At the grocery store where I frequently shop, I’ve noticed quite a few new tropical fruits being sold. One of them- Monstera deliciosa is just that- delicious! We grow it here at the Garden in the Costa Rica Rainforest glasshouse. You can see it clinging to the side of our large re-created Fig tree. It’s a tropical vine that grows in Central America. You may also have seen it grown as a house plant. Its leaves have oblong holes, giving them their common name, swiss cheese plant. If kept as a house plant, it’s unlikely it will bloom and produce fruit. They need a significantly large climbing area, good light and high humidity to produce the sweet, yummy fruit that reminds me of a combination of mango/banana/kiwi. Be sure to wait until the scales pop off on their own. If you eat the fruit unripe, your mouth will feel an unpleasant tingly feeling that comes from the oxalic acids in it. Impress your friends, buy this cool fruit and let them try it at your next party!

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Recently, while at the APGA (American Public Garden Association) conference in Pasadena, some of the conference participants were treated to exotic fruits that are grown in California. I was not expecting to see mangosteens being offered. This is rare tropical fruit here in the US. The last time I was treated to this delicacy was at a meeting of entomolgists in Penang, Malaysia. Orignially from Southeast Asia, the mangosteen is a fabulously deep aubergine colored, sweet fruit that is unlike any other I’ve tasted. The closest I can compare it to in consistency would be the lychee, but mangosteens flavor is richer and more buttery in my opinion. You can usually find them canned in syrup in specialty Chinese markets. The fresh fruit has only recently been allowed by USDA to be imported into the US because of fears that the asian fruit fly would be imported with it. Furthermore, the mangosteen can only be grown in areas where the temperatures do not fall below 40 degrees F. They are extremely sensitive to cold. I expect we’ll see more of these delicious fruits as they become more widely known in the US.