Panama City Beach woman finds watermelon growing in tree

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Mariko Thayer has an extensive garden in her backyard with everything from lemons, tangerines, and even pineapples.

But recently a familiar fruit found its way into an unfamiliar place: a watermelon in a tree.

“I said ‘What’s that?’ And it’s a big watermelon and I didn’t believe it myself," said Thayer.

Mariko said she’s grown watermelons before, but they’ve been on the ground where they typically grow. How the new one got into the tree is still a mystery.

“I’ve never seen it before, the first time," said Thayer. "It’s like I’m dreaming, I’ve never seen this. So I thought ‘Oh no, are you kidding me?’”

She jokes it was her green thumb that drove the watermelon up the tree.

She believes more are growing behind it and while she isn’t sure how she’s going to get them down she hopes the next watermelon she plants is back on the ground.