Thursday, October 16, 2008

Plants Around the Yard - Jakfruit, Ylang Ylang, Papayas

A friend gave me a small Jakfruit. Jakfruit is in the same family as the breadfruit and when it gets to be a big tree can bear fruit weighing 100 pounds!!!! This is on the steep slope on the downside of the driveway in papaya/banana land. When it gets large I want to see it as I drive up to the house! One problem I have had with planting small trees (4-6 inches) is that the rain washes the soil away, chickens expose the roots or Jeff weed whacks them! My solution is to grow things in pots, cut the bottom out of the pot and plant it. This helps keep soil around the roots, keeps chickens from scratching soil away and makes it easier for Jeff (and me when the grass gets tall) to find.

I planted 20 something papaya SEEDS and expected half to die or be male. Ha! We've got massive amounts of fruit hanging on the trees already!



















This is one of two ylang ylang trees we've got. This is the bigger one - it is 6 feet tall. The other is in the vegetable garden area and is 2 feet. Here's a branch with one big flower and a bunch of buds on it.
The flowers smell wonderful but aren't as strong as I thought they would be. If you get one and like the smell put it closer to your windows. When it is still and humid it smells more.

1 comment:

Fran and Steve said...

Papayas: Your magical solar dehydrator will get a workout! Tho not a fan of fresh papaya, dried papaya is yummy. You'll have enough to market...
Ylang Ylang: I make soap (hobby) and have about 70 different essential and fragrance oils. I've learned to add only a tiny bit of essential Ylang Ylang to my recipes because it imparts a nice mild tropical flower scent, nicely complementing other scents. Any more and the soap smells nauseatingly sweet, like cheap perfume. It is a very potent oil. Be thankful the flowers are mildly scented! Plumeria (Mom called it frangipani in PR) is another nice tree with fragrant flowers. I think you have one/some.
I admire your ingenuity. Your solution for protecting your smaller plants is great. Fran