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gcmastiffs

Mango Festival at Fairchild

gcmastiffs
15 years ago

Wow! What fun we had today! I'm a Florida native, but had never visited Fairchild Gardens. It is a ***gorgeous*** place, even in the July heat. We walked for miles.

We attended the Mango Brunch, where we ate a very interesting variety of Mango appetizers, drinks, main dishes, pastries and desserts, prepared by famous Chefs.

There were 2 new cultivars introduced, and we learned that the Mango tasting this year ended in a tie.

The tie for first place was between Nam Doc Mai and Mallika. Third place by only 2 points was the Champagne variety. We all got to eat NDM and Mallika, and everyone at our table LOVED the Nam Doc Mai best. The Champagne Mango is on my counter for breakfast tomorrow.(G)

The tables for the Mango auction were a sight! We had no true grasp of the different shapes/sizes/colors/textures available. It was stunning! Some looked like apples, some like grapefruits, some HUGE, others tiny and delicate, long mangos, round Mangos, purple, green, yellow, red, orange...

The Mango grafting class was great fun, even for our non-plant-orientated hubbies. My friend's husband had never eaten Mango, but happily ate all the Mango delicacies, ice creams and fresh fruit he was offered. He now is a confirmed Mango fan!

We bought 5 new Mango trees, and vowed to return in a cooler month to get to walk the entire place. It is HUGE, and there is so much to see that after only 5 hours, our eyes were glazed(G).

The Bill Whitman Fruit Pavillion was awesome! I restrained myself from picking a nearly ripe Mangosteen. The Cacao trees there were very lovely, and loaded with new fruits.

The Jakfruit tree was a big hit- it drew oohs and awws from everyone walking by.

I loved how well-maintained the gardens are, and how clean everything was.

Anyone else from GW go? It was a well-attended event, with people from all over the world.

Lisa

Comments (14)

  • boson
    15 years ago

    Hi Lisa,

    I went to the Mango festival 2 years ago. Yeah lots of fun!
    My favorite at the sample table was also Nam Doc Mai. I bought 2 mango plants at that time, but they all died - not sure why. Now I have Mallika growing happily in my back yard, which I cannot wait to fruit.

    Tomas

  • jsvand5
    15 years ago

    Did they sell Champagne Mango trees? My new quest is finding a grafted ataulfo mango which seems to be the same thing as the champagne mango. I tasted one the other day and it was incredible. Hearing that the Nam doc mai and mallika tied makes me happy. I have not tasted either yet but I recently bought both and I have one NDM starting to ripen now.

  • ohiojay
    15 years ago

    Who just couldn't love Fairchild Gardens? Lisa, do you have any pics to share?

  • puglvr1
    15 years ago

    Sorry to say that I lived in Miami for two years but never made it to Fairchild Gardens...No excuse really other than just never made it there. Miami is three hours from me, so I will make it there one day. Lisa glad you had a great time. Yes, please post some photos!!

  • red_sea_me
    15 years ago

    Lisa,
    you are one lucky lucky lady. Not picking the ripe mangosteen, you are also pillar of selfcontrol.

    Which new mango trees did you get?

    -Ethan

  • ch3rri
    15 years ago

    I'm planning to go to Maimi late August and planning to visit some of the nursery. Wonder do we need to contact them a head of time to go there or not. Maybe I'll see some of you there?

  • gcmastiffs
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Ethan,

    I got Neelum, Mallika (my first one was destroyed by one of the dogs) and Rosigold. I also have Carrie, Julie, Ice Cream, Cogshall, Nam Doc Mai, Glenn, Fairchild and Lancitilla. Collecting dwarf Mango varieties is adicting!

    I figured they had security cameras on the Mangosteen fruits-I sure would have if it was my tree(G).

    Below is an album of the pictures we took on Sunday.

    Lisa

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fairchild Botanic Garden July 13, 2008

  • gcmastiffs
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Sorry Ethan, I forgot the other 2 varieties that my friend bought, a Valencia Pride and a Nam Doc Mai for herself.

    I'd love to find Champagne Mango trees for sale. The fruit I got was grown in Mexico. I wonder if they come true from seed?? I planted the seed.

    Lisa

  • jsvand5
    15 years ago

    They are supposed to grow true. I just planted 10 seeds a couple days ago so I am hoping to get lots of seedlings from those. From recent reading (and a little help from puglvr)it seems like the champagne are really just ataulfo's. I have not been able to find a concrete answer about whether the ataulfo's are the same as manila's. Some sites say yes, and some seem to say they are slightly different. If you have any luck finding grafted champagne's for sale please let me know. I just bought a seedling ataulfo that the seller claims is a couple years old on ebay. I have not received it yet but I am getting the feeling that it will not be anywhere near as old as he claims. After I commited to buy it one of his previous customers emailed me and said the plant he got from him was only about a foot tall and as thick as a pencil. Good luck with finding one.

  • red_sea_me
    15 years ago

    wow Lisa,
    what a beautiful place the Fairchild is. I might have to grab the family head out on a Florida trip like Jay and the fellas did. Your photos are beautiful and have such nice composition too.

    maybe I should add Nam Doc Mai to my wish lish from Pine Isl.

    -Ethan

    ps-Lisa, probably did not take your dog very much effort to destroy the Malika. That size of dog could probably do damage to a large in ground tree.

  • bluepalm
    15 years ago

    Very nice pictures. Good mango selections. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the Rosigold mango is. The Nam Doc Mai is also a superb variety. I've never had the Mallika, but my Dad's girlfriend just picked 3, with another 4 on the tree. So...I'll know soon enough! My dad told me the Mallika mangos are large...bigger than a Kent mango. Maybe when all of our mango/fruit trees get bigger, GW members can do a fruit-swap (via mail) so that we can try different varieties of mangos, etc.

  • kachibachi
    13 years ago

    The family and I enjoyed the festival as usual. Fairchild is a great place to go even without an event taking place.

    The curators choice tree's sold out very quickly. On Sunday morning I only saw about a dozen of the Pairi variety left. SWMBO said that it would make a good chutney as it's quite tart.

    I have not been happy with the look of the tree's they have available. They look spindly to me. It's as if they kept them in the dark to bolt, and then took them outside to green up a bit before selling.

    The Alphonso I bought from Pine Island on Friday looks a lot healthier and robust for a cheaper price.

    This is just my opinion, and I expect tree's anyone's purchased from there will grow and fruit fantastically.

  • mango_kush
    13 years ago

    Pairi is the Indain name for Bombay (the West Indian name)
    Jamaicans love them because of their resinous aftertaste.

    fairchilds trees are small, they sell them like that purposely to prevent any form of pot bounding.

  • kachibachi
    13 years ago

    Mango_Kush

    That makes sense. Very impressive plant list by the way.