Tropical Tree Guide

06/02/2026

In my June 2026 newsletter, I mentioned that I’ve been dedicating more time to programming and building interactive HTML/CSS graphics to make Tropical Tree Guide more useful, practical, and engaging.

Well, one of those projects is now live: I created an interactive inventory viewer for Montura Gardens

Instead of scrolling through a long inventory list, you can now easily browse what Montura Gardens currently has available, including:

🌱 Fruit tree types
🌿 Available cultivars
🪴 Tree sizes
💵 Pricing information

And if you see something you’re interested in, I also added interactive buttons so you can text/call Hani Nunez directly and ask about availability or get on their next delivery order 😊

Link in the comments!

Looking for tropical fruit trees in Florida? Tropical Tree Guide has partnered with Montura Gardens, a family-run tropical fruit tree nursery based in

04/23/2026

If you are down in the Florida Keys, you HAVE to plan a visit to Grimal Grove 😎

03/30/2026

We are proud to welcome Dr. Russell Fielding to our Board of Directors!

Russell is a leading voice in breadfruit research and outreach. His new book, Breadfruit: Three Global Journeys of a Bountiful Tree, was recently published by Columbia University Press.

Dr. Fielding brings strong academic depth. He trained in geography and sustainability. His work spans cultural geography, environmental history, anthropology, and human ecology. His breadfruit research has taken him to five continents!

An Associate Professor at Coastal Carolina University, Dr. Fielding is also a Principal Investigator with Ocean Nexus at the University of Rhode Island.

Russell's insight will help guide our work as spreads worldwide. We are honored to have him join our mission officially.

02/23/2026

Got the ‘ulu all wrapped up tonight 🤙

Can it be spring already?!

02/20/2026

As the business grows, and as I try to spend more of my time with my kids while they’re little, finding long stretches to sit down and write gets harder and harder — but these ultimate guides are still a priority for me, even when they take way longer than I expect 🐢

This one took five months to finish.

It’s the longest, most detailed thing I’ve ever written — and it’s everything I wish I had when I planted my first coconut in Florida.

✅ What actually works here.
❌ What doesn’t.
🤓 What the research says.

And all the mistakes I made so you don’t have to 👍🏻

If you’re serious about growing coconuts, this one is for you:

If you are interested in growing coconut palm trees, then you've come to the right place. This is the most in-depth guide to growing coconut palm trees on the internet.

02/12/2026

I’m not a huge theme park guy, but I do love trees.

If you’ve been following my personal orchard for a while, it's no secret that my favorite tree is Artocarpus altilis—otherwise known as Pana, ʻUlu, or more commonly, Breadfruit.

I estimate that about 90% of my active time in the orchard goes towards this one tree.

So when I opened Instagram and saw this post by Theme Park Comedians on my discovery feed (https://www.instagram.com/p/DUolA1GEfdu/), it honestly broke my heart.

It appears that the Land Pavilion has removed their signature breadfruit tree—a tree that, just 11 days ago, I stood in front of in complete awe with my wife and have visited every time I've gone to Epcot.

I truly hope Disney replaces it with another breadfruit.

The entire theme of that ride is environmental sustainability, and if there’s any tree on Earth that represents that ideal, it’s the breadfruit.

From everything I’ve learned through the incredible work of Grimal Grove, Dr. Fielding and Mary & Mike with Trees That Feed Foundation, this tree is truly special and should continue to be the featured tree of this ride.

02/04/2026

What does a breadfruit tree look like after 14 hours of sub-freezing temperatures? ❄️🌿

We had about 7 straight hours below freezing from Jan 31 into Feb 1, and another 7 hours from Feb 1 into Feb 2.

During both events, the lowest temperature I recorded inside the greenhouse was around 31°F, compared to an outdoor low of 24°F.

It’s still too early to tell if I lost the tree… but I’ve still got a tiny bit hope. Here’s why:

The tree was fully protected from wind with 8 mil plastic and two 10 mil tarps. Inside, I ran about 300 Christmas lights and added roughly 30 gallons of 200°F water for extra thermal mass.

The damage you see is mostly where branches and leaves touched the plastic (the wind kept pushing it inward). I haven’t noticed any deep damage within the inner canopy YET.

With the worst of the worst (knock on wood) behind us… if this tree SOMEHOW pulls through this latest arctic hell storm, that will cement me being a breadfruit acolyte for life. 😂🙏

02/03/2026

Here’s something I found interesting:

The initial cold damage on my Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon) started as a milky white, almost variegated looking, color before the leaves turned yellow, with some reddish speckling showing up later.

Even being tucked into the understory and sheltered by a flanking coconut and ylang ylang wasn’t enough to protect it from 24°F.

02/01/2026

I’ll be posting more photos of the cold damage over the next few days, but I thought this was an interesting thing to share this morning.

I placed 5-gallon buckets filled with water all around the property because water takes a large amount of energy to freeze. As it turns to ice, it releases heat into the surrounding air, helping buffer nearby plants from sudden temperature drops. This phenomena is called the latent heat of fusion.

And as a fun side effect… you get ice frisbees. 😂❄️

02/01/2026

As of this post, it’s 38°F and rapidly falling toward the projected low of 24°F tomorrow morning.

Between the radiational freezing conditions, 30 mph gusts, and projected sub-freezing temps… I’m anticipating the worst.

Here’s the special gang that made the cut to come inside tonight: my Kelli Macadamia (+ a recent air layer), a Lemon-esh Mango, and my Unicorn 40-26 Mango.

In the garage (not pictured) are the jaboticabas—Grimal and my beloved Sabara—in addition to a 25-gallon Pickering.

I still have to go out and add thermal mass (buckets of 200 degree water) to the greenhouse for the breadfruit. I’m trying to stay hopeful, but tonight might be the end of my breadfruit era 😢