Three interesting varieties of Avocado
Q: I
intend to gift three avocados, at least one type A and one type B, to a friend who
lives in an area where the temperature never goes below 25F. The idea is to
give them a ripening season as long as possible. Which combinations do you
suggest, and which are the A and B?
A: When
talking about "A" type and "B" type in Avocados, we are referring to the
flowers. An avocado will produce both male and female flowers on the same plant.
"A" type means that the flowers are female in the morning and male at
afternoon. "B" type means that the flowers are male in the morning and female in the
afternoon. If you plant to start a commercial growth, then it's important to
create a proper mix of both types. However, in hot and humid climate a single
tree produces flowers of both types, so it is NOT necessary to have both A-
and B- types planted together in the backyard. Even a single tree produces
enough fruit for a home gardener.
It is also important to know that while there are "more cold hardy"
avocados (hardy to as low as 15F), it refers to a full grown established tree.
Young trees still need protection from the cold until they are bigger and more
established. One can not expect a small tree planted in June to survive the
first winter with a hard freeze. It'll take a few years until the tree is
strong enough.
These a few rare varieties that may be of your interest.
Poncho Avocado
Very cold hardy variety. Produces medium to large green fruit. It
survived temperatures around 10F near San Antonio, Texas (Zone 8b). Mature trees
can take temperatures down to 15F for short period of time without significant
damage.
Anise Avocado
This avocado has strongly scented leaves that smell like Anise. Very
rare variety. Fruit is of excellent quality, creamy and buttery.
Catalina Avocado
Catalina is a very nice mid-season pear-shaped fruit that is especially
rich and creamy. It is an extremely popular variety in South Florida in the
Cuban Community. The Story of this variety says...
...Catalina is an amazing avocado floated across from Cuba, 60 years
ago just before Fidel Castro took over the Island Nation. Wise Cubans jumped
into the ocean to escape the Castro regime and tossed in some favorite scions
for us to enjoy here in the States. We owe a great debt to poor old Don Miguel
Cruz de la Santa Maria Espinoza Sanchez Alvarez Jr. who sadly was lost at
sea. His amazing scion wood, wrapped in cellophane and aluminum foil floated
over, washing ashore on Miami Beach. His shiny little package was miraculously
picked up on the shoreline and immediately grafted and cared for by keen-eyed
avocado lovers in Miami...
So be sure to think about this story every time you eat a Catalina!
These three Avocados will provide you with fruit ripening during the
whole warm season.
See more information on avocado varieties and the most cold hardy
cultivars.
Check out our full selection of avocado varieties. They are 15% OFF today!
