In my opinion, the best fruit are tropical fruit.

Mango, mamey sapote, chocolate pudding fruit, jaboticaba, pineapple, jackfruit, avocado, key lime… the tropics has the best of the best.

I may be somewhat prejudiced, however, by the fact that I’m allergic to most temperate fruit. I can’t eat raw apples, cherries, pears, mulberries, peaches, plums, strawberries, blackberries or even figs.

No kidding.

It’s been a source of great irritation that I’m a garden writer and food forest designer who is allergic to many of the trees I love to grow. They won’t kill me, but they do cause a lot of pain and itching in my mouth, throat and chest if I ingest them.

Fortunately, I’m only allergic to a couple of tropical fruit. Jackfruit is sadly one of them, but that’s likely because it’s related to figs and mulberries.

Fruits of Warm Climates

But – my stupid allergies aside – if you’re interested in growing the many beautiful fruit of the tropics, there is no better resource than Julia F. Morton’s book Fruits of Warm Climates.

That’s the cover of the newer edition. I have the older one, though, and like that cover much better.

No matter which version you get, the book is a treasure. It’s filled with illustrations and varieties. You’ll meet fruit you never knew existed. Like wax apples! You’ll see my copy of Fruits of Warm Climates in this video:

Because this book is expensive, it took me some time to pull the trigger on buying my own copy. Now I’m glad I did. It’s a great big handsome book and though Julia Morton died over a decade ago, her writing and personality live on through her words and enthusiasm for some of the more beautiful fruit trees in the world.

Fruits of Warm Climates is one of the best gardening books you’ll ever own. Even if you’re not in the tropics, this book will make you dream!