Magic mango tree produces four mangoes in Maxine Adam’s Hampton backyard

Top end tropical fruit growers might soon have a new source of competition from the south, with a Hampton retiree managing to grow mangoes in her backyard.

Maxine Adam with Felicity Wells from the Bay Road Nursery pose with the fruitful mango tree. Picture: Penny Stephens.

Top end tropical fruit growers might soon have a new source of competition from the south, with a Hampton retiree managing to grow mangoes in her backyard.

Maxine Adam bought her lucky mango tree from Bay Rd Nursery in Sandringham eight years ago, but this is the first time it has produced any fruit.

“I planted it because it looked nice but I never expected to get a mango,” she said.

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“One mango fell and my husband wanted to eat it but I said ‘No, it’s my baby and I haven’t decided what to do with it.”

A plant expert has rated the fruiting in Melbourne’s Mediterranean climate “unusual”.

Bay Road Nursery boss Justin Taverniti said in his 35 years as a nursery retailer he had only heard of one other mango fruiting in Melbourne.

“It is very unusual to find a mango tree fruiting in Melbourne,” he said.

“Bayside temperatures don’t vary greatly, so it’s plausible that conditions and good feeding and watering were suitable for the mango to fruit.”

Ms Adam’s tree has so far fruited four mangoes, but hasn’t sampled any of them yet.

“I’ll be keeping them away from my husband for now,” she said.

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