Author: Leonard Goldstein

Rare & Unusual Tropical Trees & Plants, Flowering, Fruit, Native, Palm, Bamboo, Heliconia, Hummingbird, Butterfly

The palm from . . . where?

To say that Dypsis cabadae has taken a long, tortuous path to discovery would be a major understatement. Superficially, it appeared that the species was first found in the early 1950s in the garden of a Dr. Cabada near Cienfuegos, Cuba, but it could not be identified. After Cabada’s death, the director of Harvard University’s nearby Atkins Garden…
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April 18, 2015 0

Another Role for Stoppers

We last dealt with the trees known as stoppers in an article published on the Richard Lyons’ Nursery website on March 2, 2013. Legend has it that these species got that common name because their constituents were used in concoctions to stop, er, uh, intestinal problems. An alternate, more pleasant explanation is that these plants could be used to create a thicket capable…
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April 10, 2015 0

Ready for Mangos?, Part VI

This installment concludes our survey of mango cultivars available at Richard Lyons’ Nursery. This year’s mango crop in southern Florida continues to show great potential. There has been no cold outbreak serious enough to damage either flowers or pollinators, and we are well beyond the statistical ‘dead of winter.’ March winds have started a little early, but…
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February 27, 2015 0

Ready for Mangos?, Part V

Below are descriptions of even more of the mango cultivars available at Richard Lyons’ Nursery: Mallika Great news: This cultivar, which should be picked green before breaking color, is an aro-matic, delicious, productive, disease-resistant mango that can be grown in small spaces, even on an apartment balcony. Terrible news: It is traditionally ripened in camel dung. Better news: If you hap-pen to run…
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February 20, 2015 0

Ready for Mangos?, Part IV

Following are descriptions of more of the many mango cultivars available at Richard Lyons’ Nursery: Jakarta The ripening season for this cultivar is long, from June to August. Developed by the Zill family in Boynton Beach, Jakarta produces aromatic, fiberless, richly-flavored fruit on a robust-growing tree. While not widely-produced commercially, this cultivar has come to occupy a niche in home gardens. Ripe fruit averages just over…
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February 13, 2015 0