Sarasota itself would be fine, however inland portions of Sarasota county do freeze infrequently. Fort Myers or Naples would certainly be within climate range for most tropical things.

I'm up and Tampa, and will be attempting to get my sugar apple through its first winter this year. Many tropical things will grow here too, provided the right microclimate.

good luck on your search!

I'm in Cape Coral-right next to Ft. Myers. We get frost maybe once a year.

Come on down to Fort Myers!! We love new gardeners. There's lots of new homes for sale in our neighborhood that could use some good gardening! I have some banana pups to share with you and some orchid kikis!! Best wishes to you and let us know where you land!

While we're on the topic...
My seeds from a fruit I ate won't sprout! Does this tree make sterile fruits or do they take a long time to germinate?

And cattman I'm all the way up in the Orlando are and we can grow Mango and Avocado here.

Coconut palm was mention. How far north can they be grown?
Felix

Hi Folks:

You're the GREATEST!!! Thanks for the enthusiastic replies! You've given me some great guidance in areas to think about. I'll be making a trip down there probably in early December to explore and learn.

Best of luck, Musicman, with your sugar apple - I bet several folks on this site would like to know how you progress!

Barbcoleus, Cape Coral is an area that looked good to me with both its home prices and what should be a warm winter climate with so much water around. It looks low-lying, though, and I've been through a few hurricanes in my North Gulf Coast childhood, so it makes me nervous.

Cindeea, thanks for the offer of banana pups and orchid keikis! I have a Dw. Jamaican Red banana and one of the new superdwarfed Cavendish bananas, but hope to try some more exotic bananas once I'm settled. (Also planning to install a big heliconia somewhere in my garden.) I don't know how many of my cattleyas would be safe if installed in trees, but still want to have an orchid-&-bromeliad tree somewhere on the property. Is there one kind of tree that's particularly good for mounting orchids in, in South Florida?

Piri, I wasn't sure what kind of fruit you were trying to get seed germination from. My annonas generally sprout pretty quickly. Same for durian. My attempts at mangosteen never amounted to anything, but that's because the seed was too perishable and ruined before I got it.

Countrynest, I know I saw coconuts in yards along coastal Sarasota, though none of the trees looked super-old. Back in the 1980s I attended a conference in Florida, saw a coconut palm several years old planted out all the way up in Cypress Gardens, but I'm sure it was killed in the devastating freeze of 1989. I hope we never return to those terrible freeze years of the 1980s again!

Thanks again - I'd be happy to correspond with a few gardening buffs down there if you're so inclined!

Oh sorry, I was talking about sugar apple. I got a really big one from market two weeks ago and all the longan I planted that day are 3" tall but no progress from any of the sugar apple seeds.

I bought some smaller sugar apple fruits last week (not a single one at the market was as large as the one I got two weeks ago), but there was almost no flesh to eat inside. If they're another variety I don't want that kind, so I'm reluctant to try again with these seeds.

Hi Piri:

About 7 years ago I got hold of a couple of sugar apple fruits here in Atlanta, planted a few seeds - and then just waited. I had them in a terrarium tank full of ferns and houseplants, and they just wouldn't germinate. Several months later, I took most of the plants out of the tank and set it outside, and the soil started to dry out a bit. Boom! Two seeds germinated right away. Turned out I'd been keeping them too wet.

After that, I found literature somewhere attesting to a need to germinate annonas in mix that's only lightly damp, not moist.

This year I bought sugar apple, soursop and ilama seeds. To germinate them, I mixed good Miracle Grow potting soil with a lighter Palm/Citrus soil mix, cactus sand, and lots of perlite. I had great germination on all my annonas.

Best of luck!

C'mon Down! Came to the Sunshine State (from Philly) in 1967. Here in Merritt Island, we've had no freeze since 1989 so Tropicals have done very well.

My favorite fruit is the Durian but, as you said, that's a greenhouse plant even here. Sugar Apple and other Annonas do very well here-right now I have more than I can use.

Check my (My Page) for some of the stuff that we can grow here and welcome to Florida!

oldned, the akee you have listed on your page, is that the egg tree?

Great insight cattman! I have all the seeds in a chinese takout box that's black on the bottom and clear on top (looked like a mini greenhouse to me. The longan loved it) I'll set the thing outside with the top off and see if that gets me anywhere.
Thanks!

sumala...one of the several common names for Akee is Egg Tree (because the edible aril looks a little like scrambled eggs).

Here's a posting from another forum re Akee:

"William Bligh, Captain of the famous Her Majesty's Service BOUNTY (of the Mutiny On The Bounty fame) is credited with bringing Akee from West Africa to the Caribbean Islands, and specifically into Jamaica in 1793.

It is therefore no wonder that Akee, a member of the Sapindaceae (Soapberry) family and relative of the Lychee and the Longan has derived its scientific name of Blighia sapida in honor of Captain Bligh.

Akee has now become a major feature of various Caribbean cuisines, the most famous being the national dish of Jamaica, Akee with Salt Cod.

Strangely enough, the fruit of the Akee is not edible. It is only the fleshy arils around the seeds that are edible. The remainder of the fruit, including the seeds are poisonous. The fruit must only be picked after the fruit has opened naturally, and must be fresh and not overripe. Immature and overripe Akees are also poisonous."

My comment...

"I've read that the percentage of hypoglycin in Ackee fruit never gets down to zero at any stage of ripeness so I'd be careful. The percentage of insect parts and rodent feces never gets down to zero in peanut butter either but that probably won't cause Jamaican Vomiting Sickness/death."

Hi oldned - thanks for the enthusiastic reply; your collections sounds magnif! I'm glad the sugar apples have done so well there on the Island. I did want to ask you a question about the "lipstick palm" - is that the same thing as a cyrtostachys, or sealing wax palm?

Thanks again!