Read the latest from the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden blog.
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a tropical tree originally native to India and now cultivated throughout the tropics in both hemispheres. It is commonly grown in Burma and Malaysia, and to a certain extent is also grown in Brazil, Mexico, Central America, and South Florida. Jackfruit is the world’s largest tree-borne
The Tropical Garden, Fall 2010 By Janet Mosely
How a mysterious spice made its way into the world Modern cuisine is flavored with a rich medley of spices from the farthest corners of the globe. We take for granted the fact that we can buy jars of spices, even scarce and exotic ones, for a few dollars each
The Tropical Garden, Fall 2010 By Melissa E. Abdo, Pamela McLaughlin, Ph.D., Keron Campbell, Brett Jestrow, Eric von Wettberg, Ph.D.
The Tropical Garden, Fall 2010 By Noris Ledesma The jackfruit originates in Southeast Asia and is known for its delicious taste and massive size. Most fruit range between 30 and 60 pounds and hang directly from the trunk of the tree. The fruit’s skin is a thick, semi-spiny covering that
The Tropical Magazine, Spring 2005 By Kenneth Setzer In the 19th century, scientist and naturalist Louis Agassiz was as internationally famous as Charles Darwin or Alexander von Humboldt. The Swiss-born Agassiz gained fame studying glaciers and for introducing the concept of ice ages as part of Earth’s history. Perhaps not
The Tropical Garden, Spring 2005 By Javier Francisco-Ortega, Ph.D.; Brett Jestrow, Ph.D.; Chad Husby, Ph.D.; Marilyn Griffiths; and Carl Lewis, Ph.D. The flagship of a botanic garden is its living collection of plants. They are a source of beauty, education, horticulture, research and conservation. Because of its unique location and
The Tropical Garden, Spring 2005 By: Georgia Tasker As an aroid addict, I have spent years collecting, nurturing and writing about this group of plants that includes philodendrons, monsteras, alocasias and more. But I have a confession to make: Some of them are monsters. Or so it would seem. Several
The Tropical Garden Magazine, Spring 2005 By Kenneth Setzer Experience a slice of the tropical world in our Wings of the Tropics Exhibit without traveling the globe. Fairchild’s Wings of the Tropics (WOT) exhibit in The Clinton Family Conservatory houses many dozens of species of hummingbirds, butterflies and moths
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a tropical tree native to western India that has been cultivated in Florida for more than a century. But now, with superior varieties available and growing techniques updated, it’s time to take advantage of its potential for production.
Growing, blooming and fruiting in the heat of summer, enduring the cold of winter and the fury of hurricanes, mangoes have made this land their home — the warm, southern extreme of South Florida between the ocean and the great expanse of the Everglades.
Every spring and summer I see beautiful, pendulous orange orbs hanging from my hedges. At first I was curious about a new plant. Then as a Miami resident who has regretted letting invasive plants grow unchecked, I became suspicious: What is this strange plant and what does it want?
I cannot seem to grow a tomato to save my life. After purchasing some heirloom tomato seeds in fall 2013, I carefully sowed them in individual pots and placed them where they should be, receiving warm, morning light, sheltered from the extreme heat of midday.
Once upon a time, a seed sprouted in the corner of a suburban yard. The seedling grew and grew. Soon it overtook all of its neighboring plants and trees as they reached for the sun, competing for its life-giving light.
As published in The Miami Herald Joewood (Jacquinia keyensis) is a somewhat uncommon South Florida native shrub or small tree. Though found in the Keys, preferring the ecotone – transition area – between coastal thickets and hammocks (sometimes called maritime hammock), it is rare elsewhere, listed as “threatened” by the state. Besides southeast Florida, Everglades National Park and the Keys, it has also been documented in Lee County's coastal strand on the west…
As published in the Miami Herald The vanilla orchid is a tropical plant that grows in the humid rainforests of Central and South America, Mexico, Tahiti and Madagascar, with a few native species in Florida. The Aztecs discovered the plant in Mexico and used the seed pods in various ways: to aid in digestion, as an aromatic, and to flavor beverages for Emperor Montezuma. The Totonaca people of the Gulf Coast of Mexico were probably the first people to domesticate vanilla. It was originally…
Despite the Spanish limes common name, they are not limes at all and are actually more closely related to lychees and longans. The Spanish lime is native to Colombia, Venezuela, West Indies and the Bahamas. It thrives in the warmer parts of Florida with trees growing in Palm Beach and most of South Florida. It seems to fruit most prolifically in Key West….
As Published in the Miami Herald Red mulberry (Morus rubra), a native of South Florida, has found its way to New York and the central parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. In Florida the red mulberry grows wild in dry fields, pinelands and moist woods, where they can form a thicket of rapid-growing trees. The mulberry grows well in South Florida and needs little care. It hybridizes frequently with white mulberry but it does not usually have a long life, as it will be damaged by …
How would you like to have a beautiful, low-maintenance hedge that produces delicious fruit year-round growing in your landscape? The Natal plum is just such a plant and its dense foliage and thorns make it an effective barrier or security hedge. Add on the deliciously fragrant blossoms and deep green hue of the leaves and it's hard to think of a better shrub for the tropical garden. Natal plum is native to the Natal Province of South Africa and was a popular landscape tree in South …
FOLLOW THE LATEST @fairchildgarden