Its been said many times on the garden web. Its a good idea to try the mango before you buy the tree. That's another reason why Excalibur is good; they sell many mango fruit varieties. I'm guilty of jumping on the "gotta have that tree bandwagon" ; I bought the Lemon Zest and the Pickering, both of which I've never had. But my other mango trees are growing mangos which I've eaten. Bailey's Marvel is a good example of a mango which noone talks about. It is my favorite mango and I planted the tree because I thought it was (and is) delicious. I am going to go to Excalibur when they have some Maha to try it (hopefully they will have some for me ) There are so many delicious mango varieties out there!
Good point about trying before you buy. I've planted 4 species of mangoes and 3 varieties of lychee that I have never tasted before. But I'm optimistic that I will like them. I also planted two varieties of dragonfruit and I have never eaten a dragon fruit. Same with Sapodilla; planted a tree, but have never eaten a sapodilla before. Planted a Kary starfruit; never had that type before. I'm optimistic that I will like most of the fruit I planted. I planted two types of avocado (early and late season avocado) and I don't really eat avocado. I guess I'm willing to take a chance because I've only planted in my front yard and I still have plenty of space in the backyard.
I'm not an expert ( well far from it
), but I have been involved with tropical fruit growing, for a number of years.
Right now, or soon, Sapodilla is in season-( Call first to see what fruit they have started picking )Take a ride to Excalibur and they will have a number of sap. varieties of fruit for sale ( and for tasting)- They can also show you how to know when to pick the fruit from your tree- Sapodilla is tricky and if its not eaten ripe, its pretty bad. If you dont like the fruit-then you can yank the tree or change it for another variety. I LOVE sapodilla but not everyone does
There are a lot of dragon fruit varieties-the ones which I have tasted were really bland but I understand there are newer, better tasting ones. Check and see which varieties you have planted.
As far as mangos, I have only tasted one variety of mango which was horrible- what I think was Turpentine from a huge tree in Boynton Beach. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the recommended mango varieties. You can read about one mango or another being "the best" but in truth, mangos are delicious, period.
Lychee is a tree which won't give you fruit every year. Longan will fruit every year and its really good. Not in season now but make sure you taste some when it is. Matter of opinion on which variety-there are only a few available.
You might want to get a Jakfruit- I really like it but my husband cant stand it at all. Right now, you can still buy some Jakfruit for tatsing. It is a really beautiful tree, even if you dont eat the fruit.
Excalibur is local ( there is also a fruit guy on the same block who sells in front of his house) and they sell fruit-lost of it, for tasting.
Take advantage