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A common invasive in the Southeast and across the tropics, rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) has been a pest in Florida for some time. It particularly likes to invade our rare pine rocklands, but it seems to be able to grow almost anywhere around the region.

As published in The Miami Herald In the world of bugs, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Not all insects are horrible. In fact, most have some redeeming qualities (except maybe bed bugs). While a bee sting hurts, bees are the world's best pollinators. And even though roaches are extremely creepy in the house, they are fabulous decomposers. It all depends on perspective. And a plant's perspective is a very important one. These bugs can be the…

Edible gardening in South Florida is not really about tomatoes and peppers. Certainly, we have a few months where we can have an impact in the vegetable arena, but we are ultimately at the mercy of our tropical weather. Yet, we are pushed by the media and by our friends

No one has ever seen a non-cultivated Mangifera indica, the mango from which South Florida’s multitude of cultivars have been selected, according to Dr. Richard Campbell, Fairchild’s senior curator of tropical fruit. “There’s no record of it being collected,” he says. “Is there such a thing?” Mangi is the Indian

For years, mangos have been of great value in South Florida, grown with pride in the garden—a fruit to eat when ripe and at all stages of growth. Enjoying truly fresh mangos is a Floridian’s privilege, but there are also many ways to preserve the fruit. Since this is a

We think we know our mangos, but much of their origin is a mystery researchers are trying to unravel through exploration, DNA research and other methods. They’ve even begun to ask if all cultivars of this incredibly diverse fruit are truly the same species. In South Florida, we know our

Why the search for our cultivated foods’ wild origins is so important. Unlike previous years’ events, the 2017 Mango Festival at Fairchild did not feature mangos from any particular country. Instead, 2017’s festival celebrated “from wild to table.” But what does that mean? What’s wild about mangos? As with most

Orchid hunters have long known that where resurrection ferns are found, so are orchids. Student orchid hunters are looking for the reasons why—and they’ve started with shared mycorrhizae.

South Florida’s climate is friendly to growing vanilla orchids, and if you’re willing to hand-pollinate, practice patience and carefully cure and sweat the pods, you can even have home-grown vanilla.