Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines [Paperback]

Charles R Boning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

Turn your Florida yard into a beautiful cornucopia of delicious fruit. You can grow many of the world’s best-tasting fruits in Florida’s subtropical environment.

Complete profiles of 80 native and non-native fruiting plants, ranging from the familiar, such as the strawberry and orange, to the obscure, such as the grumichama and jaboticaba.

Up-to-date information about the attributes, care, and use of each species.

Range maps, fruiting calendars, and selection criteria are presented in a highly accessible format.

More than 160 color illustrations and almost 200 color photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Boning is a naturalist, illustrator, and attorney, who has authored numerous books for the national education market. He has resided in north, central, and south Florida and is familiar with plants that succeed in each region. Within his own garden he has cultivated and tested nearly all of the species profiled in this book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Pineapple Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561643726
• ISBN-13: 978-1561643721
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Florida's Best Fruiting Plants, January 7, 2007

By 

Terence H. Wolfley "Terry Wolfley" (Lehigh Acres, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines (Paperback)

I have been using an older, standard book on tropical and sub-tropical fruit for reference when writing my weekly garden article. This book has only black-white photographs, and only covers a small number of tropical fruits. I was so pleased to find a new, up-to-date book, with color photography, and descriptions of many more varieties of fruit. Charles Boning's new book will be a classic, tropical and sub-tropical fruit reference book for many years to come. I liked it so much that I purchased an extra copy for my Master Gardener Reference Library!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended for Florida Gardeners, February 2, 2009

By 

Sarah Mankowski "Sarah Mankowski" (FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines (Paperback)

I have collected Florida gardening books for nearly 30 years. Glancing over my bookshelf I see so many titles that came and went with scarcely any notice. This one, however, this is a keeper! It is excellent in every respect from the variety of fruits described to the descriptions and handy quick-glance sidebars. I highly recommenced it to all Florida gardeners interested in growing common or uncommon fruit.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Book, Beautifully Organized and Presented, September 7, 2007

By 

Kimberly Ann Blevins "Kimberly Ann Blevins" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines (Paperback)

This is a visually stunning and imminently usable reference book. The author presents some eighty varieties of fruit that grow well in Florida. Most varieties are presented in two-page spreads which include all the basic information one would need (other than an actual taste test) to decide what fruit to include in plans for dooryard gardens, including but not limited to: a full-color illustration of the fruit and how it grows on the plant (most grow on trees); a calendar bar depicting when the fruit is ready to harvest, a map showing where in Florida the fruit will grow (dark green for where it should grow well, light green for where it may grow although conditions are not optimal, and yellow in borderline areas); a silhouette depicting the tree or plant with a scale to indicate the mature size; known hazards (e.g. spines, thorns, pollen, toxic seeds, and so on); soil types and conditions, and much more. There are also many photographs and illustrations showing the fruit cut open.

Of the varieties of fruit presented, I found a total of forty possibilities for growing on my property (central west coast of Florida, on the Nature Coast): thirteen in the dark green area, thirteen in the light green area, and fourteen in the yellow area.

Those totally committed to growing only Florida native plants may be bothered to find fruit like loquat (Japanese plum) presented in this book as it is sometimes considered invasive or a threat to become invasive. Any time a non-native species is planted, there is a risk of its seeds being carried into the wild, including by birds and wildlife. There are advantages to growing plants, including fruit, native to an area; in Florida, the list of native fruit that grows well might be a short list.

In many cases, the author presents representative varieties of the fruit, when in fact there may be hundreds of varieties. The book includes a disappointingly short list of nurseries and could be improved by including more information about where to purchase fruit trees and plants.

Nevertheless, I find no trouble in highly recommending this book. I was considering buying a copy and found it at my local library and decided to check it out and review it first. Now that I have done so, I believe this book would be a bargain at full price.