Tropical Fruit

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

If I put in solar electric, I could build a cool-bot and keep the irises in pots, then refrigerate them in the cool-bot every winter, for how ever many days they need chill hours. That would work.

Interesting. I never thought about it before, but I see now that Hawai'i is the only state that does not have wild irises.

You may have already run across this, but I found a garden site that mentions a guy in Hawai'i dumping ice on iris rhizomes to make them bloom?!

Hawaii Report - Iris Forum - GardenWeb

On the other hand, there are just so, so many interesting flowers that grow easily in Hawai'i that it's no work at all to find new loves here. Me, I'm a complete sucker for orchids. Any kinda orchids. All kindsa orchids.

One that tickles me a lot is the so-called bamboo orchid, not really a cultivar, but one which grows wild in the ground all over the Big island, and can often be seen in strips of unmowed vegetation along rural roads. It has a thin stalk and leaves, and at the top, maybe 3' off the ground, tiny delicate gorgeous white and purple blossoms.

Bamboo Orchid, Arundina graminifolia | A Neotropical Savanna

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The re-bloomers are supposed to have the best chance because they require less chilling. I've only got 1 re-bloomer because, as a generalization, I find them less attractive. They are less elaborate. But if I can get them to grow in Hawaii, hey, it's an iris; I'll take it.

I know of someone in Australia that places ice over their iris rhizomes to chill them.

I'm interested in orchids and hoping I can naturalize some. Rows of potted flowers inside greenhouse aren't quite as much fun as walking around and admiring the flowers outdoors. I like the idea of having them growing up in the trees. Which is not to be misconstrued as criticism of the folks who enjoy rows of potted orchids in a greenhouse, because if someone else wants to grow them in a greenhouse, I'll come by and admire them.

Iris and orchids are vaguely similar in appearance. So orchids are a good substitute if I can't figure out how to get iris to grow.

[hotzcatz]

Well, it's a purple bearded iris and it blooms by the mailbox. Haven't a clue what it's name is, got it from someone who had them growing next to their house who didn't know the name of them, either. It did get mowed over by the new yard guy about a month ago, but it looks like it's surviving. So, they grow here, they bloom here. Hey, I'll swap you some of this one for some of one of whatever iris you bring with you if you want this type. Either that or just give you a start of it in case the next yard guy manages to kill it, then I could borrow it back again later. Gladiolus are a lot easier, though.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Hotzcatz, what is your elevation?

Yes, I will trade iries. If you don't know it's name, it's called a NOID. (no id). I've traded a lot of NOID irises.

It's my understanding (not verified) that the plant certificate is a flat rate. So it doesn't matter if it is one tree or 50 trees and 200 iris rhizomes, it is the same fee. So if I ship plants, I will ship a bunch of them

[hotzcatz]

The iris is at 1,000 feet on the Hamakua coast so we get about 90 - 120 inches of rain. The iris was happier when it lived in the raised bed garden but it got relocated out by the mailbox since I'm moving the raised bed garden at the moment.

When plants are shipped from here to the mainland there's just the ag inspection and that's a free service. I guess it's different for shipping plants in instead of out of the state.

NOID, eh? That doesn't sound very elegant! I always just call them by their color or where they came from. This one came from a yard sale, so maybe it's a "Purple Yard Sale" iris?

[Big Island Cat]

When you do make it here I'll toss some of the Iris rhizomes I have in my yard your way. All I can tell you about what I have is they are small purple blooms.

[Big Island Cat]

I forgot to mention, if I could get my hands on a good Surinam Cherry I would love to try it. The one growing in our yard tastes terrible. In fact it almost makes me think I am eating something coated in gasoline! Oh another note I was pleasantly pleased to find a Hog Plum tree growing in Liliuokalani Gardens today. I did not realize it was actually a tree that originated in the Americas but I have great memories of eating the fruit as a child. As luck would have it I found a rotting fruit at the base of the tree, so I snagged the pit to see if I can get lucky with my black thumb.

[OpenD]

I went looking for "hog plum," since I've never heard of it before, and I found this fun page with photos and text about a lot of exotic tropical fruits:

Durian, Papaya, Mango, Cashew, Hog Plum & Kaffir Plum Photos

[Big Island Cat]

Thanks for that link OpenD. The variety I used to eat was the Spondis Dulcis, as opposed to the the Spondis Mombin, but the way I figure the differences between varieties can't be all that different. Although an argument can be made when considering the apple world. https://sites.google.com/site/kazuon...buahkedongdong

[OpenD]

Here ya go... breadfruit and bananas... a winning combination:

Breadfruit fest goes bananas | Hawaii Tribune Herald