• Fall 2008 Newsletter

Welcome to the exciting world of exotic fruit growing! Rivers End Nursery and Farm has developed over the last 18 years from a vision of enjoying delicious tropical fruits from around the world and introducing these trees and fruits to the homeowners here in Deep South Texas. We also offer bamboo, flowering trees, palms, landscape specimens, natural plant and soil amendments to enchance your landscape.

On this site we have given the most common English name, the genus/species and in some cases other common names by which the tree/fruit may be known in other cultures. The tree/fruit descriptions are followed by the minimum temperature tolerated before damage will occur. (This will also be influenced by several other factors such as location, health, state of growth, etc.). After this are listed the selected cultivars with characteristics noted.

To contact us please refer to the “Order” page.

Sorry, but we currently do not ship plants or fruit to California.

What’s Blooming and Fruiting??

THINGS CHANGE RAPIDLY IN THE ORCHARD DURING THE YEAR- CONSULT THIS PAGE FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES!

MANGOS, MANGOS, MANGOS !!!!!!! It is getting close to that time of celebration for all things Mangos.

Saturday, July 18 from 9AM until Noon it is MANGO FIESTIVAL at Rivers End Nursery and Farm. We will again have our tasting so the you can voted on the South Texas Mango Favorite. There will be cuisine samplings of different foods that feature mangos from some of our local eateries. And you can show off your Mangos by entering your Biggest or your Most Beautiful or your Most Bizarre Mango in our Fruit Contest.

Programs offered that day include How to Grow, Care for and Enjoy the King of Fruit along with a tour of our Mango Orchard along with the history of Mangos, Dr. John Goolsby talking about pests and disease issues of Mangos, and the Proper Pruning of Mangos (Size does matter).

Entrance to the Mango Fiestival is $5. You can purchase tickets in advance at the Nursery.

If you have Mango variety that you would like to be part of our tasting, please contact Kathy either by email or her cell, 459-4892.

And we look forward to seeing you on Saturday, July 18.

Our next walking tour will be August 29. The tour starts at 9AM and lasts about 2 hours. It is a great way to see what some of the more mature trees and plants look like. The cost is $3 which also entitles you to a 10% savings on your first tree purchase of that day. Please call for reservations or ticket purchase.

Sadly most of the Sapodillas are finished for this season but we are getting closer to Sugar Apple harvest - probably the end of July. We had an early bloom of the Dragon Fruit so there will be a limited amount available the end of June into the beginning of July. Both varieties of Jujubes set fruit this summer with the Chinese fruit ripening first. We do have a few Roseapples (it is like eating a flower) to harvest. The Strawberry Guavas, Peanut Butter Fruit and White Sapote are also available.

Fresh Eggs are almost always available. There are a few chickens availbe from our last harvest and we do take orders for our fresh colored and white broiler chickens.

As we have done for the past 5 years, “BioWash- 1227” - a type of non-toxic, biodegradable plant wash that we have been using in our own Orchard and Greenhouses is still available through our Nursery. We have found that clean plants are more resistant to disease and insects. To modify an old adage “A Clean Plant is A Healthy Plant - and a Very Happy One Too!” Because our Grandchildren like to taste all the fruits they find in orchard, we don’t want to use anything toxic. Regular use of this Plant Wash makes it sooo much easier to keep things healthy.

If you have a sago palm (cycad) that is suffering from Asian Scale infestation (a snow-like white mass) - talk to us. We have found some materials that are effective in dealing with this devastating problem. And if is too late to save your sago, we can show you some good alternatives.

We do offer the Beneficial Nematodes during the first 2 weekends of each month.

We do have our ACTIVATED MICRO NUTRIENT PELLETS available at this time. This is a great product for those of you who use compost on a regular basis and just need the addition of some micro nutrients (which get tied up in our alkaline soil). This regular Micro Mix contains Sulfur, Manganese, Copper, Iron, Zinc and Humic Acid.

Nursery is Open: 10:00am - 5:00pm, Friday & Saturday. If these times/days are inconvenient, call us for an appointment.

Thanks for visiting our web site…”Rivers End - The Valley Nursery with Worldwide Appeal”.