Category Archives: Mangoes

Six on Saturday – Fun Things

The weekly garden tour commences now. So many tropicals coming to life with the onset of the rainy season in South Florida. It has been stormy all week and the first named tropical storm of the year appeared in The Gulf of Mexico this week – Arlene. The storm is a long way from here and set to wind down into a tropical depression before making landfall in Cuba with a lot of rain. The first thing I spied when powering up the computer this morning was a Coastal Flood Watch; rainy season is definitely here.

To see more SOS garden tours, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

The Frangipani hedges are flowering. This is Bridal Bouquet Plumeria (Plumeria pudica). I have these in front of wood fences that aren’t so pretty. They are columnar plants about 8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. These are unusual as they are semi evergreen.

The Frangipani hedge with a Java White Copperleaf shrub accent.

A psychedelic Aucuba? No, this is a Pie Crust Croton. Named as the edges of the leaves are crimped like – pie crust. New growth is yellow and will mature into a mostly red and black shrub later in the season.

In the above image you can see a bit of an orange flowering shrub – this is a Dwarf Red Ixora, a butterfly nectar source. I let the larval host plant, Corkystem Passionflower, a vine, ramble through the shrubs for the Zebra Longwing butterflies to lay eggs on. This is the first caterpillar I have spotted this season, though the butterflies have been out in force.

I am finally picking a few mangoes. They are delicious. The lower mango is a condo mango, Pickering. The others, Glenn Mango, a big tree. Condo mangoes are usually less than 6 feet tall.

And just for fun, a gift from my friend Lu. Gardening socks!

That is all from the moist South Florida. Thanks to Jim for hosting and…

Happy Gardening!!

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Six on Saturday – Early Summer

Memorial Day usually kicks off the summer season in the US. Memorial Day is next Monday, as usual Florida starts summer early. It has been pleasant here, mid 80s (F) daytime highs and thunderstorms breaking up our usual dry May weather and giving the garden a few good soakings.

For a global view of gardens in early summer, late spring everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere, follow the link and see more SOS posts. http://gardenruminations.co.uk

The mangoes continue to mock me, almost ripe. We have eaten one. I shared a bowl of mango salsa with my husband, served as a side dish with roasted steelhead trout. It was delicious. These will be picked when the blush is covering most of the fruit. Several friends have advised they pick them when the squirrels start eating them.

Another out of season bromeliad. This one, Quesnelia testudo, usually (and did) bloom in February. Last week the September broms were flowering. I don’t know what to think about this.

Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers have given me a lot of flowers this year. They seem to be gearing up for summer with another flush.

Another sure sign of summer. The Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) is on the move and flowering. This is a low native groundcover pushed as a lawn alternative. Unfortunately it is not evergreen and looks dreadful for several months, now it looks great and is running amok in the garden.

With the rain this week the Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) has burst into flower. I have two varieties, this is the old fashioned pale blue.

This is a newer variety of Plumbago. I am not sure of its name, or if it has one. This one is more reminiscent of hydrangeas to me. I am too far south to have much success with hydrangeas, so this is a good alternative.

That is all from the heat zone this Saturday.

HAPPY GARDENING!!

Six on Saturday – Green

I am joining the SOS crowd this Saturday, watching for any signs of ripening fruit and not finding any. It is all green. The tomatoes are especially frustrating- green for weeks, and it hasn’t been cold. Temperatures were in the high 80’s (31 C) yesterday, so maybe the intermittent heat is slowing them down?

All tomatoes I have planted are red, yellow or purple when ripe. Yet they all look like this now and there are a lot of them. Grrr.

Red Bell Peppers, resolutely green. I have high hopes for these, when they turn red.

Craspedia or Woolyheads. This should be yellow flowers, yet they are slammed shut.

Tiny miniature pineapples. Too cute to be mad at.

Glenn Mangoes, fruit set and growing.

Thai Dessert Mangoes, Nam Doc Mai, setting fruit.

Well, sooner or later I will be eating Mango Salsa!

That is it from South Florida. To see more SOS posts, visit Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Food Dreaming

It is another windy, overcast day in South Florida. We seem to be attracting cold fronts every Friday night, they pass through with rain or not, then leave clouds and wind in their wake. The fruits and vegetables in the garden are ambling along towards creating edibles, just not quite fast enough for me.

Mexican Papayas grown from seed harvested from fruit I bought. These are almost big enough to transplant into the garden. I have three because Papayas can be male, female or hermaphrodite. Obviously, you hope for hermaphrodite. I have no idea what variety the fruit was, and I don’t think Papayas are true to seed. We shall soon see. Papayas don’t live long and are considered herbs rather than trees. They are known to produce fruit within 9 months of planting. I think the last one I had produced fruit for 2 or 3 years.

Cherry tomatoes taunting me. I think these are the Lost Marbles variety as they look pretty stripey. I never label vegetables as the labels tend to fail and I only grow cherry tomatoes.

Red Bell Peppers just setting fruit. These are the classic thick walled Bell Peppers. I had thin walled heirloom peppers last year, good but weird. I am looking forward to these.

Tiny mangoes have formed on the Glenn and Nam Doc Mai Mango trees. Supposedly it takes 100 days from formation to harvest. I hope these make it. I have been cutting powdery mildew infested flowers off the Glenn and that will ruin the flowers and fruit.

My favorite, Genovese Basil, grown from seed. I am trying not to eat too much of this.

Another herb I love, Giant of Italy Parsley. It has an intense parsley flavor and lasts for two years here. I grow it from seed every two years or when necessary, sometimes the Swallowtail butterflies eat it. My favorite use of this is a Marcella Hazan inspired celery salad with fresh celery, Parmesan strips, olive oil and pepper. Mmmm.

Thanks to Jim at gardenruminations.uk.co for hosting SOS. Follow the link to see what is going on in gardens from the world over.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Future Fruits & Feathered Friends

It is an overcast, cool and breezy Saturday in South Florida. The raptors (Hawks, Eagles or Turkey Vultures) are flying lazy circles over my garden. I can’t tell which one unless they slow down. The Eagles are usually solitary, but the Vultures and Hawks will fly with friends. There were two overhead this morning. They are difficult to catch with the camera and the quality of the image reflects that, but it also captures the mood of the day here.

I am finally seeing some flower action in the garden. My first Zinnia bloomed this week. Surprisingly pink. Cactus Zinnias are my favorite.

Cherry tomatoes started flowering this week. I think this must be the Lost Marbles variety, which is new to me and seems to be the first to flower in both groups of tomatoes. I am a lazy labeler, waiting for the fruits to tell what kind of tomato they are. Hopefully it will set fruit. It has been cool enough for tomatoes not to set fruit this week.

Two out of three of the Mango trees sent up buds this week. They look promising, although I have found with these trees looks can be deceiving. Last year, a bit earlier, the trees started to flower and as soon the flowers were open it became very windy and only one fruit was produced from all those flowers. Mangoes are wind pollinated and if it is too windy all the pollen gets blown away and there is little fruit. God is in the details, as always. Below is a Condo Mango “Pickering”. This is a type of Mango selected to be grown on the porch of a Condo and kept under six feet tall in a container. The fruit is yummy, I am hoping for a good harvest this year.

This is a Glenn Mango, a bigger tree topping out at 30 feet. Another tasty one. And I have had two whole fruits! We bought this in honor of my late Father in Law, Glenn, who would have loved the fruit. The flowers do look very different. My third Mango tree is a Nam Doc Mai, a Thai variety known for flowering up to four times a year. This one is not flowering at all!

Another far away bird picture, but typical of my garden. I looked out the window and thought “who put a white pillowcase in the front yard?” Then realized it was a White Heron. These are spectacular birds, about four feet tall, they pass through fairly regularly eating insects and grubs. Fiona the greyhound does not know what to think of them as they are taller than she is.

That completes my Six from South Florida this Saturday. To visit more gardens via SOS follow the link http://gardenruminations.uk.com and say hello to our host, Jim.

Happy Gardening!!!

Six on Saturday – The Pits

This Saturday we are in the midst of the peak of hurricane season in South Florida. The cicadas are singing, the temperature and humidity are soaring, the plants are wilting and so am I. Oddly, the hurricanes are in New England and Mexico. Last weekend, Tropical Storm Fred dropped eight inches of rain at my house. The garden was happy for a while, but is thirsty once again. We are definitely in the pits.

The pit above is much more interesting and from the garden. I finally got one Nam Doc Mai mango from my tree. This is a Thai mango bred to eat for dessert, featuring a small pit, fiberless flesh and a coconut mango flavor. The pit is nearly as long as the mango (6 inches) and about 1/4 inch thick. Here is the mango with a cherry tomato. My husband and I ate most of it for dessert last night. Yummy.

Another interesting observation in my steamy jungle this week – the formation of new shoots on the Hard Cane Orchid I installed in my Gumbo Limbo tree this winter.

Another view:

The Orchid is putting out roots and hopefully will grow into the tree trunk and flower this winter. The sprays of flowers are supposed to be five feet long. Hopefully. I mounted the Orchid by tying it onto the tree with old pantyhose. There is a bit of Orchid soil mix in the hose that has supported the plant while it grows in. I was about to remove it when a swarm of large ants came bursting out..the hose are still in the tree, ants and all.

Another new shoot.

A new butterfly in my garden this week. This is a Mallow Scrub Hairstreak on a Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) flower. A tiny butterfly, maybe an inch wingspan. Picture taken while crossing my fingers. The Sweet Almond is very popular with bees and butterflies.

That is it from the pits. To see more SOS posts follow the link and visit Jon, http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening..

Six on Saturday – Good, Bad and Ugly

There is more good in the garden than bad or ugly. But there is always some bitter with the sweet, it seems. I will start with the good. With at least 20 inches of rain in June – and more on the way, I am seeing a lot of new growth and weeds! Here is the new growth on my husband’s Glenn Mango. Planted last year in honor of his father, Glenn. New growth on Mangoes is usually bronze, this is different and a pretty red.

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More new growth and a summer favorite, this is the bud of a Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata).

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A freshly picked Pickering Mango.

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Passionfruit ripening on the vine. This plant was misidentified when I bought it..should be an interesting taste test when ripe.

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Now, the bad. Papayas dropping off the tree due to Papaya Fruitflies, sometimes called Papaya Wasps as they are as big as wasps – they lay their eggs inside the fruit and the larvae hatch inside and eat the Papaya. It is important to get rid of these when they fall as the larvae mature in the ground and eat more Papayas. I seem to get one round of these in the summer. I think the lizard knows what is in there.

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The ugly, Papaya Fruitfly larvae escaping, I got this one just in time. Yuck.

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Happy Gardening, to see more Six on Saturday posts visit The Propagator at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Six on Saturday – Fruit Harvest

We enjoyed out first Mangoes this week. We had one Pickering and one Nam Doc Mai Mango. Both were divine and worth the wait. The Pickering had a coconut taste and the Nam Doc Mai was sweet as well, without the piney taste I sometimes associate with Mangoes. This is the flower of the Nam Doc Mai.00100lrportrait_00100_burst20200509094313878_cover

Here is the fruit ripening.

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Finally, I had to pick one because the fruit was starting to split from the 20 inch rain deluge. Here it is ripe on the counter.

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There are still a few Pickering Mangoes ripening on the tree. I picked one and it shriveled a bit on the counter but was still very tasty.

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Also waiting on my first pineapple.

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Here is where the Nam Doc Mai ended up. As a side of Mango Salsa with Parmesan Crusted Salmon and Green Bean Salad. The Pickering Mango met a similar fate. I admit to having a considerable sampling of the two Mangoes while my husband wasn’t looking.

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Happy Saturday and Happy Gardening. To see more Six on Saturday posts, go and visit The Propagator http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Six on Saturday – May Happenings

The month of May is coming in like a lion here. Stormy weather and cool temperatures are across the US. In Florida, it is a refreshing 70 degrees but the wind kicks up and it a bit too windy to sit outside. Some of the warm season shrubs are starting to flower.

Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) can flower anytime, but is more prolific in the summer.

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Firebush (Hamelia patens) and one of my favorites flower more during the warmer months.

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The Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini) is flowering. I don’t get any dates, though these will bear fruit if you have a male and female palm.

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The Papaya has produced its second crop this year. This one fell off the tree – there is a moth that lays eggs in the fruit and causes it to drop off. You can tell by the sap oozing out that the moth has been there. If I had cut the fruit open it would be full of worms eating the flesh of the Papaya (I didn’t). The fruit that falls has to be picked up quickly to halt another generation of moths.

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The Thai Dessert Mango is tantalizing me. This is a Nam Doc Mai.

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The Nam Doc Mai is also flowering again, so I should get a few more Mangoes this summer. These can flower year round, though mine usually don’t.

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There, six things happening in my garden in May. For other Six on Saturday posts, go to  http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy gardening.