When I was a kid my Grandfather was always growing mahogany trees from seed. He was a skilled carpenter and boatbuilder and got a kick out of the fact that he could grow mahogany in his yard down in South Florida. We children found the tree fascinating. It had these incredible rock-hard seed pods that would occasionally explode and release a burst of good-sized helicopter seeds that looked like something designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Grandpa never harvested any of the wood from the tree to the best of my knowledge, but it was right there by the side of the carport where he did his carpentry. During my recent visit to South Florida I saw a nice big mahogany growing in a suburban front yard and captured it on film:
Unfortunately, mahogany is a truly tropical tree and South Florida is the very top of its native range – otherwise, I’d be growing mahogany up here just for fun. All you need is some seeds and some time.
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7 comments
Will you be growing mahogany at your new place? what a cool tree!
I hope so. I would also love to trying growing ebony, though I don’t think I’ll live the 200 years until harvest time.
I picked up what I thought was a mahogany seed last fall and put it in a dish under some decorative balls and pine cones on my table. In the last week and a half it has sprouted and the sprout is now almost two feet long. It turns toward the east window in the morning and rotates toward the west in the late afternoon. No dirt. No water. Very weird!!? Have you ever heard of such a strange growth?
Please send me some good pictures when you get a chance – that is amazing. My email is david @ the survival gardener. com. (Take the spaces out.)
Coming your way
Hi! I just ran across this article, probably to late to post here but I figured I’d tell you we have an almost 100 yr old huge mahogany tree in our front yard. I was so excited because, those helicopter wings inside the hard shell have a little nut inside, that is really tasty! But the best part is it’s a superfood for diabetics. in other countries they power or pill form em specifically as a supplement for that. It really lowers blood sugar. I think you should try growing it there, once it’s established not much hurts it! ANyway thought you might like to know that. THanks for the great posts and hard work:)
Peace,
Niki
I didn’t know that – thank you.