What is the best Avocado variety?

Grow Your Own Food

Q: Most trees in my yard were destroyed by hurricane Ian and now I have to start my landscape from scratch. So I decided to plant something useful. Avocado is my favorite. In the stores I see two kinds, large green or small black, but I was told there are many varieties. When I googled the best variety of avocado I found your website. You have quite a selection! Now I don't know which variety to chose. Can you please help? I have room for several trees.

A: Indeed there are many varieties of Avocado (we grow over 50 kinds). Some avocado lovers try to get as many varieties as they can fit in their yards because every variety has its unique flavor and texture.
2 main Avocado kinds that we usually see in grocery stores are -
1) smaller black fruit with rich, buttery texture - Mexican and Guatemalan hybrids
2) green avocado, some can be as large as a small melon, but they have light texture - West Indian types
There are many hybrids. How to pick the right variety for your yard?

Check out our Avocado variety page and scroll down to see a chart that shows characteristics of fruit, tree size, cold hardiness, and chose the right variety that fits your needs.

Below are just a few picks from our horticulturist - our favorite varieties that we enjoy and highly recommend to others.

Best tasting large green Avocado hybrids:

Bernecker, Beta, Doni, Catalina, Pollock.

Best tasting black or dark green, buttery Avocado hybrids:

Winter Mexican, Brogdon, Black Prince, Day, Fantastic, Florida Hass, Marcus Pumpkin, Mexicola Grande, Nishikawa, Waldin

Dwarf trees (black fruit):

Wurtz, Fuerte.

For local customers: see large 15-gal size Avocado trees, delivery and installation available!

Today all avocados are 13% off instantly with no min. order, take advantage of this quick sale and get all varieties you want!

Grow your own food:
How hardy is a Loquat tree?

Q: I am looking for a fruit tree for my backyard that is low maintenance, fast fruiting, and can take some cold (I live in Orlando FL and we do get occasional frost in winter). I like the taste of Loquat fruit, it reminds me of apricots. How cold hardy is this tree?

A: Loquat tree is a very good choice for Florida gardens. It can take both cold and heat and produces lots of tasty fruit right away. Last winter when we had a record freeze in our area with a couple of nights around 25F, the only trees that didn't get any damage at all were Loquats and Macadamias, and those were still young, newly planted 4 ft trees.
To learn more about Loquat trees, check out this and article: Golden Loquat - the symbol of Prosperity.

Grow your own food:
Tropical Asparagus (Katuk)

...One of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the Tropical Asparagus (Katuk) - Sauropus androgynus, is notable for its high yields and palatability. Cooked Tropical Asparagus is great with crab meat, minced pork, dried shrimp, or in a soup...
Katuk is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Leaves and stemmed can be cooked as vegetable; the plant has many medicinal properties.
Katuk is fast growing and keeps growing as you trim it for your kitchen needs. Multiple upright stems can reach 6-7 ft high. It has great ornamental value, has pretty red flowers and ornamental fruit showing shiny black seeds when they crack open. Varieties with green leaves and variegated leaves have slightly different flavor but are equally good for your healthy, fiber-rich diet... CONTINUE READING >>

Pipers, the Pepper Plants

Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), the one that is used more frequently than salt or sugar!

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Who doesn't know Black Pepper? Every household has a pepper shaker, even if they are not fans of spicy food. But do you know where black pepper comes from? Certainly, from a plant. But not from the same plant that gives us Chili pepper! You will be surprised to know that Black pepper along with its other spicy relatives, belong to the same family as a Peperomia houseplant! In the 16th century, people began using name pepper to also mean the unrelated New World Chili pepper (genus Capsicum of family Solanaceae). Piper's spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spicy from the capsaicin characteristic of Chili peppers...
Today we will tell you more about the most interesting and useful species - Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), Piper betle (Betel Leaf), Piper sarmentosum (Lalot), and Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant).

CONTINUE READING >>

Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant) - the most useful especially in Mexican cuisine

Piper betle (Betel Leaf), popular Indian herb that brings you health and happiness...

The best grafted Loquat varieties
at 15% OFF for 3 days!

Q: I have a nice Loquat tree started from seed. I understand it will not bear fruit unless grafted. Can you graft the tree in your nursery? If this is not possible let me know the cost of Loquat tree and I buy it from your nursery.

A: From our experience, Loquat trees grown from seed bear fruit much sooner (within 5-6 years) than seedlings of such trees as Mango and Avocado (8-15 years). Also, unlike Mango and Avocado, the fruit quality of a Loquat seedling is usually not too bad. However, in order to have a tree with a superior fruit, it is recommended to plant grafted variety for a guaranteed tasty crop. If your seedling is already a large plant (with a trunk diameter over 5 mm), it may be too late to graft it, because quality graft requires fresh wood.
If you have plenty of room in your yard with enough space for both grafted tree and a seedling, you may still plant the seedling in the ground and give it a chance to produce in a few years. If your garden space is limited, we recommend you to plant a grafted variety and enjoy fruit as soon as the next year.

The most popular grafted Loquat varieties, heavy producers:
Champagne
Christmas
Gold Nugget
Yehuda

SALE: 15% OFF now, no min. order!

- $20% OFF discount code PARENTS2020 for orders over $200
- 5% automatically off all orders over $100
= make it a steal!

Offer expires 7-28-20

If you are local, stop by our Garden Center and we will pick the biggest and the best tree for you. Or just order online and get it in just a few days to your doorstep!
See full list of Loquat varieties available at the moment.