The Autumn Equinox is coming this Saturday September 23rd. The official start of Fall is therefore right around the corner and we’re really excited!
Fall is a beautiful time of year in Central Florida. Here in Florida we don’t see much of the change of scenery— the bright pop of leaves that turn from lush green to an assortment of yellows, orange and reds in Autumn like our Northern gardener friends.
Though, we do fortunately feel a relief from the rampant heat characteristic of Florida summers.
There’s also a lot fruiting in our gardens: Carambola (also known as star fruit), Persimmons (yum!), and Figs are abundant. We also have some Sabara and Red Jaboticaba flowering and fruiting now (though certainly less than in Spring).
Furthermore, our Sapodilla are loaded, we cannot wait to try all the varieties that are new to our collection (Silas Wood, Morena, and Tikal) as we’ve only tried unknown/unlabeled variety Sapodilla from store bought fruit.
In fall our plants get the reprieve they need to shoot to the sky, branching out and flushing out with stunning new growth.
The beginning of fall is a great time to plant fruit trees and establish their root systems before the winter, especially evergreens (deciduous trees are best planted during winter, but can be planted in fall as well).
Additionally, with the summer heat dissipating we’re able to begin grafting again. We’re going to be grafting some Jaboticaba multi-grafted trees, with multiple varieties on one tree.
This fall we’re planting more seed trays of Carambola, Persimmon and other plants we’ll use for rootstocks next year. We’re also planting out seed trays of some rare varieties of tropical edible plants such as Dwarf Mulchi Jaboticaba, Blue Velvet Jaboticaba, Peanut Butter Fruit, Rainforest Plum, Pitomba, White Jaboticaba, as well as some Eugenia and some less common Myrciaria species.
We’re also potting up a lot of the trees we had left over from Spring. Getting plants into new bigger pots will help them grow and establish so that they can be planted in your yards next Spring.
Right now our focus is on the rare tropicals we have in 6-inch pots that we’re moving to 3-gallon pots, but we also have a wide assortment of larger edibles we’re potting up as well.
What are you working on in the garden this Fall? Are you looking to add edible plants to your yard? If so, check out our nursery for a wide assortment of perennial edible plants, locally produced compost and honey from our apiary.
We’re minutes away from UCF, Orlando, Oviedo, Winter Park and other neighboring communities.
