bloom is gorgeous.
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The Glenn, I think I have not eaten any of the Thai dessert yet. Thank you.
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I love this post! I remember seeing Turkey Tangle from when I lived in Miami. I also like the picture of the Silver Urn Bromeliad. From what I remember, the Gardenia is in the coffee family Rubiaceae, whereas the Tabernaemontana divaricata (this cultivar called ‘Flore Pleno’) is from the Apocynaceae family (the milkweed family). It also goes by the name of “crape jasmine” but is not a true jasmine either. It is much more fragrant than the regular, non-double petal types (or the pinwheel shaped types) of flowers. We have lots of them here. The “pinwheels” are very popular here, but the ‘Flore Pleno’ is harder to find. What memories this post has brought me.
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Thank you, Maria. i was not familiar with the Gardenia until I moved to Florida, it was a big surprise.
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We have them here but they do not like San Juan as it’s too hot, they like the cooler temperatures of the mountain.
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That Silver Urn Bromeliad is gorgeous, and I don’t usually go for bromeliads! 🙂
Mangoes look totally yummy!
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I like the Silver Urn foliage and flower. I think they bloom every other year. I’m currently considering Mango sorbet?
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Yum! Nice and cool on a hot day.
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I love the name, ‘Turkey Tangle Frog Fruit’ there’s a tongue twister in there somewhere” And the sea grapes made me think of Brussels Sprouts!
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It is hard to say that fast. They do look like Brussel sprouts.
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I quickly scrolled through your post first to see the photos and I thought the Sea Grapes were Brussels! 😂
Yummy mangoes… ! I already ate one of the Thai and the Glenn varieties.
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Too late for Brussels here. Where do the mangoes come from that you buy?
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Brought back from vacation by my sister. Here the ones we buy come from Senegal or Ivory Coast.
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tee hee . . . the “lawn”. Anyway, seagrape interests me also, although not as much as the mangoes. I believe that I saw it growing in Campbell, but did not confirm its identity. It supposedly ‘can’ grow here. I suspect that it is unpopular only because there are better species to grow here. I will not know until I try. I do not care if the fruit is unimpressive.
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Give it a try. They bloom at the end of January here.
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I probably will, but in the future. The garden that I want to grow it in is not yet developed. Of course, if I ever happen to find it in Southern California, I will bring it back anyway, even if I must plant it at work first, and grow more later.
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Mango and blackberry sounds a strange combination! Do blackberries grow in Florida too? We have brambles all around our fences. Your Bromeliad flower is gorgeous. Do you get a few bearable days in between, or is summer reliably hot and humid? Thank goodness for air conditioning!
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