Plants

Apricots are small, round to oval stone fruits best known for their golden-orange skin, soft flesh, and sweet, slightly tangy flavor. Their relatively small size and warm color make them easy to recognize, but they are not the only fruits with this appearance. Several other fruits can look surprisingly similar to apricots, particularly when they … Read more

The Solo papaya is one of the most popular types of papaya grown for its small-to-medium fruit, sweet flavor, attractive orange-red flesh, and relatively convenient size. Unlike many large papaya varieties that can produce fruits weighing several pounds, Solo papayas are generally much smaller, making them particularly appealing for home gardeners and families. The name … Read more

USDA Zone 7 offers gardeners a particularly favorable climate for growing berry bushes. Winters are generally milder than in Zones 5 and 6, while summers are warm enough to support a wide selection of fruiting shrubs. Depending on the specific location, Zone 7 includes areas where average annual minimum temperatures fall between approximately 0°F and … Read more

Growing berry bushes in USDA Zone 5 can be a rewarding way to produce fresh fruit while adding attractive shrubs to the landscape. Zone 5 includes regions where average annual minimum temperatures can reach approximately -20°F to -10°F (-28.9°C to -23.3°C). While those winter temperatures can eliminate many tender fruiting plants, a surprisingly wide range … Read more

Papaya, scientifically classified as Carica papaya, is believed to have originated in the lowlands of southern Mexico and Central America, long before Spanish explorers carried its seeds across the Caribbean and eventually around the world during the age of global maritime trade. India has grown into the largest papaya producer on Earth by a wide … Read more

Passion fruit has one of the more recognizable profiles in the tropical fruit world, typically appearing as a round to oval fruit somewhere between 2 and 3 inches across, with a rind that ranges from smooth and taut when fresh to deeply wrinkled once fully ripe, encasing a mass of juicy, seed-filled pulp inside. This … Read more

Growing fruit trees in USDA Zone 5 can be highly rewarding, but it requires more planning than growing fruit in many warmer regions. Zone 5 includes areas where average annual minimum winter temperatures can fall to approximately -20°F to -10°F (-28.9°C to -23.3°C). That level of cold eliminates many popular fruit trees, but it still … Read more

Fast-growing trees can be a blessing when you need shade, a bit of privacy or if you need to block an unattractive view of your neighbors. It’s tempting to choose trees that grow as quickly as possible, but sometimes the fastest-growing trees are the worst choices. This is because many fast-growing trees grow so quickly … Read more

Apricots have one of the more misleading scientific names in the entire fruit world, since the species is officially classified as Prunus armeniaca, a nod to Armenia that stuck after Romans encountered the fruit growing there, even though genetic and archaeological evidence points to the tree actually originating in China more than 4,000 years ago … Read more

The Japanese flowering cherry tree is one of the most recognizable ornamental trees in the world, prized for the brief but spectacular flush of pink and white blossoms it produces each spring. Unlike its fruiting cherry cousins, this tree is grown almost entirely for visual impact rather than for harvest, and it has become a … Read more