kpienaar
Boynton Beach, FL
(Zone 10a)
December 01, 2008
12:39 PM Post #5847497
| I am just starting out with collecting plants and my wife thinks I am crazy. My obsession is with tropical edible plants, mostly exotic fruits. I currently have persian lime, longan, grumichamma, lancetilla mango, wonderful pomegranates, surinam cherries, australian brush cherry, natal plum, sugar apple, valencia mango, brown turkey fig, lychee, jujube, 2 different muscadine grapes, capulin cherry, avocado, persimmon, bananas, coco plum, sea grape, star fruit, pitomba, pineapples, sweet potatoes. Currently growing from seed, lilikoi passionfruit, marlierea, tamarind, feijoa. On my to buy list: atemoya, glenn mango, eugenia stipitata, mysore raspberry and and and ...
My other big favourite are the aloes, specifically the tree aloes, I only have aloe barberae and aloe thraskii so far, but as time and budget permit I will surely add more of these beauties. The challenge is to find the ones that will grow in humid hot South Florida.
I love cycads and I am currently growing Zamia furfuracea, Dioon edule - yes from seed and let me tell you, you need patience. I would love to grow most of the Encephelartos species from my home country South Africa. I will try more of these as time and budget (and space) permits.
I also have a thing for the bigger ferns, especially tree ferns, but since my garden is relatively new, there are no shade trees yet and in our hot summers, only the strongest of plants survive.
If I have my way, I'll replace all my thirsty weed invaded, cinch bug ridden st. augustine grass with plants. How to do that so that is remains aestetically pleasing is my biggest problem ? Oh and watering, yes we do get 55+ inches of rain, but sometimes weeks or months can go by with hardly a drop like this November, we're 5 inches below normal so far. My other big problem here are weeds, in unbelieveable amounts.
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