Beach Bean (Canavalia rosea, synonym Canavalia maritima) is a salt-tolerant vine that’s got it all together. As a plant that thrives on sandy soils and full sun, it has a tendency to weave and spread into seaside landscapes that are vulnerable to drought and erosion. Canavalia rosea is a popular and heat-hardy ground cover in Florida, which is a great first step to transforming your yard into a native landscape that can act as restored ecosystems for wildlife.  It is a popular Florida native bean plant that is edible while seed pods are still young. However, when the bean pods are mature, they will require extra processing to eat! 

Enjoy Canavalia rosea’s signature fuchsia blooms that contrast the plant’s shrubby, lime green leaves throughout the year, with the most abundant bloom time in the peak of the summer. As any beach bum could tell you, plenty of heat, warm soil, and long summer days will help beach bean plants thrive.

Mexican Apple (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) is the tropical fruit gardener’s respite from the aching nostalgia of traditional apple orchards. It is native to the high elevation cloud forests of Mexico and Colombia, and can be found in subtropical Texas and Florida. This shrubby perennial can be the apple of your inner forager’s eye, with year-round harvests of bright red flowers and bushels of tender, green leaves. You may recognize the flowers for its trademark similarities to more commonly familiar plants in the hibiscus family. Towards the end of the summer, flowers will give way to red, marble-sized fruits that boast a light tanginess and mealy texture that are similar to apples.

Grow Mexican Apple for an easygoing, edible plant with a tropical twist.  Its native cloud forest habitats are a good reminder that this low-growing plant thrives in part-shade in warm growing zones, but appreciates more moderate sun exposure in cooler zones. Eat the flowers raw, or dry and store them for teas and tisanes. Harvest bundles of Mexican Apple leaves before winter for a fuzzy, tender alternative to spinach. 

Photos: Wildflower.org

For the horticultural road less traveled, you can take a swing at growing Black Goji Berry, or Lycium ruthenicum. Originally discovered in the higher inner Himalayas, Lycium ruthenicum holds a storied past as an ancient medicinal fruit, which is still cultivated for its benefits in traditional medicine practices. It makes a strong case for its potential healing powers, as a plant that thrives in dry climates, with a good hardiness against cold conditions.

As Lycium ruthenicum matures, its growth pattern will emerge with copious branches stemming from the original plant, flowering in the spring, and fruiting in the late summer. It fruits with purple-black berries to be eaten raw, cooked, or dried into teas and tisanes. 

Like most passionfruit vines, Passiflora ligularis is a vigorously growing thing of beauty. When passionfruit season nears, intrepid gardeners eagerly await the zany, amoeba-looking flowers that Passiflora ligularis produces as a sign of tropical euphoria to come. Native to Latin American countries like Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, Passiflora ligularis is as bold as fruiting vines get. Once you see the flower and taste the yellow passionfruit, you will never forget it.

Passiflora ligularis will thrive in a tropical highland forest climate, where the weather is neither too hot nor too cold. When grown beside other plants and vegetation, it has a tendency for aggressive overgrowth. With a little encouragement and the right conditions, Passiflora ligularis will add a charming sweetness to your garden’s tropical fruit harvest.

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tubersosus) is a plant with keen survival instincts. These towering, classic sunflower look-alikes have been harvested for years. But it’s the hearty underground tubers of Helianthus tuberosus that have intrigued naturalist chefs, who say the taste is similar to artichokes. Nowadays, Jerusalem artichoke plants can be found primarily in the Eastern United States where they were once grown as vegetable crops, but are now more commonly found thriving in old fields, steambanks, railroads, and more.

Growing Jerusalem artichoke is best done without a lot of coddling. As a plant that naturally has the tendency to spread colonies of rhizomes where they aren’t intentionally planted, you might consider keeping it in a container, where it will thrive and regenerate itself for bounties of old-time veggies.

The Loofah gourd plant (Luffa aegyptiaca) is an annual fruiting vine plant that will scrub what you thought you knew about plant powers. The vine produces dark, ornamental, squash-like leaves, fluttering yellow blossoms, and — the main event — loads of fruit. The young gourds are totally edible and can be eaten raw, cooked, or even pickled when they're still quite small. They're very popular in the Caribbean, where they are eaten like cucumbers.

However, patience is certainly rewarded when you play the waiting game with the loofah plant. You’ll need to wait for the large gourds to mature and dry on the vine.  But once dry, the skin will peel away perfectly. The gourd can then be dried for a day or two in the sun to harden. Slice into pieces or use whole. And voila! You have a perfect bathing or cleaning loofah! One plant can yield enough sponges for a lifetime. That's a lotta Loofahs!  But you can bask in the glow of a job well done, with plenty of leftovers to spare for thoughtful and useful gifts.