Maritime fruit salad: Tropical fruit on display in downtown Halifax

It’s something you wouldn’t expect to see in gardens in Halifax — bananas, oranges, and even pineapples.

But that’s what exactly what the Public Gardens have been graced with this summer alongside the citrus tree.

“I mean, how many times have we eaten pineapples and bananas, but we’ve never actually seen what they look like on a tree so it’s really exciting,” said Halifax native Lisa Crotty, who made her way downtown as soon as she heard the news.

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The Halifax Public Garden was created to be a place for botanical learning. It has been displaying unusual plants for the past 152 years. However, for almost a decade the Musa Acuminate or dwarf banana plant has been growing, and for the first time this spring is producing fruit.

Visitors to the garden have been amazed by the tropics making their way to the city. Courtney Cowan, who’s visiting from Toronto, says this is all new to her.

“I was told that we have to come to the Public Gardens because there’s really cool new trees, so I saw the bananas and the pineapples and I’ve never ever seen them on a tree before,” Crotty says. “I didn’t know pineapples were pink and I thought it was really, really cool.”

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Kenzie MacDermid, visiting from Georgetown, Ont., chuckled as he stumbled across the bananas during his walk.

“We find ourselves down here in Halifax, N.S., and were taking a look at some pineapples and bananas. Totally wild,” MacDermid says.

As far as the kids were concerned, fruit was definitely on the menu this summer.

“It looks pretty cool here,” said one youngster visiting the gardens.

“The pineapple’s really cool because it’s pink and I’ve never seen one before.”

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Tropical trees, however, are not new to Halifax. Last year nine palm trees were planted in four parks across the city. Although the palm trees resilience was tested during the winter months, some continue to thrive.

But the banana and palm trees will not have to rough through the wintery chill. They will be dug up and stored in a greenhouse as the temperature begins to drop.

The public is able to view the fruit trees until the end of September, but they are asked not to pick any of these delicious treats.