Tag Archives: rangpur limes

Six on Saturday – Lime in the Coconut

I’m joining the SOSers again this Saturday sharing six items of interest from my garden. Winter brings tropical fruit and flowers to the garden in South Florida. I have been enjoying Rangpur limes for the past couple of weeks. I just noted my new Finger Limes are flowering and bearing fruit! The bees have been busy and the first mango of the year has set fruit. Exciting times.

To see other SOS garden posts, visit Jim at GardenRuminations.

The Australian Finger Lime, also called Caviar Limes, looks like caviar when squeezed out of the rind. These are native to low lying areas in Australia. I am looking forward to trying this. Once again facing the “when is it ripe?” dilemma.

Fruit setting on the Australian Finger Lime.

The weather this week was cool. A good time to do battle with oddly growing tropical fruit trees. I donned my leather gloves and arm covers and pruned the Rangpur limes. See why above. The branches that bear fruit have some serious thorns.

The trunks of the Rangpur lime are smooth and the fragrance is wonderful when pruning. It is a pleasant experience if the thorns on the branches can be avoided. This lime tree has taken a strange shape. I hope I have cleaned it up and made the fruit easier to pick next year.

The first tiny Nam Doc Mai mangoes of the year. I was happy to see the bees at work on the flowers this week. Sometimes it is too windy for the flowers to bee pollinated and you get no mangoes. Interestingly, I have flowers on the opposite side of the tree this year. Last year all the fruit was on one side. 100 days from flower to fruit on mangoes is the mantra. I am not so sure about that!

As the song goes “Put the Lime in the Coconut” here’s the coconut. These are baby coconuts on a tree in my neighbor’s yard.

That’s all from South Florida this Saturday. Happy Garden Dreaming..

Six on Saturday – Winter Gardening Adventures in South Florida

I have recovered from my SOS slump and got it together to take some photos of South Florida winter gardening fun. To see more potential examples of winter gardening fun, visit Jim at GardenRuminations.

I had a little surprise encounter while picking Rangpur limes. This is a corn snake, non venomous and a good snake to have in the garden. They eat rats and other things you don’t want around. Unfortunately, this one is a very similar color to the fruit. They usually don’t bite, unless, say you try to pick them. Fortunately, I realized what it was before I tried to pick it!

The Rangpur limes are having a good year. We have had Rangpur pie, chicken marinated with garlic, black pepper and fresh oregano and limeade. I am going to channel my Southern old lady and make some Lime Sour bar cookies (I had to find the biscuit pan first). I have frozen juice and zest for pies, given limes to friends and neighbors and still have a few left on the tree. I stopped picking them before I almost picked the corn snake.

More of the weird and wonderful in my garden. This is a Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea) seedling seeking ground from the top of a Sabal Palm. The fruit from the Strangler Fig is left by wild life in the crown of the palm. It sprouts and eventually sends a tree back down to the ground. The tree roots and grows up around the palm and “strangles” it. Very Harry Potter.

Flowers of the China Hat (Holmskioldia sanguinea) sometimes called Chinaman’s Hat. These are native to the Himalayas, seems strange to me they grow here.

This is a Mona Lavendar Plectranthus. These are fairly common around here, generally used as annuals. I use them in containers. They last a year or two and are very hardy. This container has Licorice plant (Helichhrysum petiolare), a charteuse coleus, and Starry Night Petunias.

The container next to the Mona Lavendar is planted with Wishbone flowers (Torenia fournieri). I am not sure which named variety this is – it is my first time trying these. So far, so good. I am enjoying the color.

There, slacking off did not happen this week. I am wishing everyone good gardening surprises. No snakes in the lime tree.

Six on Saturday – Summer Delights

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!!

Six on Saturday – The Year of the Dragon

Welcome to The Year of the Dragon. Chinese New Year is today and what will the Dragon bring to my garden? Above, in celebration of this event I have shared a piece of art created by two local ladies who are responsible for the creation of https://www.facebook.com/tctrashart, A Facebook page dedicated to raising awareness and getting rid of garbage on the beach by creating and sharing art they make from their finds.

I went looking in my garden this morning to find six new possibilities for the Dragon. Fruits and flowers are budding and sprouting, it’s looking promising for the New Year! To tour other garden possibilities, visit the host of this weekly meme, Jim, at his blog.

The Rangpur lime is flowering and has set fruit for next winter. I managed to collect enough fruit and made a pie with the juice and zest this week. We ate it!

Rangpur limes are considered sour oranges as it is a mandarin/lemon cross. So – in Old Florida this would be considered a sour orange pie.

The Mexican papayas I planted from seed last year are now five feet tall and setting buds. Upper right side of photo. Papayas are not true to seed and are either male, female or hermaphrodite. I planted two trees, the other one is looking male, so I hope this one will be female or hermaphrodite.

Zinnias or sunflowers sprouting. I haven’t planted anything in this bed for a couple of years, it was infested with nematodes and has been “lying fallow” to get rid of the buggers. Fingers crossed.

Ice plants, they used to be called Delosperma cooperii in latin. I think the botanists have changed the name again. There are two schools of thought about these growing in South Florida – yes and no. I found some very low priced plants and am trying them. They are looking good so far, August will be the true test.

Alligator Lilies (Hymenocallis latifolia) waiting to find a new home. They are a very pretty native lily, but they are difficult to site in the garden. They are looking for moist, well drained dappled sun and they only make foliage if not in their preferred location. I move them around sometimes, contemplating their next location.

‘Burgundy’ Aechmea bromeliad showing new spring color. These have finally found their happy place. And I don’t want to move them as they are sharp.

That is all from my garden this Saturday. Happy New Year!

Six on Saturday – Ups and Downs

It’s time, once again, for SOS – sharing six items of interest from my South Florida garden with gardeners from around the world. Follow the link to visit Jim and see his garden and many others –http://gardenruminations.co.uk

The garden and the weather has had its ups and downs this week. It has been cold (for South Florida – temperatures in the 40s F, 4 C) so the locals are freezing, but the garden is enjoying it for the most part.

Winter is citrus season and I finally have some fruit on my Rangpur lime tree. My neighbor grew the tree from a seed and gave it to me about 7 years ago. It has 5 ! limes. I was thrilled to cut the first one, beautiful and fully ripe.

And then, I turned it over.

Something, or someone had beaten me to it and sucked all the juice out. Vampire rats? Arghh.

Not to worry, there are a few left. Rangpur limes are not actually limes, but sour oranges, probably a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges. They make great pies and are the basis for mojo marinades in Cuban cuisine. Here’s one still ripening. Fingers crossed.

I started tomatoes from seeds in October. As soon as I planted the seedlings the weather was cold and damp. These plants have had everything tomatoes get, I think. I finally have my first fruit. I think it is a Lost Marbles cherry tomato.

Long Island Mammoth dill is the recommended variety for Florida as it goes to seed more slowly than others. I have had it for a few years and concur. These plants have been enjoying the weather and I have enjoyed the dill.

I did my first late fall Chelsea chop this year and the perennials have bounced back beautifully. This Mystic Spires Salvia is just starting to flower again.

That is all from my garden this year!

Happy New Year to all and thank you to Jim for hosting Six on Saturday this year.

Six on Saturday – Holiday Surprises

I am joining The Propagator’s gang this Saturday after Christmas to share some surprises the garden has granted me. Not all six are from my garden. These are Christmas Palms (Adonidia merrilli) doing their thing by the side of a nearby road.

Next, we have some Spanish Moss, a native Tillandsia Bromeliad. Although common in Florida, I rarely see it in my garden. I pruned it out of a Firebush by accident.

Another stringy surprise, a native Ageratum, Blue Mist Flower (Conoclinum coelestinum). It seems most native wildflowers in Florida like “moist meadows” – I have a desert like sandy soil, so this was a real surprise. Growing by the air conditioning condensor..

Yet another stringy surprise, the once solid leaves on the Traveler’s Palm, shredded by the wind.

I am delighted by this surprise, despite cold weather, we are freezing with temperatures in the 40s – the Tropical Hydrangea (Dombeya wallachii) has started its show.

Another nice surprise from my neighbor, I found a basket of Rangpur Limes on my front porch Christmas morning.

That is my Six this Saturday, to see more posts from gardens around the world visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Six on Saturday – Lime in the Coconut

I am joining Jon the Propagator for Six on Saturday, featuring six items of interest from my garden. This Saturday it is my Rangpur Lime tree and Coconut Palms. To see other posts, follow this link – www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

These are Rangpur Limes, from my neighbor last year. They are not ripe yet in the garden. These are actually a member of the mandarin family, a cross between lemons and mandarin orange, therefore a sour orange. We like to make Mojo marinades for chicken and pies with these.

My neighbor gave me a tree a couple of years ago she grew from seed. It takes about 5 years from seed to fruit, so I should have fruit next year, fingers crossed. As I was pruning the tree it occured to me I had never really seen citrus prior to moving to Florida and having one in the garden, so I took some pictures.

The branches, very thorny! Leather gloves are a must when pruning.

The foliage, shiny green and lime scented. I have read these can be used to infuse flavor like kaffir lime leaves, but have not tried it. Also a host for Giant Swallowtail butterfly larva, citrus farmers hate these butterflies.

The trunk, smooth with striated bark.

And what would limes be without the coconut?

Baby coconuts forming, and mature coconuts on tree below. I don’t like walking past this one in a high wind. Most people remove the seeds when they are smaller to prevent being beaned on the head by a wayward coconut.

That is my Six for this Saturday..

Happy Gardening!!