Plants

Avocados are one of the most commercially significant and nutritionally dense fruits in the world, with global production exceeding 8 million metric tons annually and a market value that has grown dramatically over the past two decades as consumer awareness of the fruit’s health benefits has expanded across new markets. Native to south-central Mexico and … Read more

Florida avocados occupy a distinct and often overlooked corner of the avocado world, since the vast majority of avocados sold in American supermarkets are the small, bumpy-skinned Hass variety grown primarily in California and Mexico, while Florida has cultivated an entirely different tradition built around smooth-skinned, often much larger fruit that stays green even when … Read more

The first time you cut open a really good pineapple, it is easy to assume that all pineapples are basically the same. Yet after growing, handling, and tasting different types, the differences become surprisingly obvious. Some produce large, golden fruits with a strong tropical aroma, while others are smaller, sweeter, less fibrous, or noticeably more … Read more

Black roses share the same essential secret as blue roses: they do not truly exist in nature, since no rose produces a genuine black pigment, and every flower marketed as “black” is actually an extremely dark red, maroon, or deep purple cultivar whose color intensifies to the point of appearing black under the right conditions. … Read more

Blue roses hold a unique and almost mythical status in the world of flowers, since no rose in existence, with one very recent and heavily engineered exception, actually produces true blue pigment. Roses lack the natural genetic pathway to synthesize delphinidin, the blue pigment found in flowers like delphiniums and pansies, which means that every … Read more

Green roses represent one of the rarest and most genuinely unusual colors in the entire genus, since roses lack the natural pigment pathways needed to produce true green petals, and every rose gardeners and florists call “green” is really achieving the effect through one of a few different biological tricks. The most historically important of … Read more

Orange roses are a relatively recent arrival in the long history of rose breeding, since the original wild roses that gave rise to modern cultivars existed only in shades of white, pink, and red, with yellow not appearing until the early 20th century and true orange following only after breeders learned to blend yellow and … Read more

Purple roses occupy one of the most elusive and hard-won corners of rose breeding, since no rose in cultivation carries a truly blue or violet pigment, and everything gardeners call “purple,” “lavender,” or “mauve” is technically a diluted, cooler-toned expression of the same red and pink pigments found throughout the rest of the genus. Because … Read more

Red roses stand at the very heart of rose symbolism, representing passion, love, and desire more powerfully than any other color in the genus, and they have been bred across nearly every classification recognized by the American Rose Society. A mature hybrid tea or grandiflora red rose typically reaches 3 to 6 feet tall with … Read more

Currants are some of the most rewarding small fruits to grow in a home garden. The bushes do not take up the space of a fruit tree, yet a well-established plant can produce generous clusters of berries for fresh eating, jams, jellies, desserts, sauces, drinks, and preserves. What makes currants particularly interesting is the variety … Read more