Plant library

The plants we use. And why they belong here.

Natives that bring the ecosystem back, and fruit trees that actually reward the yards they live in. Every entry is written from what I've watched happen on-site across the Treasure Coast. Not copied off a tag.

Fruit tree

Mango

The signature summer harvest of a South Florida edible landscape.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Avocado

A serious tree that pays back for decades. Pick the right variety.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Lychee

A slow-to-fruit tree, but a summer luxury worth the wait.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Jackfruit

The world's largest tree fruit. And it grows here.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Banana

The fastest edible payoff in a Florida yard.

Edible

Fruit tree

Papaya

Fruit in 9 months from seed. No other tree does that.

Edible

Fruit tree

Carambola (Starfruit)

Two crops a year and gorgeous form. An underused tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Guava (multiple varieties)

Tough, productive, and forgiving. A great first fruit tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Loquat

The winter-fruiting tree. Flowers in fall, ripens in spring.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Mulberry

A month of daily handfuls off a tough, fast tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Fig

Two crops of jam-sweet fruit from a compact tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Barbados Cherry (Acerola)

A hedgerow that feeds you.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Abiu

Golden fruit with sweet, translucent flesh that eats like caramel custard. A South American sapote cousin that's right at home here.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Achachairú (Achacha)

A Bolivian Garcinia with tangy-sweet fruit under an orange rind. Slow and steady, and worth every year of the wait.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Atemoya

A sugar apple crossed with cherimoya. Custardy, sweet, and one of the Annonas that rewards real care.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Black Sapote

The chocolate pudding fruit. Ripe flesh really does look and spoon like pudding, and it's one of the easier sapotes here.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Caimito (Star Apple)

Cut it crosswise and there's the star. Sweet, milky flesh on a handsome tree with bronze-backed leaves.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Canistel (Eggfruit)

Rich, sweet flesh with the texture of a boiled yolk. Sounds odd, tastes like pumpkin pie.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Cherry of the Rio Grande

One of the tropical cherries I plant most. Dark sweet fruit and a tidy, good-looking tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Grumichama

The Brazilian cherry. Glossy leaves, white flowers, and dark fruit that disappears fast.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Pitangatuba

A rare little tropical cherry with golden star-shaped fruit and a bright sweet-tart bite. Small, slow, well-behaved, and growers love it for a reason.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Pitomba

Golden, apricot-flavored fruit on a slow, handsome tree. Another tropical cherry worth the patience.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Jaboticaba (multiple varieties)

Grape-like fruit growing right out of the bark. Slow as can be, and one of the coolest fruiting sights in any garden.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Mamey Sapote

The big one. Sweet, dense flesh like sweet potato pie with almond. A serious tree for a serious fruit lover.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

White Sapote

Custard-soft fruit with a peaches-and-cream sweetness. Trickier here than people expect, which is exactly why we plan for it.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Green Sapote

Mamey's rarer, milder cousin. Slow and particular, and a collector's prize when it fruits.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Sapodilla

Brown sugar in fruit form. Salt-tolerant, tough, and a well-cared-for one is one of the best things you can grow here.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Rollinia

Lemon meringue on a tree, and I mean that almost literally. An Annona that rewards real care.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Sugar Apple

The classic Annona. Sweet, segmented, custardy fruit on a small tree that fits almost any yard.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Custard Apple

The wetland-tolerant Annona cousin with soft, sweet flesh. An old Florida dooryard fruit.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Ilama

The tropical lowland cousin of the cherimoya. Rare here, beautiful fruit, and a conversation piece in any collection.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Soursop

Big, spiky, and intensely tropical, the fruit behind every good batido. Cold-sensitive, so where it sits matters.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Breadfruit

The staple crop of the tropics. Truly cold-tender here, so it's for the protected, adventurous yard.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Garcinia (multiple species)

The mangosteen family. Slow, picky about our chalky coastal sand, and home to some of the best fruit on the planet.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Mangosteen

The queen of fruit, and I'll be straight with you: this is the hardest tree on this whole list to keep happy here. For the truly committed.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Imbe

An African Garcinia with small, bright orange fruit. Tough little tree, tangy fruit, rarely seen.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Peanut Butter Fruit

Small red fruit that genuinely tastes like peanut butter. Kids don't believe it until they try it.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Ross Sapote

A canistel cousin with softer, sweeter flesh. Rare, easy to like, hard to find.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Miracle Fruit

The berry that makes sour things taste sweet for a while afterward. A little shrub with a party trick that never gets old.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Strawberry Tree (Muntingia)

Fast, generous, and covered in little cotton-candy berries the birds and the kids fight over.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Ice Cream Bean (Inga edulis)

Big pods lined with sweet, fluffy pulp, and as a legume it feeds the soil while it feeds you.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Bilimbi

Cucumber-shaped, mouth-puckering sour fruit straight off the trunk. If you cook or pickle, you want this tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Wax Jambu (Wax Apple)

Crisp, juicy, lightly sweet fruit with a shine like it's been polished. A beautiful tree in flower and in fruit.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Malay Apple

Showy magenta powder-puff blooms, then crisp rosy fruit. One of the prettiest fruit trees you can plant here.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Longan

Lychee's easier-going cousin. Reliable clusters of sweet, musky fruit on a tough tree.

EdibleFruit Tree

Fruit tree

Pomegranate

An old-world fruit that can work here with the right variety and full sun. I'll be honest, our humidity makes it a project, but the right one earns its spot.

EdibleFruit Tree

Native