Tropical Depression Four formed over Cuba this week, my phone tells me it is 365 miles away. I could feel the wind and caught the scent of the ocean in the air first thing this morning. The storm is headed for the West coast of Florida, so here on the East coast we should get ‘some rain’. It is already pouring down and the weather guessers are madly issuing proclamations. A social media search for the Weather Channel host is usually the best indicator of where the storm will hit. The Jim Cantore effect. I haven’t seen him yet.
I think a dragonfruit formed in my garden this week. This is much more exciting than a tropical storm. For more SOS garden tours, follow this link to Jim’s blog.
The dragonfruit bud. These are a night blooming cactus native to Central America. They are also called Pitaya. This one has been sort of languishing in the garden for several years. Last year I had one flower and no fruit. This year, three flowers and perhaps one fruit!

The flower. These last for one night and must be viewed early in the morning.

The (fingers crossed) fruit. The others turned completely yellow or brown.

One that didn’t make it.

More local avocados:

I’m still enjoying zinnias daily. This red one is a favorite.

Happy Saturday gardening to all!

It is raining off and on here as well…I’m happy that is all we will be receiving. Actually we need the rain but I like it in small amounts at a time. 😊 Hope you get the dragonfruit you are wishing for.
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We have had a few good downpours. No dragonfruit!
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Fingers crossed for the Dragon Fruit.
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thank you
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The Dragon Fruit looks interesting. Are they sweet? The zinnia is a really bright color, mine are more pastel. I hope the storm is not too bad for anyone. I’m still working on cleaning up. We’ve been in the high 90s, so I’m not working too hard.
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I hope to taste one. These are supposed to taste like lemon sorbet. I think the closest comparison is kiwi fruit. The rain bands arrived a little while ago, the storm moved west.
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You were fortunate to have these bloom. I used to have a couple of these plants and actually just kept a small potted one. I saw some neighbors getting fruits and they have some sort of trellis in which they climb and grow upright. I’m missing a bloom so
I can finally put it on my blog.
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yes, it takes years to get a flower.
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Someone else also posted pictures of pitaya flowers. Mine are still just barely rooted cuttings. It is not so warm here.
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Flowering for only one night puts a lot of pressure on the night pollinators, no wonder it takes a while to get a fruit.
There was a heavy summer storm here this week, we were on the edge and I had a nice drop of rain for my garden, but others had flooding in shops etc.
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After they flowered someone told me you are supposed to stir them?! for pollination. A nice drop of rain is a good thing, the big storm is missing us so far.
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Fingers-crossed for your dragonfruit development! Obviously we can’t grow them here, so I used to have to go to a special grocery store to buy them for my son (who was obsessed with them for a couple of years). That zinnia is a superb red, definitely worth favourite status 🙂
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Thanks. A specialty produce item for sure. I have difficulty selecting them.
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How exciting! Hope you get a fruit Amelia!
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Me, too!
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