Growing tasty tropical plants*

Growing tasty tropical plants* 
(like lemons, limes, citrons, grapefruit, kumquats, sunquats, tahitian oranges, barbados cherries, figs, guavas, dragon fruit, miracle berries, olives, passion fruit, coffee, chocolate, tea, black pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, and more...)
*in any home, anywhere
by Laurelynn G. Martin and Byron E. Martin

160 pages
Storey Publishing, 2010
List price: $18.95






When doing a review of a how-to book, I try to imagine that whatever the book is showing me how to do is entirely new to me. That was easy in this case, because I've never grown a single edible tropical plant in my life. Then I read the basic instructions on how to do whatever it is they're explaining and see if any crucial details are left out.

This book is ironically timely for me, having purchased a Meyer lemon tree (calling it a tree is a stretch) just three days before receiving my review copy in the mail. Meyer lemon is just one of the 47 plants profiled and after reading the information presented, I feel confident that I will be successful in growing it.

Each plant's profile displays one or more clear photos of the plant with its fruit and well-organized information necessary to grow it successfully: plant particulars, growing conditions, care, and potential problems. A section at the back of the book called "Plant Care" goes into details  that are common to nearly all tropical fruiting plants, including propagating, pruning, pest and disease control, and troubleshooting. Sources for the plants themselves are also listed.

Laurie and Byron are the owners of the renowned Logee's Tropical Plants in Danielson, CT - a business that has been in the Logee-Martin family since 1892. If anyone knows their tropicals, it's these two, and once again, they share their expertise with the rest of us.

Laurelynn Martin is vice-president and co-owner of Logee’s Greenhouses, and has worked there since 1991. She is the author of Logee’s Spectacular Container Plants, which won the Independent Publisher’s Book Award in 2005, and she has received the MGA Green Thumb Award for Plant Photography and Copy in both 2005 and 2008. She lives in Brooklyn, Connecticut.



Byron Martin is the president and co-owner of Logee’s Greenhouses, and is a renowned expert on growing tropical container plants. He is a featured speaker at national seminars on growing tropical plants and is regularly featured on television’s “Martha Stewart Live.” He is the author of Logee’s Spectacular Container Plants, which won a 2001 Independent Publisher’s Award for Best in Home and Garden, and the Mailorder Gardener’s Association Green Thumb Award in both 2005 and 2009 for photography and copy for that book. He lives in Danielson, Connecticut.

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The publication being reviewed in this blog post was the sole compensation for reviewing the product. All opinions expressed here are mine. If I like it, I'll say so. If I don't, I'll say that, too.