Figs

This one is one of the few remaining brown turkey figs. The beach sunflowers next to the fig tree will give you an idea of the scale of our mini-orchard. Yes, most trees we still look down to (in a physical way, not pejoratively speaking).

We also have a taller fig, about 6 feet, but it is new to our garden and it has not produced fruit yet.

Bumper crops, where are thou?

Buddleia davidii

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Barbados cherries & blooms

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Moon flower vine

I have this one in a pot.

I am still debating where and if to plant it in the ground. See...these vines are like stalker boyfriends (or girlfriends, whatever the case might be), they hold on to things with their little stalking tendrils like they want to strangle you (with love, of course)...these should definitely not be planted near the house...anyway, the flowers of this vine are almost large as dinner plates, and they smell so wonderfully! They open at night mostly and also during overcast days. They remind me of daturas.

Shooting star flowers

Strawberry guava puppy

Thanks Dan!

Jujubes still trucking along

Just to clear up some jujube-pollination-related misunderstandings...here is the info straight from the Southern Living Garden Book (about the Li and Lang varieties): "Lang needs Li as a pollenizer; Li is more productive with Lang nearby, though it will produce some fruit if planted alone."

Miracle Fruit & Pitomba arrived today!

I ordered these from Pine Island Nursery just yesterday and today they got here right before the storm hit. Plants are currently showering outside and no pics yet as I only had enough time to pull some of the Pitomba's sickly looking leaves off before lightning started striking dangerously close to where I was.

I really hope this is nothing major (I have to look it up) but it looks like some kind of fungus.

These are two plants that were on my wish list for quite a while.

I love apricots (which I cannot grow here) and the Pitomba fruit's flavor is reminiscent of them. The Miracle Fruit was more of a just for fun kinda thing...although I read that it is a very desirable fruit for people undergoing chemo treatment as it diminishes the metallic taste foods tends to have during treatment time. In case you did not know, this is a slow (very slow) growing plant and its fruits (berry-like) after being consumed make even the most bitter of foods taste sweet.

Bervena Bonairensis

It's only been a few months since I planted these butterfly magnets from seed and looky here, blooming already!

Heads up if you decide to grow these from seed: they take forever to germinate and show their first signs of life. I think it took mine about 3 weeks to pop up. But after that, they truly take off growing like they have to make up for lost time.

Lastly, the seedlings will look almost nothing like the photos of the mature plants one can find on-line. Even the leaves look different, so don't worry about that. Eventually they will send tall shoots like the one in this photo and grow their typical narrow leaves.

This perennial is very undemanding, drought tolerant, heat loving and a butterfly favorite.

Floribunda Iceberg Rose

Barbados Cherries

Dwarf Powder Puff

Mexican sunflower

Shooting Star

Grandma flowers

When I close my eyes and take a deep breath of these flower's sweet fragrance I am instantly transported to a time when I used butter as lip gloss (I know, stoopid kid, eh?), hadn't a worry in the world, and the best sound I could hear was my grandma yelling from the kitchen's door "Bread and jam are ready! Come eat!" Bread and jam were homemade of coursy.

Growing Jujubes

These are ideal trees for Florida. Not fuzzy about soil. Heat loving, cold tolerant to about 28 degrees and drought tolerant to boot!

Tasty fruit that can be eaten out of hand or dried (like you would eat/use any other dried fruit).

The flowers are super tiny but prolific.

Two are needed for good fruit set. I have a Lin and a Lang.

Some cons of Jujube trees: they forms suckers like mint would, but they are easily kept in check...I think :) The other thing is that you gotta keep an eye for the water spouts they grow (shown on photo, just like citrus) and snap them off.

Other than that they are all positives in my book.

How to propagate a Jacaranda tree

1. Get mad at how tall your existing Jacaranda is growing.

2. Mindlessly cut branches.

3. Put them aside in the garden's junk drawer.

4. Forget about them for a couple of weeks.

5. Check on the branches & voila! You have new trees!

Seriously, it is almost scary how easily some of these plants grow. I am still on the fence about whether to keep this one or not. For the one thing it is beautiful when in flower with luscious clusters of lilac flowers...but this one has never bloomed for us.

Also, they are fast growers...and you know most fast growing trees don't have the best hardware under the soil, that means that these guys are very prone to being destroyed during a hurricane. Or worse, they are likely to fly madly and smash something else.

Calamondin Oranges

Finally they are large enough for me to take a pic of them. They are one of the most cold tolerant citrus trees around & make a great substitute for limes. Super easy to care for.