Mount Cottrell Fruit Trees (Popular)
Mount Cottrell Fruit Trees and the most popular plants Australians buy for mail order. With fruit trees you should consider climate suitability.
Staghorn Fern (30cm)
$39.00
The staghorn is one of the most prominent and stunning features of our native rainforest. They are epiphytic and adorn the treetops with their spectacular foliage, they can also be lithophytic which means growing on rocks. Each fern consists of two types of frond, the nest fronds are infertile and grow around the host tree holding the fern firmly in place as well as providing it with a nest at the top to catch falling leaves which rot down and feed the plant. The fertile fronds are the dramatic antler shaped fronds that produce the spore, these hang down from the center of the fern. It is important to give your fern a bright spot in filtered sunlight, they do not like dense shade but will appreciate some humidity. Protect from drying winds and do not over water your fern. Feed with a liquid fertilizer during the warmer months.
Yacon - Apple of the Earth
$19.75 ($3.95-$19.75 choose a size)
Also known as the 'Earth Apple' this is one of the ancient crops of the Inca's. This relative of the sunflower is popular to the people of Columbia, Ecuador and Argentina. The plant produces large tubers similar in appearance to sweet potatoes, but they have a much sweeter taste and crunchy flesh. The tubers can be eaten raw as a refreshing treat on their own, finely sliced and mixed into salads,boiled or baked, fried as chips or prepared as a pickle. There is also commercial interest as a flavouring for yoghurt. They are sweet, juicy and almost calorie free. The main stem can also be used like celery. The texture and flavour have been described as a cross between a fresh apple and watermelon. The plants are vigorous, herbaceous, perennial and extremely hardy tolerating hot summers, drought and poor soils. The foliage of the plant dies back in the winter after flowering at which time the tubers are harvested carefully to avoid damage to the tubers. They tend to continue sweetening if left in a cool dry and dark place for a week or two before consumption. The reddish rhizomes are then replanted for the next season.
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