My garden walk-around this morning produced photos of a few garden delights that followed me to the kitchen. I picked the last of the Thai dessert mangoes and am down to eight ripening on the counter. I have also been making desserts, plotting desserts, making salsa and chopping and freezing bags of fruit. The Zin Master Zinnias have been beautiful producing flowers and really attractive plants. I have had a vase of these by the kitchen sink for a couple of weeks. For an international garden walk-around experience visit Jim’s blog, Garden Ruminations and follow the links in the comments section.
This weeks mango dessert. Mango-Blackberry Coffeecake. Nice and not too sweet.
The bitter end of the mango harvest. These are all Thai dessert mangoes, Nam Doc Mai. I think the reason these are not found in grocery stores very often is they go from not ripe to emergency chop and freeze in a matter of hours. The one on top is hitting the emergency point.
We are still in the kitchen. Admiring the Zin Master Zinnias. Thanks to SOS, I now know how long it takes from seed to flower. About two months.
Foliage on Zin Master Zinnias. I have cut all the flowers!
Back to the Bromeliad garden for some July fireworks. These are very reliable July bloomers. Aechmea miniata Bromeliads.
Another hot summer flower, Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) I have grown to love orange in the garden since moving to Florida.
More fruit, Rangpur limes coming along. These are orange when ripe and the juiciest limes I have ever encountered. There are at least 50 on the tree and these are very perishable, so I could be having another freezer festival late this year.
Happy Summer Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Lovely six. I had to laugh at your comment about the mangoes and the emergency chop and freeze. Seems my bananas do the same especially in summer. Zinnias are my some of my favorites but I don’t always remember to seed them. I just sprinkled some about a week ago so I’m glad to know to expect blooms in about 5 weeks. Nice to meet you though your post!
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Thank you, I love your dog paintings! I just looked.
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Thank you so much! I appreciate that 🙂
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Tropical delights! Your dessert looks so yummy.
I have found that if I leave my mangoes on the counter until they just begin to soften, I can transfer them to the fridge where they will last for a couple weeks. I lost a few until I figured that out. (Same with avocados).
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I just saw that July 22 is National Mango Day. Celebrate it! 🥭
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I am waiting for the late season Keitts now.
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Yes, I do the same thing. People who grow avocados here and have an abundance freeze them in scoops. I have not tried this.
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Do you have an extra freezer for all this harvest? The coffee cake looks delicious, as do the mangoes. The zinnia foliage is beautiful and so green. Have a great weekend 🙂
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I have an extra freezer. I tend to cook in batches and freeze a lot of everything. I will have mangoes for a while. Thank you.
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You are endlessly inventive with your mango ideas. Perhaps you should just take all your over ripe Nam Doc Mai ones and eat them in the bath. But I expect you have already moved on to 101 ways to eat limes. I have limes on my little tree! But only 3.
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I like to savor the mangoes over the summer. I think I will have to freeze lime juice or maybe that would be better for a bath!?
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The photo of these Rangpur limes is truly magnificent! They make you want to smell and touch them…
Another envy… your blackberry-mango cake!….🤤
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Thanks, Fred. It surprises me how long it takes the fruit to mature.
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Lovely to see the Rangpur limes – I bought some recently and they are really good.
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That is interesting, some much more juice than Persian limes. I have never seen any here for sale. They are good and I love a sour orange pie.
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They were in a specialist shop so not sure how common they are here.
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I just got some Australian finger LImes. I think the Rangpurs are really perishable is why they are rare. Or people like green limes.
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An especially happy collection. Your mango repertoire is admirable. I baked a cherry cobbler this morning. Husband and a couple who visited gave it thumbs up. And now I know my zinnias that I planted Wednesday will not flower for two months. They are already up.
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Thanks, Susie. Cherry Cobbler sounds great! I am still wondering about planting zinnias in July.
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Wondering should I plant them in July or should you? Mine are up after just 3-4 days. Heat!
And good news, we got rain!
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Both! Yay rain! It just dried up here and windy..fried zinnias, not sure seedlings would make it. Glad you got some. Zinnias in September for you works. Hope for precipitation tomorrow.
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Lovely limes! And I love the firebush too. Of course zinnias are a great favourite, although mine are absolutely rubbish this year.
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Thanks, I am growing weird limes now. I have some Australian finger LImes that are red and look like jalapenos.
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Love those zinnias. You could make lots of margaritas with the limes.
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LOL..I could have a margarita bash. Are you battened down for Beryl?
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Ready and waiting.
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UGH!
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Mangoes are still elusive. I am rather bummed that I did not get any this year, after being bummed that I did not get any last year. The garden that they will inhabit is still not being developed. Interestingly though, during this delay, I have found that there are more ‘marginal’ cultivars to choose from than I was aware of. I will likely try more than one, and see which performs best.
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It takes several years for the trees to produce. My trees are between 5 and 8 years in the ground. I think it took at least 3 years to get a couple of fruit and it varys with how windy it is here when the flowers are blooming.
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That concerns me, because, if they are productive, by the time they are productive, I will be elderly, and not wanting to go out to collect the fruit. Date palms take even longer, but I will grow them anyway.
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You are not that old!
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I will be by then.
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Your mangoes ripening so quickly makes me think of avocadoes here! LOL! The limes can be frozen too? Your dessert looks and sounds delicious. We have gooseberries ripe enough to pick and freeze now for jam making in winter. Love your zinnias!
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Well, I have had mangoes for a month.. that is the end of them. I freeze the lime juice in pie sized quantities. Gooseberry jam sounds great 👍
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