When I was a kid my Grandfather was always growing mahogany trees from seed. He was a skilled carpenter and boatbuilder and got a kick out of the fact that he could grow mahogany in his yard down in South Florida. We children found the tree fascinating. It had these incredible rock-hard seed pods that would occasionally explode and release a burst of good-sized helicopter seeds that looked like something designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Grandpa never harvested any of the wood from the tree to the best of my knowledge, but it was right there by the side of the carport where he did his carpentry. During my recent visit to South Florida I saw a nice big mahogany growing in a suburban front yard and captured it on film:

Unfortunately, mahogany is a truly tropical tree and South Florida is the very top of its native range – otherwise, I’d be growing mahogany up here just for fun. All you need is some seeds and some time.