Papayas in the Back Yard

We’ve seen papayas growing in the US Botanic Garden. In the warm, moist and humid climate they do very well. So when we went to visit my mom in Florida last week, it just seemed funny to see papayas growing in the yard. We never had papayas when I was living there all those years ago. We had grapefruit and orange trees. In fact, one orange tree still is living - and there was one orange left on the branches. I’m not sure they are edible anymore. But the foliage in Florida is very different than that in northern Virginia - and even more different than the Midwest where we lived for thirty years. The hibiscus in the front yard was still in bloom, as well as other “exotic” plants around the house. When I think about it I really only spent 15 years growing up in Florida, and four of those years were in Tallahassee at Florida State. None of us want to live there full time - even in retirement - the culture is so different from what we are accustomed to. And my husband and I don’t golf, fish, boat, swim, etc. We do enjoy visiting once in a while - but that’s about it. It was after all my father’s idea to move there. We know he at least really liked it.