Thursday, October 04, 2012

Tropicale

So, what does this look like to you? The exotic fur of some animal? The beginning of a new species? The skin of a tropical reptile?  Go ahead and touch it...




Does this photo help?


It is actually the reward of a well tended flower bed top dressed with some early summer compost and nurtured by a long hot summer. This small grove of papaya trees from the seeds of our breakfast discard was left whimsically by my husband as a gardening experiment when he discovered it a few months ago. 


It appears that summer, which is now fall, will not be long enough to let the flowers on this tree set and bear fruit. Nights are now cooler dropping into the 60's and by November they will be quite cold into the 40's and at that time these trees will die and have to be recycled once again back into the compost bin. We do tease the exotic thought that, had we nurtured the seeds from our spring breakfast and got them going inside in early March, we might actually have been able to harvest some papaya from this tropical forest this year!

12 comments:

  1. Interesting plant, beautiful textures. Hope you try again next year. I had no idea they would flower the first year.

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  2. We are planting blueberries, and four trees this coming weekend ~ a fig, plum, apple and peach. A little excitement this morning. There was an owl in the sunroom. He came in through the open kitchen french window or maybe through one of the transom windows. Our home is unconventional. I only think about it when something weird happens. He bypassed the fresh fruit and vegetables but left his calling card on the dessert bar. Thankfully both cookies and brownies were covered with glass domes. By removing the screens and with the aid of a broom he flew back to the woods. I thought he was going to sleep in the rafters all day.

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  3. Lynn, that is pretty exciting. Did you get photos?

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  4. No good ones ~ I cleaned windows yesterday and it was too bright in here. We really have to stop meeting this way. . . lol

    One time we came home from vacation and had a watermelon vine growing out of the kitchen sink. Pretty funny when you think of how seedling are babied along with special care and then croak anyway.

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  5. Great experiment - barbara

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  6. it really makes for some interesting coloring and texture on the tree....our leaves are just starting to change a bit...

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  7. Interesting experiment but yes the season just isn't long enough. I'm more interested in the bugs?

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  8. Well, that's just cool! I hope you try again next spring.

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  9. I agree with Celia. The textures and the colours are beautiful and interesting in their own right. We have just had our first near-zero night of this autumn/winter.

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  10. Oh, boy, I love me some papaya! I would nurture those seeds and get them out early next season!!

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  11. Quick...... get some glass and a heater! I love the texture of the bark. It does resemble a lizard of some description. The lizards probably camouflage on the trunk of papaya plants so they can enjoy the fruit. Thank you for sharing, Tabor.=D

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.