Dwarf Pineapple - ananas nanas
The dwarf pineapple is so pink as it is developing that my male birds have been seen "flirting" with them.
Queen of The Night - Epiphyllum oxypetalum
I had 12 blooms open in one night, and we invited friends over at midnight to watch the spectacle.
Marula seedlings - they are polyembryonic
Marula - Sclerocarya birrea.
They are dioecious, so I am growing several, hoping for both sexes. They are quite vigorous, and have hit the ceiling a couple of times. Pruning helps keep them in line.
Nigerian Walnut seedling that I named Audrey - Feed me, Seymour!!
Nigerian Walnut - plukenetia conophora.
A canopy take-over vine, happily eating the West end of my greenhouse
They produce a fruit that resembles a patty-pan squash, and contains a delicious, highly nutritious seed that looks like a black walnut. When I ordered these seeds from Cameroon, it took a couple of tries, because the first time, the harvester's daughter found the seeds, boiled them up and took them to the market!
Bird of Paradise - Streletzia reginae. I brought back six seeds of the Mandela's Gold Bird of Paradise from South Africa and got one to germinate. Yay!
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The Tropical House is never allowed to drop below 50 degrees (F) in the winter, and the humidity is kept high, creating the perfect zone 11-12 environment for tender tropical trees. The Tropical house is triple insulated and heated with a blue flame gas furnace. In addition to heat, the gas furnace produces up to a quarter gallon of water vapor an hour, helping sustain a tropically moist environment. There is nothing finer than sitting in the Tropical House in the winter with a cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of wine in the evening, as the Idaho snow falls quietly outside.
Most of the trees in the Tropical House have been grown from seed, collected as we explore the world. Please be patient as I build this page. I am adding botanical names, photos and descriptions of the collection, as time allows. For now, here is a list of common names of many of the Tropical House plants! Cherimoya Custard Apple Soursop Papaya Cinnamon Cola Lemon Grass Safou Stamvrug Pitangatuba Mangosteen Dragonfruit Ice Cream Bean Arabian Jasmine Drumstick Tree Pitcher Plant Cambuca Eggfruit Mistletoe Cactus Sugar Cane Chocolate Tree Vanilla orchid Monkey Orange 
Kukui - Aleurites moluccanus
I brought these seeds back from Hawaii. The trees are very vigorous, and make awesome shade!
Coffee - coffee arabica
The coffee bush grows great in my greenhouse, making flowers and cherries most of the year. I have found it is easiest to roast the beans in a hot air popcorn popper.
Coffee flowers are small and fragrant
The fruits, which last sort of like slightly sweet celery, take several months to develop. the cherries turn bright red when ripe.
Noni - Morinda citrifolia. Very handsome bush with an upright habit. None fruit is supposed to be a highly nutritious "super-fruit". Too bad it tastes like a cross between banana and REALLY stinky cheese!
Noni flower
A noni fruit that has fallen. One of the few things in the greenhouse that my birds won't eat...
Dwarf voodoo lily - typhonium roxburgii.
If you come into the greenhouse, and smell a dead rat in a bag of mothballs, then the voodoo lilies are blooming!
Cotton - Glossyplim hirsutum
Cotton comes in COLORS! Whodah thunk?
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