More strange fruit: Pitahaya in a sunny yellow
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When our Global Garden series turned to pitahaya, or dragon fruit, earlier this week, I exchanged messages with Alex Silber, who runs Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills. Alex was kind enough to pass along photos of a yellow variety, which looked something like a snake planning to make the world’s strangest lemonade.
Silber said the plant likes to attach itself to rough-textured objects such as coarse tree bark using aerial roots that release a bonding fluid. His customers have had good luck growing dragon fruit in full sun in coastal climates and partial shade inland; where temperatures hit 100 or higher, a light shade cloth can keep the plant happy.
As Global Garden writer Jeff Spurrier mentioned in his dragon fruit post, Mimosa Nursery in East Los Angeles sells the plant. Readers often ask, ‘Where can I buy that?’ So it’s worth noting that Papaya Tree Nursery sells pitahaya too -- one species with dark pink skin and white flesh, one with dark pink skin and hot pink flesh, and one with yellow-skinned fruit and white flesh, right. Silber said most plants are sold in 5-gallon containers for $35 to $75.
-- Craig Nakano
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