Mouse and Garden: May 13, 2006 Archive

This is a pineapple (Ananas comosus) in flower, from my 93 acre farm in Belize. If you look closely, you will see the black ants going after the sweet sap in the purple bracts. Technically, a pineapple is several fruits that fuse together as they grow into the larger singular fruit we see in stores.

Pineapples about a month and a half away from ripeness. My caretaker will get to enjoy them, but new plantlets will be formed for the next crop. Did you know you can grow a new pineapple plant from rooting the discarded top from a store-bought fruit? I have 2 in my greenhouse this way, saved from a fruit platter served at the Science Museum (they were wondering what the heck I was doing with them...)

I have been told by belize locals that this is "bulberry" though I think that it is actually tropical black mulberry (Morus nigra) which is said to be the best tasting of the mulberries. I ate the black one right after the photo was taken.

Plumeria (Plumeria sp) which is famous in Hawaii for being used to make leis. I planted this behind my belize house last August and it is growing fast, despite the lack of rain in recent months.

This is a Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) originally from Costa Rica, though widely spread in Belize now for ornamental purposes. (Belize has several species of native Heliconia. I have maybe 5 acres of naturally occurring heliconia fields on my large acreage.) Related to the banana and bird-of-paradise, heliconias are favorite foods of hummingbirds and butterflies.