Grafted and Ready to Produce!

Arkin Star Fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is a hybrid product of stock-market discipline and tropical-fruit enthusiasm. This star fruit tree was hybridized by Morris Arkin, a Washington, D.C. native stockbroker who retired into the fruitful world of horticulture. In reaping the benefits of homegrown life, the Arkin Star Fruit was born.

Averrhoa carambola is an evergreen tropical shrub with woody, drooping branches. It makes a great ornamental addition to a home landscape, ticking all of the boxes for a plant that’s useful and good looking. Compared to other Carambola fruit trees, this star fruit variety is praised for being easy to grow, and producing tasty, abundant crops. Some gardeners prefer to use extra soil nutrients that make fruit sweeter when it’s time to harvest them. Averrhoa carambola are the epitome of sensitive plants, reeling back like mimosas at the sensation of touch, and rarely flowering or fruiting if temperatures get too chilly. The ideal Star fruit growing temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees. In a tropical climate, you can reap the rewards of star fruit trees year-round, when rosy flowers give way to the 5-sided star fruits. Fruits are in the prime when they ripen on the tree to a yellow-orange color. Enjoy this sweet star fruit variety fresh, in combination with other fruits and desserts, or as a garnish for tropical-themed dishes.  

Star Fruit is easy to grow in a container and can thrive in a large pot. In the colder months they may loose their leaves, so they should be overwintered indoors if temperatures reach below freezing.

Grafted! 

Carrie mango (Mangifera indica) might ring a bell for anyone familiar with mango plant varieties in South Florida. This mango variety originates from Boynton Beach! Most Florida mango varieties are hybrids of Indian mango types and the Southeast Asian mango types, which are carefully bred to thrive in hot and humid growing conditions. The Carrie Mango is distinctly hardy to the 10b growing zone in South Florida, but could do well in a temperate greenhouse. 

Mango trees are popular trees in the home landscape, with distinct ripples of glossy evergreen foliage. Mango trees will produce reliably for years, growing into rounded dense trees with plenty of shade. They need room to grow, with average tree height falling anywhere between 30 and 60 feet high. New growth appears as an otherworldly red-purple. In the early spring, Mangifera indica blossoms with flower spikes, giving way to oblong fruits in the summer. The Carrie mango is distinct from other varieties that blush and deepen with orange and red skin. Instead, this fruit ripens to a slightly yellow-green color. A cut into the fruit reveals a rich, orange flesh with a distinctly spicy aroma and flavor that is unlike other mangos.  

For a surefire way to grow the Alano Sapodilla fruit you know and love in a convenient container size, look to Silas Wood Sapodilla. This semi-dwarf, tropical evergreen fruit tree has a great overlap with other varieties of Manilkara zapota. The Silas Wood Sapodilla is slow-growing, but will fruit after just 2 years, making it one of the smallest reliably fruiting tropical fruit trees.  In truly tropical climates, Silas Wood Sapodilla has the potential to produce fruit year-round. 

This sapodilla variety is suitable for container growing. Fruit can be plentiful, even for young trees, and may need to be supported in earlier years. Silas Wood Sapodilla fruit is spherical, ranging 2 to 5 inches in diameter, with an unassuming brown skin.  When the fruit is ripe, it ranks among some of the most luxurious flavors and aromas somewhere between a tender pear infused with brown sugar and a hint of jasmine. For best growing conditions, Silas Wood Sapodilla should be grown in a climate where temperatures are at least 60°F, but it will tolerate short bursts of cold down to 35°F. 

Sapoilla's are related to Mamey Sapote, Star Apple, and Canistel.  Sapodilla's are known by many names around the world including Mispel, Zapote, Dilly, Chico, Chico sapote, Zapote chico, Zapotillo, Chicle, Sapodilla plum, and Naseberry, among countless others.

One exotic plant that will pique the interest of any life long food forester or curious chef is Bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi, Cucumber Tree Fruit, Tree Sorrel, Kamias, Mimbro). Bilimbi grows wild and in cultivation in the warmest parts of Southeast Asia, throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. 

Bilimbi grows shrublike, from a short trunk that expands with upright branches. As a member of the Averrhoa genus, it is similar in growing nature and closely related to starfruit trees, but is different in looks, fruit, flavor, and use. This tropical tree species is very cold sensitive, and needs close oversight in its early growing stages.  

Bilimbi trees will flower directly from the trunk in the late winter and early spring. The cylindrical fruits will follow shortly after, changing color from bright green to yellow-ivory over time. Fruits may fall to the ground when ripe, and will bruise easily because of thin skin. Looking out for a change in color is a good way to gauge fruit readiness. Bilimbi bears sour and acidic fruit that makes it a staple in any plate that needs an acidic balance. The fruit is rarely eaten raw, but the juice can be used in place of vinegar to add a bitter element to salads, soups, curries, and more. The oxalic acid content of bilimbi fruit is what contributes to its trademark taste and place on plates around the world.

Blood meal is a vital organic fertilizer that is one of the highest natural sources of nitrogen and iron. A fast-release source of nitrogen for plants that have a high nitrogen requirement. Blood meal has the added benefits of repelling deer and squirrels. Best applied in spring or at the beginning of your growing season to ensure the proper growth of vegetables, flowers, and plants.

• Analysis: (13.6-0-0)
• 5 lb Bag
• A fast acting source of nitrogen
• Recommended for use on all crops once a year
• Effective as a compost activator
• Repellent for deer and squirrel

How to Use Blood Meal: 

• Mix it directly into the top of the soil, or dilute with water and spray onto soil.
• Gentle fertilizing: 1 lb per 100 sq ft.
• Moderate fertilizing: 2 lbs per 100 sq ft.

The convenient, cost-saving Banana Bundle is back for October with three new musa varieties! These banana plants ship in our signature coconut fiber pots. Remember, our plants change seasonally and this bundle will ultimately change again soon, so grow this a-peeling trio while you can!

• NEW! Kokopo Banana
• Grand Nain Banana
• Dwarf Cavendish 

Bananas are a complete food, packed with essential vitamins, proteins, fiber, and more. These varieties contain a natural sweetness that can awaken your senses freshly peeled, or in sweet and savory cooking. Your life’s work can be growing and harvesting these bright bundles of joy, complete with surfboard-sized leaves. Enrich your garden and your palate for fresh ice cream splits, knowing that the peak of your golden days is yet to come. 

Learn about the complex-but-universal greatness of the Ociumum family when you grow and harvest bundles of Thai Basil (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora). This is a compact-type basil with distinctive traits and uses that make it a worthwhile grow. It can be planted as an ornamental, or for edible or fragrant gardens. Thai basil is native to Southeast Asia, where its distinct anise-meets-licorice flavor is a highlight of local cuisines like soups, stir-fries, and curries.  The flavor comes from its naturally high content of methyl chavicol.  At maturity, Thai basil features narrow, green leaves, unfurling from purple stems, and complemented by pink-purple flowers in the growing season. 

Like other basil plant varieties, the Thai basil plant is adaptable and prone to vigorous growth, with possible harvests throughout a single year. Plant care is particularly easy. It should be planted in well-drained soil, high in organic matter. As a rule of thumb, harvest basil as often as its growth allows.  As a lesser-known basil variety, Thai basil is valued for its distinct aroma and heat tolerance in cooking. It adds a peppery, warm and spicy flavor, compared to sweet basil types more commonly sold and grown.

This variegated Cuban oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus) boasts an alluring fragrance, flavor, and growth habit. Despite the name, the herb’s origin is not well known, and it may also be called Mexican mint, Spanish thyme, or Indian borage. To clear up any confusion, it’s not technically an oregano, mint, thyme, nor borage, but it is a member of the Lamiaceae family.

Cuban oregano can grow up to 19 inches tall, although it tends to spread horizontally as it grows. This is a plant that will please beginners, requiring almost no coddling at all to thrive. However, cuban oregano should be overwintered where frost is a concern. Its trademark velvety leaves challenge 70’s interior design trends, but probably smell a lot better. The aromatic cuban oregano plant can be trimmed and harvested often as needed. A little bit goes a long way. It pairs well with savory meat recipes, as stuffings for poultry, beef, and lamb. 

Level up your sustainable lifestyle when you grow Kokopo banana (Musa acuminata). This is a fantastic, short-season banana plant that grows quickly. Bloom to harvest time is 5 to 6 weeks, which makes it perfect for that last-minute tropical harvest. If planted in the spring, it will produce fruit by the summer. In addition, it makes a great indoor banana plant, growing fairly thin and lightweight compared to other Musa varieties. This cultivar originates in Papua New Guinea, where almost half of the population is self-sustained. That’s a good testament to the hardiness, success, and versatility of the Kokopo banana. 

The Kokopo banana fruit is unusual in that it holds orange pulp, which is a sign of high vitamin A and beta carotene content. It can be eaten ripe, but is also a popular cooking ingredient.  The banana plant is an evergreen perennial herb, not a tree. The large ‘trunk’ is actually a pseudostem, which is made of bulky, leafy layers that emerge and wither over time. Banana plants are fast-growing, and prone to reproducing new plants through mini clones known as suckers. In well-drained soil, bananas can almost never get enough water, sunlight, and nutrients.

• 100% chino cotton twill
• Unstructured, 6-panel, low-profile
• Adjustable strap with antique buckle

The Nobi-Nobi telescoping long arm pruners are packed with features not found with most long arm pruners on the market today. This pruner offers a free stop handle for use at any length through its easy lever action. The sub-grip offers stability to the user and can be adjusted along the shaft for individual users' comfort and reach. Its light weight aluminum alloy handle is strong and durable. The pruner comes equipped with cut-and-hold grips for harvesting fruit or to hold branches to bring down to ground level, which can be removed if desired.

• Telescopes from 50" to 78".
• Includes 8" pruning saw blade that's easily attached with wing nut. Very versatile pruner in one!!

The revolutionary Futomaru Long Reach Lopper features a double lever advantage that dramatically increases cutting power over traditional lopping shears while decreasing the effort required. Cutting head swivels 110° to reach most branches. Cuts easily through live branches 1.6" this and is great for limbing dead wood. Coupled with the long reach capability, the Futomaru is an essential addition to all garden sheds.

• Length: 4' 10.5"
• Cutting head swivels 110°
• Cuts 1.6"

With a Ratcheting Pruner, the ratcheting action does all the work for difficult pruning on hard to cut branches. The Ratchet Pruner is designed for people who have difficulty using other hand pruners. Lightweight, black fiberglass handles with contoured comfort grip.

• Non-stick coated carbon steel blade.
• Cuts up to 3/4" in diameter.
• 7.5" overall
• 6.4 oz

With proper care and maintenance, these scissors will last a lifetime. Use these thin-bladed scissors to snip in those hard to reach places. Black finish high carbon steel blades cut easily and do not accumulate resin. The soft patented hand grips may be used by right or left-handers. Great for pruning grapes and gathering herbs.

• Stainless steel blades
• Gold handles
• 6" overall

• Cuts up to 1.4 diameter with ease.
• Red handles.
• 20" overall

This compost aerator is manufactured from sturdy 1" tubular steel. Its 4 wings with serrated edges fold inward for easy insertion and extend fully when removed, creating air pockets within the compost. Comfort grip handle with auxiliary handle which can be mounted for left or right hand use.

• 35.5" overall
• 1" tubular steel
• Comfort grip
• Perfect for rights and lefties

Strong, sharp, durable, long, tan, and handsome. You and this serrated sickle are a perfect match. Together, you can conquer nearly any weedy overgrowth or harvesting job. Use this serrated sickle for everything from pruning raspberries, to cutting grasses, and other light clearing tasks in the garden. Pull & turn clumps of weeds with this real Japanese style sickle. You'll laugh, you'll cry. You'll fall in love with a serrated sickle.

• Size: 6 1/2" blade, 14" overall
• Stainless steel
• Made in Japan
• Comes with clear blade cover

This Japanese weeding tool makes tending to your garden a breeze. Chop and shuffle bits of unwanted plants into oblivion with this lightweight, handheld sickle-hoe hybrid. With a sturdy build of spring steel, you'll navigate weeding quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

• Forged from spring steel.
• 12" overall. Blade measures 5" x 1 1/2"
• Plastic sleeve with grommet for easy display

This vegetable brush embodies the finer qualities of germaphobia. To prepare fresh produce before eating, simply brush away microbial madness under running water. The white Tampico Fiber bristles give a gentle but firm sayonara to germs. You do not need to use any other soaps or produce washes to clean vegetables of bacteria, fungi, and some of the billions of microbes we come into contact with daily. Vegetables brushes are best for firm produce with tough rinds, like carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, and squash.

• Wood handle with hanging hole, easy grip
• Cleans vegetables by reducing microbes. See the Gardener's Nail Brush for use on your hands!
• No additional solvents needed
• Size: 8" overall, 3.75" handle, 3.5 x 3" brush.
• Care: Soak bristles in vinegar, and rinse with water. Hang to dry.

Waterlogged soil can stress plants, and make them susceptible to root rot. Overwatered plants will be slow-growing, with yellow, black, and wilting leaves. These are all signs that your leafy little babies are getting too much of a good thing. Manage water pressure with this simple water breaker head attachment. This piece is made from aluminum, and perforated with 400 micro holes for even water flow. You'll be set for watering seeds and plants without dislodiging soil or otherwise freaking your plants out. Perfect for watering flats, seedlings, seedbeds, transplants, ornamentals, containers, fruit trees, and more.

• Made from Aluminum
• Gentle shower hose attachment for watering plants
• Fast, full flow

Few tools say "I have my sh*t together" quite like a brass plant mister. Some of the most rewarding plants to grow are native to humid or misty ecosystems, encouraging leafy plant growth. When perfect plant growing conditions are out of reach, this mister will do the trick. Keep plants and flowers healthy with regular mists of water. Its stainless steel body is coated with a brass finish for a golden vintage sparkle and durability. This mister holds 10 ounces of water, providing just enough TLC to go around. This makes a great companion tool for the brass watering can.

• Stainless steel, gold brass finish
• Mist water on houseplants and outdoor plants
• Vintage gardening aesthetic, looks great indoors or outdoors

You dig color, you dig soil - Get the best of both worlds in one tool: these funky fresh colored steel trowels! Each trowel features thick, 1.2 mm one-piece stamped Japanese steel construction for strength and durability. Keep movin' and groovin' all day, with the contours that fit comfortably in your hand. Stay on task with the vibrant, easy-to-spot paint finish. This high quality steel trowel can be the little slice of tranqulity you need in a tried-and-true garden tool.

• Japanese steel construction
• Retractable hanger
• Size: 3 1/8" x 6 7/8" head, 11.5" overall. 1/2 lb

Money can't buy happiness, but this comes close. The Yellow Metal Flower Sprinkler is downright adorable, and surprisingly powerful. Cover 700 square feet in high or low water pressure. Boost your irrigation needs and chase melancholy moments away while using this cheery, flower-shaped sprinkler. Surrender to feelings of joy from the moments you catch beams of sunlight refracting through the water beads that nurture your garden beds. Would you still think life ain't all sunshine and rainbows?

• Powder coated finish
• Coverage up to 30' diameter