Flora Journal in Northeast Central Florida

Some Sort of Citrus I looked up citrus identification and "winged leaves" and found that what I have growing (from random seed) is probably a grapefruit tree.  As you can see, it's it the house, because it has been getting chilly outside.  It hasn't been too bad since our one cold day, but the night will drop to about 37 Fahrenheit on Wednesday.  I could probably put it back on the porch.   Pineapples My pineapple plants are in the house right now.  They're still truckin', I suppose.  The one in the blue container is at least 18 months old if not older, and I just learned that pineapples should flower around that age.  I also learned that I could have had a use for an unused apple that my kids always really want but can never finish...  Old apples release a gas called acetylene which can force a bloom.  Also if you're interested in the chemistry of ripening fruits, check out, " Fruit Ripening:  How Does it Work?" ...

Right now it is supposedly about 65 degrees Fahrenheit where I live.  Tonight we are expecting the temperature to get as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit.  So, I wrapped the stalk of the banana plant in plastic bags.  The plant had one very healthy pup, so I wrapped that up pretty well too, because I'm thinking that that's the one that's supposed to eventually grow fruit. I took in my three pineapple plants and my mother-in-law's ponytail palm.  Last year I almost killed the ponytail palm, because I left it on the front porch when it froze outside.  I didn't even know what the plant was, so when I looked up a description, I was kind of shocked to see that it is a very tropical plant that has very little tolerance for freezes.  I suppose if it gets big one day, I'll have to hand it off to someone who lives in a warmer area.  I think they grow well in southern Florida, so if it gets big enough to warrant an earthly planting, I will see about finding a home...