Chapter 434: Queen of Flowers
Zhao Yeqing looked forward and said, "Of course not. Look at the palm trees growing halfway up the mountain. They are almost as tall as my eyes. They have grown wildly in the past two years. Look at the path we used to walk down the mountain. There is no trace of it at all."
As he was speaking, Zhao Yeqing spotted a familiar-looking plant in the grass at his feet.
After knocking on the grass in front of me with a stick to make sure there were no snakes, I slowly walked down the mountain among the waist-high ferns.
He squatted in front of the plant, raised his hand and stroked his chin, with a puzzled look on his face: "Mu Xi, do you think this thing looks like a jackfruit tree?"
The more Zhao Yeqing looked at it, the more it resembled it. She had a deep impression of this tree. She had seen a report in the news before that the roadside green belts in Hainan Province were all planted with jackfruit trees. She was very envious at the time.
When I can't sleep at night, a certain idea appears in my mind, and I will suddenly burst out with a strong desire for knowledge. For example, at three o'clock in the morning, I suddenly became curious that if Ultraman has Ultra Father and Ultra Mother, then whether there is Ultra Sister, so I opened Baidu.
It was at that time that I got to know this jackfruit tree and was left with a very deep impression.
But where do the jackfruit trees come from in a place like theirs?
Even if climate change occurs, seeds will not appear out of thin air.
Mu Xi said with certainty, "It's either a resemblance or a dragon fruit." Then he raised his chin to the side and said, "Then look at that one over there. Does it look like a dragon fruit?"
Zhao Yeqing was confused. Was there a bug in this huge game program called World?
Mu Xi knocked her head: "What are you thinking about? What thing carries the seeds? Don't you remember?"
Zhao Yeqing’s lost IQ just now found the way home. He clapped his hands and said in sudden realization: “Yes, an elephant!”
Elephants' favorite thing is all kinds of fruits. Plus, their migration routes can be very long, so they won't spit out the seeds of the fruits after eating. They will keep them in their stomachs until they are brought here and then excreted.
Zhao Yeqing walked to the side of the dragon fruit plant. It had no fruit yet and looked like a cactus, but it was not a cactus once you touched it. The jagged edge of the plant looked covered with white thorns, but it felt soft to the touch.
It's a bit like the feeling of pinching the ends of your hair and running your fingers over it when only two inches are left.
"Generally, it takes about a year for pitaya to germinate and mature and bear fruit. According to the time when the elephants appear on the meadow, if nothing unexpected happens, we will be able to harvest a batch of fruits this year."
Mu Xi used the measure word "pi". Zhao Yeqing stood up, parted the grass and took a closer look. There were quite a few dragon fruit stems and leaves hidden in the tall grass.
Yes, all the small black seeds in a dragon fruit are its seeds. If someone can manage it carefully, I guess one dragon fruit is enough to plant a large area.
"How do we guard this? We can't come here all the time. That would be too dangerous. How about digging some and taking it back?"
Generally, plants will not bear fruit in the first year after transplanting. They need time to adapt, and the root system will inevitably be damaged. There is still a process of repair. But it is better than losing a single plant in case of an accident.
Mu Xi nodded, squatted down and listened to her instructions. He dug up the several dragon fruit plants she pointed to. Zhao Yeqing did not give up completely on the remaining ones. He collected some branches to support the messy stems and leaves of the dragon fruit.
This is to prevent the plant from being too short to receive sunlight. This tropical fruit loves sunlight the most. It also prevents the fruit from growing close to the ground when it blooms and bears fruit, as it is prone to rot and insects.
There is no way to deal with the jackfruit tree. We have only seen one of it so far, and it will take more than six years for it to grow and bear fruit. We will talk about it later.
The purpose of this trip was not fully achieved. I originally wanted to know why wild boars attacked my house, but every guess was denied. However, I still gained something. I killed a wild boar, got a few dragon fruits, and gained some understanding of the situation here.
You can't stay in the woods at night, even if it's just a little dark. It's best not to be in the woods. The pace of going home quickens. When you leave the woods, only the last ray of sunlight is left, which is a reddish orange-yellow color, making the grass look warm.
The dragon fruit was placed in the original small garden. Zhao Yeqing pulled out the marigolds that were growing well and planted them on the wall outside the yard.
He said confidently: "Dragon fruit can bloom more than ten times a year, and the fruit can be eaten. There is no more cost-effective ornamental plant than it."
The flower of pitaya is also called the king flower. It is very beautiful and looks somewhat similar to the Epiphyllum. The Epiphyllum only blooms once, while the pitaya flower blooms for half a year.
(Pictures available here)
After the flowers fade, there is still a season of fruits to enjoy. Before they are fully ripe, the fruits laden on the branches are even more pleasing to look at.
It is more appropriate to plant the transplanted marigolds outside the yard. They can slowly multiply until their numbers increase. In addition, their "flower fragrance" is quite special, and almost no animals go back to eat them, making them easier to manage.
The reason I didn't plant it outside against the wall before was because I was afraid that a snake would 'step' on it and crawl into the yard. But now I have raised wild geese, and they will grow up in more than a month, and then I won't have to worry about snakes coming in.
While having dinner in the evening, both of them seemed a little absent-minded. They couldn't find out why the wild boar came over, and they felt uneasy.
Zhao Yeqing even muttered, "Did I eat something wrong? Like some poisonous mushrooms in the woods?"
Mu Xi was not sure, but it was not impossible. After finishing the meal, he cleaned up Zhao Yeqing's bowl and chopsticks. The detergent used for washing dishes was soapberry solution. When encountering bowls and chopsticks with a lot of oil, he added a little wood ash to it.
As soon as the wood ash enters the bowl, the white porcelain is instantly wetted and turned dark gray, making it look even dirtier. You can rub the wood ash a few times with your hands and then rinse it with clean water, and the original greasy stains will be instantly washed away.
After washing the dishes, I walked over and sat down. Zhao Yeqing had already wiped the table clean, and there was a glass of iced honey water on the table.
The cold drink went down his throat, and the heat that had risen in his body after the meal was suppressed by the cool air, and he instantly felt refreshed. Mu Xi thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I ate something wrong, or maybe I was in a panic and didn't know what to do."
Zhao Yeqing blinked: "What do you mean?"
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