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Where to get baobabs?
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Posted by annonimous (My Page) on Mon, Nov 2, 09 at 12:34
| I'm in central Florida and am very interested in obtaining a few baobabs, saplings would be great, but I'd even be happy trying to grow a few from seed. I've found a few websites that I could order from, but I would prefer to be able to just pick a few up somewhere if at all possible.
Does anyone know of any sources for baobabs in central Florida? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Where to get baobabs?
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RE: Where to get baobabs?
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| Fruit & Spice Garden in Homestead FL has baobab plants for sale or maybe you could find some seeds near their trees. It's an awesome place to visit. You are allowed to eat any fruit you find on the ground and they have a tasting table in the gift shop (free tastes). |
Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit and Spice Park
RE: Where to get baobabs?
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Hi
Have never tried them due to size and I suspect they may be quite cold sensitive?? Have never seen a large one anywhere in florida Would make a fantastic Bonsai though.
Like the common names "Drunkards Dream or Upside down tree" Do you have enough room in case they actuall grow???
I'd bet you could find some at that nursery we can't name lol T T's lol gary
gary |
RE: Where to get baobabs?
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| Baobab is one of the largest trees in the world. No so much in terms of height, but they can get trunks that would be larger than a car. They are not cold-tolerant, so I doubt you'd have much success in growing one in zone 9. The only one I've seen in Florida is at Fairchild, but I have photos somewhere of Baobab trees we saw in Tanzania back in the early 80s. They don't like much water, preferring an arid climate to our subtropical one. |
RE: Where to get baobabs?
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| Oh, they'd definitely be for bonsai, I'm quite aware of their growth potential. I don't know what triggered it, but about a week and a half ago, I got to thinking, "Wow, a baobab would make an awesome bonsai!" Not that I'm a wonderful bonsai grower or anything (honestly the best I've done has been a dwarfed silver dollar eucalyptus that died after our move), but the drought tolerance and toughness of them would (hopefully) make up for some of my shortcomings. If I could find a decent price, I'd end up getting three... one for me to work on, one for my fiancee who can't resist cutting at anything I get so I can say "This one is yours, leave mine alone!", and one for one of my mother's friends who actually does bonsai pretty well and has a green arm (forget about thumbs...) This way, I could hope that out of the three at least one will definitely make it. *smirk* Hopefully. Anyway, I'm rambly. |
RE: Where to get baobabs?
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| Where in central FL are you? The African Baobab is reasonably cold hardy as it gets older, at least to 27F. Probably a zone 9b/10a tree. Disney planted several larger specimens at Animal Kingdom and quite a few young ones. They also planted a big one at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have a couple younger ones here at Leu Gardens and also several of the Madagascar and Australian species. Don't know yet if they are any hardier or more tender than the common African species, Adansonia digitata. Probably will have to get them from a SoFL nursery. Several online ones carry them. This site wont let me mention them so send me a message and I can give you the names. Another tree to consider is Moringa drouhardii from Madagascar. Its not related to the baobab but gets a very swollen trunk, too with spindly branches. We have one growing very well, it has a Dr. Suess look to it. |
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