I have been in South FL for 18 years and am sadly about to move on. I will miss the best climate in the continental U.S. for growing fruit trees. (#2 is San Diego County.) Unfortunately I was never able to buy that big lot to indulge my fantasies. But if I could have, this is what I would have planted: at least two varieties of mango, lychee, 2 varieties of avocado, atemoya, pineapple, sapodilla, carambola, at least 3 kinds of banana, mamey sapote, honey tangerine, minneola tangelo (honeybell), and grapefruit. Now tell me, what can I grow in Fort Worth, TX? Not much in comparison!
This message was edited Sep 3, 2006 6:37 PM
Tropical Fruit Dreams
What zone is Fort Worth in? I know I see TX people around here who are in zone 9, and probably half the things you mention above will grow in zone 9. I think Ft Worth is probably too far north and is zone 8 or so, but you might be surprised at what you can still grow! And if you're willing to invest in a greenhouse and keep things in pots, you could grow all those same things you wanted. There's a nice TX gardening forum--if you hang out there I'm sure you'll find a whole bunch of new things to try!
Thanks, ecrane. Nice of you to take an interest in my plight! Fort Worth, I think, is zone 8, borderline zone 7. I don't intend to grow trees in pots or install a greenhouse, but I will avail myself of whatever TX gardening forums are available. I think Texas A&M U is a good source of information. I'm probably looking at peaches, plums, apples, grapes--that kind of thing. Dublin, CA, that must be a good area for growing deciduous fruits. Are you far enough from the bay that you get consistently warm-to-hot summers?
This message was edited Sep 3, 2006 10:02 PM
Houston now has a large number of Nurseries selling Tropical Fruits. As a matter of fact, Hopkins Nursery of South Florida (one of the big ones) are supplying these nurseries that cater to the burgeoning south-east Asian population.