Things are not always as they seem. Take the popular cashew. It looks for all the world like a nut, it is used culinarily as a nut, and just about everybody calls it a nut. But it’s really a seed, and a strange one, at that. The cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale, is an attractive, mid-sized tree…
Read more
Once in a while I like to take a leisurely trip through my 10-acre farm, with no ambition other than to enjoy the scenery. Today was such a day, an exceptional one in my view, and I’d like to tell you a little bit about it. As you know, this winter has been warmer than…
Read more
Did you know that the flowers of Bougainvillea are small and inconspicuous? That’s because the features that produce the spectacular colors found in this genus are actually bracts, modified leaves located at the point from which flowers develop. Thus bracts are an integral part of the flowering process, though they are not flowers themselves. …
Read more
After an abnormally-warm fall and early winter, southern Florida finally experienced some significant cold fronts in January. For most locations in the region, the coldest readings were recorded on Sunday, January 18, when widely-scattered frost was reported. While chilly weather can prompt flowering in some fruit species, we remain pessimistic that lychees will produce significant quantities this year. …
Read more
Perhaps the best known butterfly in North America is the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). South Florida is very lucky this time of year, and not just for our mild climate. While most of the United States is in the middle of a frigid winter, with its Monarch Butterfly population safely hibernating in the Oyamel Fir…
Read more