There are blooms everywhere right now as the spring rains finally begin to fall.

Those bright beauties above are on some of my sweet potatoes, revealing in vivid hues their membership in the morning glory family.

And below, an elephant garlic bloom pops open in a dew-dropped white firework:

 

Some are already fruiting whereas others are just getting started. I’ve planted a variety of prickly pear species, including some large-fruited ones I was sent in a trade from out West. My goal is to collect as many varieties of edibles on my property as possible. Cacti are a good and underutilized fit with that goal.

Here’s an even lesser-known edible, at least in North America:

That’s one of my jujube trees, blooming away. The jujube is also known as the “Chinese date tree.” Though it’s by no means a true date, the jujube fruit, when dried, is alleged to share a striking similarity in flavor with the unrelated fruit of the date palm.

I’ve planted three jujube trees in my yard and hope to soon carry them in my nursery. They seem to be amazingly tough trees as well as being quite handsome in the landscaping.

And speaking of handsome, this bee struck a nice pose for the camera:

That’s likely a Seminole pumpkin bloom. I say “likely” because I’ve actually planted multiple strains of tropical squash and Seminole pumpkins together in the hopes of breeding my own massive mutant gigantic and incredible Florida squash variety, Dave’s Florida Pumpkin.

They’re all C. moschata so they’ll interbreed furiously. If I can get the taste and texture of a Seminole pumpkin along with the size of a big calabaza, I’ll be happy.

Of course, I’d be happy just to get a big freaky inedible thing that looks cool… so…

Anyhow – what’s blooming in your garden right now?

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