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Lychees may have been cultivated in Asia as early as 2000 BC. The sweet-tart, floral fruits are a good reason to give these evergreen members of the soapnut family (Sapindus) a try.  Lychee fruits (B.navez) CC BY-SA 3.0 Lychee trees (Litchi chinensis) can be grown in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 10-11, making Hawaii, Florida, southern California, and Texas great places for lychee trees. There are three different types of lychee, and hundreds of cultivars, but none of them take well to container gardening. They can’t handle frost or temperatures below 25°F (-4°C). Despite their need for warmth, lychees need at least 100 chill hours before they can produce fruit. As tropical trees, lychee prefer slightly acidic, moist soil in a location with full sun and protection from wind. They tend to grow tall and rather cylindrical because fighting for sunlight in the jungle requires arrow-like speed in many cases. Fragrant flowers grow in clusters, but it is the red, bumpy fruits that justify your landscape real estate. Lychee trees can be pruned to a much more manageable size. They really add character to a landscape. -01.JPG) Lychee tree (DiverDave) CC BY-SA 4.0 Lychee fruits are arils. Arils are fleshy outgrowths that fully or partially cover a seed. The lovely red netting over nutmegs, called mace, is an aril. Arils are also called false fruits, but there is nothing false about the refreshing sweetness of lychee fruit. Do not eat the seeds; they can cause hypoglycemia in some cases. Instead, peel your ripe lychees and savor the fleshy white treat inside  Lychee fruit, whole, opened, and seed (Ivar Leidus) CC BY-SA 4.0 You can start a lychee tree by air layering. Simply take a young, healthy twig and cover the cut end with growing medium, such as peat, and wrap the medium with plastic. Before long, roots will form, and you can remove the plastic and place your baby lychee tree in its forever location.
_-_12735329344.jpg) Spanish lime fruit and seed (Kristof Zyskowski & Yulia Bereshpolova) CC BY 2.0 Spanish limes (Melicoccus bijugatus) are edible, tropical sweet-tart fruits from the soapnut family. The Greek and Latin parts of its name translate as honey seed. Native to northern South America, the fruit is a drupe. Drupes are single stony seeds covered by fleshy fruits, like an apricot.
You can grow Spanish lime trees in USDA Hardiness Zones 10A to 11. You can also grow them in containers, which can be brought indoors or moved to more protected locations if your winters are less than tropical. These trees prefer full sun and moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil (pH 6.0–6.5). Fragrant flowers appear in late spring to early summer. They are white with four petals and eight stamens. The trees are slow and steady growers.
Fruits start out yellow, then turn green and develop a pink blush as they ripen. Mature fruits are approximately two inches (5 cm) in diameter. The skin is somewhat spiky, so gloves are recommended during harvest. Common pests of Spanish limes include aphids, citrus leaf miners, and scale insects. You can use insecticidal soap or neem oil to control those pests. The only disease I saw mentioned was citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing. These fruits do not store well unless you can them, so eat them as they ripen. They can be used in margaritas, pies, salsa, and smoothies. See if you have a sunny spot for this lush, productive shade tree in your landscape for planting next spring. When I first saw the name raspberry horntail, my mind conjured up a ripe, red raspberry with a ram’s horn tail. Of course, raspberry horntails are nothing like that, but it was a fun image. The truth about these parasitic wasps is less fun.  Adult male raspberry Horntail (Whitney Cranshaw, CSU) CC BY-SA 3.0 Raspberry horntails are a type of sawfly. Sawflies get their name from the saw-like ovipositor used by females to insert eggs under a plant’s skin. These pests prefer raspberries, but they will also feed on blackberries, other bramble fruits, and roses. You may run into some confusion when talking with others about raspberry horntails (Phylloecus (formerly Hartigia) cressonii) because there are raspberry cane borers (Oberea bimaculate), which are frequently called raspberry horntails or raspberry cane girdlers. Or your friend may be talking about raspberry sawflies (Monophadnoides rubi). Yes, it can be confusing sorting all this out sometimes, but photos can help. [Unfortunately, I could not find an available image of a female raspberry horntail.]
Let’s start with symptoms. As new canes form, typically in spring, raspberry horntails lay their eggs under the surface. If you look closely, you may see small, round, discolored areas where the eggs were laid. If you can get to one, raspberry horntail eggs do not look like what you might expect. They are white, oblong, and they have a flattened, curved point at one end. When those eggs hatch, young larvae spiral upward inside the canes where they feed just below the cambium layer. This causes cane tip wilting. It also weakens the plant and can cause dieback. Infested canes may also twist or become crooked. Infested canes are more susceptible to breaking, frost damage, and other pests and diseases. As larvae grow, they turn around and head lower in the cane, feeding on both the inner cambium layer and the pith. This significantly reduces flower and fruit production. Eventually, the larvae create silk-lined apartments in which they overwinter. As temperatures rise in spring, larvae pupate and then emerge as adults. But it is the larvae who cause the damage. Raspberry horntail larvae are white and can be up to one inch long. They have hard brown heads and a tiny spike on the other end. Pupae are slightly smaller and tan. Adults are only half the size of their fully grown larvae, with narrow bodies and long antennae. Males tend to be black with orange and yellow markings, while adult females are gold to orange with black spots. .jpg) Rose sawfly larvae are very similar to raspberry horntail larvae (James Solomon, USDAFS) CC BY 2.0 us If you suspect a raspberry horntail problem, prune about six inches below the cane tip and slice the removed bit in half lengthwise. If it looks like the infestation extends lower than what you have in your hand, remove more of the cane.
These pests are not generally a serious problem, but it pays to regularly inspect your raspberry plants. Bag and dispose of any infested material in the trash. Do not add it to your compost pile. Unless you can time applications to coincide perfectly with egg-laying in your area, insecticides are not recommended, since larvae and pupae are protected inside the cane, and adults simply fly away. Keeping your raspberry plants healthy is always your first line of defense. |
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