A botanical garden in the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia has successfully cultivated tropical species such as bananas, oranges, pineapples, coffee, and fig trees, adding an exotic touch to the Victorian Park located in the heart of the municipality.
Agave plants, which are used to produce tequila and mezcal in Mexico, had already been successfully planted in the city's municipal gardens in 2018.
The largest 450-kilogram agave plant in the park, affectionately nicknamed Agave Maria by some, became an attraction for local and international audiences during the summer in the city center last year after it managed to survive outside the greenhouse municipal. After growing at an amazing speed of more than 15 centimeters a day for a prolonged period of time, resisting spring frosts, the agave bloomed, after which the Halifax plant began to die in the fall. In January 2019, in the middle of winter, city dwellers waited for several hours to obtain one of the 158 seeds of the iconic plant.
American agave is native to arid climates and usually lives about 30 years. On average, plants bloom at age 25 and then, once their reproductive function is completed, they die.
In 2019, another tropical plant became the center of attention in Halifax, the banana. This is the first time in a decade that a banana tree has borne fruit in this region.
To protect bananas from the greedy, the site was organized to keep the fruits off the trails and pineapples were planted around the tree to prevent the public from having access to it, says Heidi Boutilier, director of horticulture for the city of Halifax.
Source: rcinet.ca
