Seriously guys, wild coffee shouldn't be consumed, hence the name psychotria nervosa. This is my little native collection that I started from seed in early spring of last year! I collected the wild coffee seeds from plants while hiking, the magnolia seed was found on a "little gem" magnolia at the mayo clinic, and the coonties were found in a parking lot. I just threw them all together and this is what I got so far! (You'll notice I designed something on my blog which I also designed... um, there's also hoe and trowel award for best blog design wink wink.)
I have also started sea grapes, mangroves, pond apples, coral bean and nickarnut from seeds found on the beach, and have even sprouted a sea bean in the mucuna family that had washed up on the beach after floating on the currents from South America! The seed coats are so hard that they can even be polished and sold as jewelry, so cracking the seed required a drill and a 24 hour soak in warm water. After I planted the seed it grew into a 7 foot long liana in a couple of weeks, but it was so vigorous and fast growing that I couldn't keep up with the watering. I know I should have repotted it, but this was one of my first gardening adventures and growing a tropical liana seed that washed up on the beach is an adventure indeed.
Here is an assortment of sea beans found on Florida Beaches!
The two big ones are sea hearts, the one furthest to the left is a sea purse, (technically a mucuna and not a dioclea since the vine is hairy) below that is a Mary's bean, and the two to the right are hamburger beans in the mucuna family!
TRG,
ReplyDeleteI have found some of those Sea Beans on the beach here also but I didn't know just what plant they were from. My two Sea Grape plants came from the beach also as seeds. They are now taller than my house. The ocean is a great place to collect tropical seeds from all over carried North on the Gulf Stream.
This is really interesting. Your garden must be fascinating to look at and walk through.
ReplyDeleteHow VERY COOL!!!!!! I don't know that I've spotted these seeds. I'll be on the lookout now. I'd be interested in growing them, too. Great experiment!
ReplyDeleteHi Steve. I am glad that I am not the only one who snatches seeds from parking lots, buildings and nearby gardens. LOL! I wonder if they can arrest one for grabbing seeds from someone's plants. Thanks for dropping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteLona
Ha! I stole a bunch of seeds out of a coontie at my church parking lot! Sounds sinful, doesn't it? I was caught in the act by another member who owns a family landscape nursery! He informed me that I'd have some really nice plants in about twenty years. He's grown them by the thousands. They are super slow-growing. My mom has given me a couple of pups, but they haven't fruited yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for nominating me for a hoe and shovel award. You deserve an award for knowing all the names of things and where they all come from as they travel on the waves until they arrive on your beach! Amazing! I feel undeserving of an award because I just plonk things in the ground and they grow, without even learning their "proper" names!
ReplyDeleteLOL. The sea bean adventure sounds real fun! AND, I TOO picked up some seedlings from one parking lot (I think it IS coontie plant). Unfortunately I left them in my purse, and when I remembered them again was a couple of days later.... I guess I need to go to that parking lot again if I can remember which one :) I guess we gardeners just can not help ourselves sometime...
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish I could grow things like you! :) The only thing I've managed to do here is a bouganvllia, a cayenne pepper and various cactuses and aloes. You remind me so much of my cousin Dale that lives in florida it's crazy! He's a total garden freak and comes up with all of these beautiful ways to create and re-create his garden-yard all the time. My mom too, you all have the touch! :) So pretty :)
ReplyDeleteI've never noticed sea beans on the Gulf beaches. I'll have to take a closer look and maybe pick up a few. They sound intriguing. I have taken cardboard palm seeds from a plant in a park. I'm still waiting for them to sprout. (I had permission to take the seeds from the park gardener.)She told me to put them in a pot and forget about them for about a year.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like I'm not the only seed snatcher! Its a lot more rewarding to see every stage of a plant's life from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteFloridagirl - They ARE slow growing! my coonties have put out 2 "fronds" each so far.
Africanaussie - don't feel bad about not knowing what things are! I only know this stuff because I've amassed a reference library of sorts and work at a bookstore. Even the books are wrong sometimes.
Ami - If you still have the seeds plant them anyways! I didn't plant mine for a couple months or so... It couldn't hurt!
Gringa-n-Mexico - Those are great plants to grow! Considering your location, some things are a bit harder to grow there. Does your brother have a blog? :)
NanaK - Unfortunately sea beans don't usually wash up on the gulf coast. The best place to find them is on the atlantic beaches where the gulf stream washes them up with clumps of sargassum weed at the high tide line.
I have been picking up seeds wherever they are available in a public accessed areas. But I have not found any seeds like what you have found. They are indeed very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHave you got the chance to collect saga seeds?
Those which are polished deep red.
Sounds like you had so much fun germinating the seeds :-D That little plant in the pot looks pleasing. I hope they flourish well and soon you will have a wide collection of plants in you garden. Oh... btw, you must have a big garden! LOL :-D
ReplyDeleteNow I gotta go over to the beach and look for seeds!!! Sounds like fun actually!!!
ReplyDeleteI left you a comment after your comment on my blog re:Bolivian Sunflowers! Thanks...you really helped me out by asking about that!!!
Have a wonderful day...Julie
A lovely man in south Florida gave me a sea bean( hamburger bean) I want to make a necklace out of my lucky bean but I'm afraid to drill a hole in it. Any suggestions on how to safely do this. Thanks, donn
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteI've been collecting them for a necklace and this is how I drill holes in them: I would just get a board of wood to rest the bean on as a buffer between the floor, and use a wrench or clamp to hold the bean in place. Actually I use a drill to get through the seed coat before planting too! Thanks for visiting and congrats on your seabean!
Neat! I didn't think you could sprout sea beans (though the salt might do the seeds in), learned something new. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Do you know how I can drill a tiny hole through a lucky hamburger bean to make a necklace? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've always done is use a vice grip to hold it in place while using a diamond-tipped drill bit. The beans are a lot harder than wood.
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