Avocado

families

The families of the avocado are named by their country of origin.

Honduran The Honduran avocado grow in tropical climates. Within the USA, they are grown only in Florida, where they are the predominant family.
Guatemalan The Guatemalan avocado have a rough, thick skin and ripen in February to July.
Mexican The Mexican avocado have a smooth, thin skin and ripen in October to December. They tolerate extreme temperatures very well.

Each of the families blooms in April; but they do not interbreed. The fruit take from six to sixteen months to ripen. The fruit will keep as long as is remains on the tree. Once it is picked or falls-off, it will soften in about a week. Only then does it become edible to us humans, with our inferior teeth.

The avocado trees are native to a moist warm climate. They are stressed by hot dry or freezing conditions.

varieties

There are (had been?) hundreds of varieties of avocado. However, in the 1960's, the cooperative Calavo -- with its dominant marketing position -- consolidated the commercial marketing to just a few varieties.

Carr is a Mexican variety which ripens and sheds the fruit in October. The tree has an upright growth-habit. The rather small fruit, when ripe, is dark purple (almost black) and very shiny. Its shape is that of a truncated-cone, with hemi-spherical caps. It had been grown extensively in the City Terrace community of Los Angeles, California, USA, through the 1940's. Now, I have the only remaining several trees. Because the fruit are too tender; they are not suitable for commercial marketing.
Suzan (after Suzanne, the daughter of its originator) is a typical Mexican variety which ripens in October through December. The tree has a globular growth-habit. The leaves are an intense slightly-bluish green color. When ripe, the fruit remain green. Its shape is slightly oblong spherical. It was developed in this orchard, in 1947. and patented -- I will attempt to locate a copy of the patent and post it here. Now, it is grown extensively in Kern County of California, USA. The tree is hardy -- tolerant of both heat and cold.
Fuerte ("strong", in Spanish), because of its characteristics, is believed to be a hybrid of the Mexican and Guatemalan families; but, more likely, is just the earliest maturing Guatemalan. The fruit ripen in December and have a medium-thick, slightly rough skin. The tree has a wide-spreading gnarled growth-habit. It grows very large; but, not as tall at the other varieties. Hence, it does not receive enough sun-light when grown together with other varieties. Sometimes, the fruit turns black when fully ripe. The tree is reasonably hardy -- tolerant of both heat and cold; but, the fruit has to survive a portion of the Winter, when it may be subjected to frost.
Ryan is a typical Guatemalan variety which ripens in February through May. The tree has a globular growth-habit. When ripe, the fruit remain green. The fruit is oblong, slightly tapered to a smaller size at the top (the stem). As all Guatemalan, the tree is not hardy. The fruit have to survive both a Summer and a Winter -- two chances for damage.
Hass is a Guatemalan variety which ripens in June through August. It is intolerant of extreme temperatures. The tree has a slender upright growth-habit. When ripe, the fruit are solid black; but, often they are picked immature, green. They are grown extensively in costal regions of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Orange, and San Diego counties. The tree is intolerant to both the dry heat of Summer and any frost of Winter. The fruit are exposed to two Summers and one Winter -- three chances for damage.

care

The avocado are well-suited to my lazy nature; because they are happiest when not trimmed. In a mature forest -- that is, when the canopy closes --, the lowest branches dry-out and break-off. The leaves sprout in April and remain on the tree for a year. Some of the leaves are shed all of the time; but, the majority fall-off when the tree blooms. Some years, the Ryan becomes denuded during its blooming season. The trees require almost two metres of water each year. In Southern California, that requirement means about one-and-a-half metres of irrigation. A shortage of water stunts the tree, causes it to shed an excessive amount of lower limbs, and curtails the crop. They are monoecious.

mature forest

The orchard has become a mature forest, with the canopy closed at two or three levels, at a height of between five and nine metres. It actually is moderately dark in the daytime, under the trees. At ground level, there are only the tree-trunks and some major branches. There are no fruit within reach, even from my ladders. The commercial pickers bring their own very long ladders and long picking poles, to reach the fruit. Since the flowers are borne on the previous year's growth, the fruit are near the top of the foliage; thus, invisible from the ground. On the other hand, this years growth begins immediately after the flowering; thus, the fruit are hidden from the top or outside by about a third of a metre of the dense foliage. Should an occasional fruit become exposed to the sunlight -- or even the clear sky --; it will become badly sunburned within a week and drop-off soon thereafter. It will be inedible.

The walkways outside of the avocado trees are planted with decorative trees, bushes, and annuals; thus obscuring the avocado trees. As a result, it will be a challenge to photograph any avocado trees within the orchard. The fruit are not accessible for photographing while they remain on the trees.

guard bitches & dog --- pets

Canids have a double coat: long coarse sparse outer-coat and short fine thick inner-coat, which may be white even in some dark individuals. The outer-coat may have dark ends, medium middle, and white near the roots. The coat is molted at about each equinox. The Summer coat is shorter and sparser than the Winter coat; but, it depends upon the climate, weather, and breed. Sometimes, an extra molt may occur during an extreme of temperature. In Southern California, many Canis vulgaris do not have an inner-coat. Also, the climate has insufficient distinction between Winter and Summer; hence, the molting may shift to the time of the solstice.

Numerous photographs will be posted, as they become available.