Hylocereus undatus - Dragon Fruit Flower

That's very eyecatching!
I can't say that I've ever seen a dragon fruit though. What do they taste like?

Meanie:

You've never heard of Dragon Fruit! LOL! : > )

They're all the craze here in California. They are an extremely nutritious fruit...very,very high in anti-oxidants. There's many varieties which have different taste...some are bland and other are like sweet melons.

Check out my many posted Dragon Fruit pics on GoY.

Meanie you cant be shopping in the right stores....We see them often down here in Essex.....They are yummy.....Its nice to see the flower though, so thanks for the posting Andy....

Milky:

You're welcome. : > )

I'm gonna have to try one when i see it ..

Just googled it - it's what I call Pitaya, or rather, that's what it's called up the Cowley road where I bought them!

Meanie:

It's very commonly know here as Pitaya also...which is the Spanish name. Much of the population in San Diego speaks Spanish.

Milky - I must admit that as a rule I only buy my fruit from the market or when I visit the Cowley Road. But I did check out the fruit section in Waitrose yesterday with no luck, although I did break my rule to buy a couple of reduced mangos for 10p!!! I'll never understand why people pay £1.29 for an unripe mango, when if they wait they can have a ripe one for 10 pence! Cripes - I almost went off on a rant about supermarkets!!
Delonix - interesting the Spanish origin of the name as the shop I get them from occasionally is the Indian supermarket.

Meanie:

That is interesting. Hylocereus undatus - Pitaya is native from Mexico through Central America and to northern South America, hence the Spanish name origin.

Delonix - I suppose it is possible, as there were small enclaves of Spanish territories on the Indian sub continent. Or maybe it's another example of the rise in Indian business looking for export products.

You mentioned that you had the coolest July temps in years...do you suppose that cooler temps and some extra precip have jump started them? I hope you get some lovely fruit. It is so hard to find exotics at the grocery that aren't picked so green that they'll never taste like they should...Meanie's example of the Mango, is classic.... I buy them and put them on the windowsill for a couple of days...and often they go from green to yuck... sad but true, here in Canada anyway. LOL..I love to eat mangoes like I eat an apple...end up with "cotton mouth"...natures dental floss.

Lori:

San Diego has had the coolest July in 100 years. My feeling why it's been so cool is due to the quick transitioning from El Nino to La Nina. (It's been unusually cool in most of California with the exception of the deserts which have only been slightly cooler than normal).

Thanks! I'll post pics if my dragon fruits develop.

In past postings...I've gone on my harangues about fruits being picked too green...and mangoes and papayas are at the top of the list. Most of our mangoes come from Mexico. However, soon our local Coachella Valley mangoes will come into season...they're the best. I grow my own papayas so that's never an issue for me. My home-grown bananas are the best too. : > )

Every one round Delonix's for fruit salad and ice cream .I can taste those mangoes yyyuuummmmm..:o)))

Mushybanna:

The mangoes from the Coachella Valley, CA. are some of the best mangoes in the world. (many mango connoisseurs came from many mango-growing regions of the world to taste these Keitt mangoes to determine this).

However, in my opinion Pirie (an east Indian variety) is the best tasting mango followed by Keitt .(unfortunately, Pirie mangoes are not grown in California commercially).

The best mangoes are the fresh ones, very difficult to buy here in the UK.

Meanie:

Unfortunately, mangoes have to go through a hot water bath to kill pests in order to be exported around the world. Technically, all those mangoes are cooked!

Delonix - to cook the ones that they export to us they'd need to be roasted for a couple of hours they're that under-ripe!! Fortunately, the oh so powerful supermarkets pass up on the ones that are near ripe in the interest of shelf life - these near perfect mangoes are then bought by the market traders and then sold to me at near half the price of the supermarkets! They still don't come close to the delights of the mangoes that I bought off of the street traders in the far east though!

perfect mangoes are rare around here too.... but when you luck out..!! scrumptious!