Nursery helps gardeners of rare tastes

By CHRISTINA K. COSDON

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

From the street, Alan Smith's nursery appears unkempt, nothing like what one might expect of a business that grows, brokers and ships exotic fruit and flowering trees all over the world to governments, individuals and other nurseries.

There are no clear pathways on the property. Rare and familiar plants grow together in a jumbled thicket where one easily could get lost. But Smith knows every plant, where it is and how it is doing.

[Times photo: Matt May] Alan Smith, owner of Tropical Fruit Trees, inspects a plumeria blossom Tuesday at the nursery on 126th Ave. N in Seminole.

Outside Smith's workplace trailer Tuesday morning, a group of plants sat in pots awaiting shipment. Among them were kiwi and Chinese passion fruit plants bound for Texas and a Mandarin hat plant intended for a Lakeland collector.

Nearby, mango, gingko biloba and macadamia trees were growing alongside curry plants, tulip, cherimoya, michelia alba, sugar apple and tamarind trees -- just a few of the many plants and trees in various stages of growth at the nursery.

In the soft accent of his native Zimbabwe, Smith talks about his plants with delight, fascination and an easy self-confidence. He enjoys his work so much that he calls it a hobby, but one that he takes very seriously.

He travels the world in search of rare plants for himself and customers.

"I get requests for plants I've never heard of," he said.

He went to China to try to find a rare plant for a grower on the east coast of Florida.

"I found a tree with flowers, but never found one with ripe fruit" that the grower wanted, he said.

On a trip to Africa, he dug through elephant dung to extract the marula seed.

"When the (fruit) falls to the ground in December, the elephants and monkeys eat it and get totally stoned on it," he said. "Humans make a liquor from it."

This week, Smith was at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg installing two shade trees -- a gingko biloba and a maple -- in the kindergarten playground. There still is a little more work to be done to complete the job, Smith said, and he expected the project to be finished by today.

He is working on a project with the Brazilian government.

"The government is looking for a species of fig resistant to an Indian fly," he said. He also recently sent "thousands of citrus root stock seeds" to the Greek government. Another order included 145 trees to Eritrea, he said.

In 1982, Smith and his English-born wife, Carolyn, a registered nurse, moved to the United States. "She always wanted to live in America," he said.

The couple moved to St. Petersburg and Mrs. Smith, who specializes in neonatal work, was hired by All Children's Hospital.

Smith, who grew up on a farm in his native Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, got into the plant business shortly after moving here.

"I found there was a demand for Key limes, but couldn't find any locally," he said. "I found some at a grower in Valrico and bought the entire production."

He sold the limes to nurseries and became a broker for other types of citrus.

Eventually, he had enough stock of his own to start a nursery. He opened his first nursery on Ulmerton Road in Largo. He was there for six years before moving it seven years ago to his current location at 6101 126th Ave. N.

Smith said he gets lots of orders for "culinary" plants and trees. The kaffir lime is used in Thai and Arabic cooking, he said. The curry plant is popular, he said, and the neem leaf is used for tea.

"The dried leaves of the gingko steeped in hot water make an excellent tea," he said.

Prices for the plants range from $5 for a three-quart papaya plant to $1,000 for a machelia alba tree that comes from China, is in the magnolia family and has a white blossom with a delicate fragrance. The trees aren't grown from seeds, he said -- they have to be grafted or air-layered. An 18-inch grafted start for a machelia alba can be purchased for $35, he said, and a six-inch cutting from a plumeria dwarf snowyte goes for $55. A 10-foot macadamia nut tree is priced at $500. A gingko biloba tree 3 to 4 feet tall can be purchased for $25.

The drought has been hard on the nursery's plants and trees, Smith said, particularly since his well went dry.

"Everything looks drought-stricken," he said. He waters by hand with a 325-gallon barrel on a truck. "I go day by day, but there are a tremendous amount of trees dying."

The noise of U.S. 19 can be heard in the distance, but birds chirp and butterflies abound.

"I get peace of mind here," he said. "There's no telephone and I come and go as I like."

Smith can be reached at his message center at 539-7527 or via e-mail at zambesi@gte.net.

Know of a new or unique business in the greater Seminole area? If so, tell us about it. Send items to Seminole Business, Seminole Times, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756, or fax it to 445-4119. We also are interested in promotions, expansions and major new contracts. Photos can be sent, but not all will be used and they cannot be returned.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.