Tropical Garden

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…

This plant’s many species range from houseplants to ground cover to shrubs

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.

Did you know that the vanilla orchid, Vanilla planifolia, is the only orchid with black seeds, and each vanilla bean (really the pod) contains thousands of seeds?

More orchids are killed by incorrect watering than by any other means. There are two separate components to proper watering: when and how.

Have you ever wondered how the names of orchid flowers originated? From “Drawings of Florida Orchids” come the etymologies of some of our orchids.  Don’t Miss Fairchild’s Orchids in Bloom Explore, learn, and revel in the splendor of orchids like never before! Tickets Available Now for March 9-10, 2024 Bletia:

For centuries, orchids have been among the most popular of plant families, with thousands of species and hybrids cultivated the world over for the diversity, beauty and intricacy of their flowers. Literary and artistic references to orchids can be traced back to the time of Confucius (about 500 B.C.). The

Phalaenopsis (fail-eh-NOP-siss), the moth orchid, is perhaps the best orchid for growing in the home, and is also a favorite with greenhouse growers. Well-grown plants can flower often, sometimes with a few flowers throughout the year, though the main season is late winter into spring. Average inside home temperatures and

The Tropical Garden, Fall 2018 By Jennifer Possley

We’re accustomed to thinking of freezing temps as deadly to many plants, but extreme heat is just as dangerous. With temperatures rising around the globe, what can gardeners and plant lovers do to protect our plants from high heat?

It’s baby squirrel season, and at the South Florida Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale, babies from one to three weeks old are being hand fed every three hours. Eyes shut, toes splayed and tiny tummies filling, the babies in the nursery are among the 13,000 animals taken to the Center every year. Each baby squirrel has a dot of toxin-free nail polish on his/her head so volunteers can keep track of who has eaten, who has burped or who has diarrhea. After being fed and stroked so…

Don’t you wish growing edibles was like growing weeds? It can be. What is a weed, really, but a plant growing where we don’t want it to grow? Many weeds, it turns out, are indeed edible. Here’s a weed you can eat, is fairly attractive, and has an interesting history: Purslane (Portulaca oleracea).