Is there anything more Miamian than a mango? It’s beautiful, a little tangy, a non-native thriving in South Florida’s tropical climate, and, with a bit of work done, can be absolutely jaw-dropping.

I stood outside my childhood home in Fort Myers late last month, wielding a 30-foot-long fruit-picking apparatus fashioned from PVC pipe, an old pool skimmer and the base of a pole saw. I heard my mom ...