Sunday, August 29, 2010

My recent spending spree at the local nurseries!

I usually get gardening fever early in the spring. But this year is a little different. In the middle of 95 degree summer days, I am absolutely hooked on being out in the garden almost every day. Here are just some pictures of plants that I have purchased recently. 

two lemonquat trees "Lemon Drops". these are a cross between a lemon and a kumquat. They will have both small and full sized lemons. look carefully for the three fruit on the tree. I bought this at HDepot of all places. A rare find. I was thrilled when I saw these, I had been looking all over for a lemonquat.



another great find. This is from Lowe's. It's a tough evergreen gardenia called "Heaven Scent". The single blooms are very fragrant, and the leaves resemble boxwood, which I plan to use it for a boxwood-like hedge. the flowers can be steeped in hot water to make a tea resembling jasmine tea, but with a much fresher taste. The label on the plant says it makes a great cut flower.

And here are the tropicals. I just bought this Rollinia at JRN's nursery two days ago. It's about 5 ft, including height of the 3 gal pot. It bears an alien looking fruit, but many people say it has a fantastic taste. We shall see! It's related to the annona's, which I love. It was the last tree left at the nursery, which signalled that it was waiting just for me. I'm still debating whether or not to plant my tropicals in the ground or keep them in pots for at least one winter. 



This is my new sugar apple. The label says "Na" vietnam. I don't know whether or not that's the name of the variety, I just found out that in vietnam some people call all annona's "Na". So this is what my mom named me after! (it's my family nickname).  I noticed the older leaves are a bit sensitive to hot sun (west exposure), but the new growth seems to adapt very well.



This is a grafted, unnamed Avocado I "ran into" at Home Depot recently. Those new leaves were just little buds when I bought it just 2 weeks ago. Very hot afternoon sun, we're talking 100+ degree heat indexes, no damage whatsoever.



Sapote "Makok" 3gal. There were some 7 gallon trees with buds and FRUIT, but unfortunately for me, they were twice the price of the 3 gallons. I plan to buy 2 more varities of sapotes, so I had to settle for the smaller pot. By spring next year, this one should be loaded with blooms. On my wishlist is the Hasya and Alano.




Wax Jambu, "shrinark red". ("Man" in vietnamese with various accent marks, pronounced "mung"). I LOVE the taste of this fruit, though some people say it is bland. It is very subtle, but very distinct. Some say it can take some frost, others say it is ultra-tropical.  I had a 7 foot seedling that died earlier this year. I will play it safe this time around and keep it indoors in the winter. The leaves of this wax jambu smells just like the fruit. I tried making a tea from some fresh leaves, and the taste was definitely there. 


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