Brooks Tropicals of Homestead this week issued a colorful, informative notice to remind us that starfruit season is upon us. It encourages consumers to incorporate the fruit in cooked dishes in addition to its customary use as a garnish. Take a minute to examine some of Brooks’s dining suggestions, republished with permission below. (Click on the bottom…
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Today Richard Lyons’ Nursery takes a look at the Tamarind Tree. At first glance, Tamarindus indica would seem to be a strange appellation for this wondrous tropical tree. After all, it’s native not to India, but to tropical Africa. So this nomenclatural dysfunction must just be the result of some sloppy botany, right? Well, it’s not as simple as that.…
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On January 16 of this year we published the State of Florida’s updated, discouraging outlook for citrus production. Unfortunately, that pessimism has only deepened since then. State agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, in a message distributed this week and reprinted below, reports that Florida’s orange harvest will be its lowest in 50 years. The cause is citrus greening, a disease for which…
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We have previously addressed the grave threat to the avocado industry in Florida. Laurel Wilt Disease is being spread by an insect vector, and a cure has eluded plant scientists. But recently a ray of hope has surfaced, and CBS News sent a reporter to southern Florida to find out more about it. Here is…
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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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