I have updated the 2022 plant sale list with a really great one (their winter sale) at Mounts Botanical Garden this weekend (Feb 19 and 20), that always has a very wide variety of plants. See link. If you miss it, they will have their spring sale in April.

The calamodin grows very well in South Florida and seems to fruit year round. The fruit are small, about one inch in diameter. My tree is about 10 ft tall, so picking the fruits is fairly easy with a pair of clippers. They taste like a cross between an orange and lemon. Sometimes I just pop one in my mouth, seeds and all, but given the sour taste, that’s not for everyone.

These are the calamodins, I picked yesterday, minus a few that I ate. I’ll probably make a marmalade out of this batch (40 fruits). See recipe here. I have another recipe which includes adding calamodins to raw cranberries, which have been past through a food processor. Some clove powder and a lot of sugar are needed. Please no cooking or peeling the fruit is needed.

There is nothing rare about calamodin trees. I’ve read they can be grown indoors or as bonsai. They need ample sunlight, water and fertilizer to produce fruit. This could explain my poor results with bonsai fruit trees.

There are lots of plants flowering in my garden right now, including Ludisia discolor (seems a bit early) and a variety of other orchids, the stunning Brownea kewensis (Rose of Venezuela), red and white torch ginger, Barleria crista (purple and white flowers) and believe it or not, beehive ginger, which is a mid-summer bloomer. I’ve posted pictures of all these plants. I’ll add a few more pictures on the unusual orchids in bloom.

The Dypsis boiviana did not make it, and I figure it is much more suited to greenhouse growing. Too bad, it was a rare palm for sure.

The Musa haekkinennii bloomed and produced an offshoot, which is doing very well.

That’s all for now. If you know of a plant sale I’ve missed, let me know.

Happy Gardening,

Dave