by Tyra Hamilton

I have become a bit obsessed by plants and gardens.  Everywhere I go I am checking out the plants. I’m taking pictures of plants.  I’m chatting with people and asking questions about their plants. Plants this… gardens that.  I’m very sure this must be wearing on my friends a bit.  Now that I think about it, I think I believe I have seen a decrease in dinner invitations lately …

The good thing about being obsessed with plants is that here and there you will run across another one of your ‘kind’.  Gardeners like to share – knowledge, advice, cuttings, you name it.  One afternoon I arrived home to find a small Caladium in a sandwich-sized zip lock bag sitting in front of our gate – a gift from an anonymous plant person.  We’ve  received  offers to come get cuttings from others’ gardens, we’ve received gifts of oregano, cacti, a baby banana tree, elephant ears,  a coconut palm, a chaya plant, a lime tree and some plants that I have yet to identify.  Some will hopefully be stunning when they bloom (please grow, please bloom, pleeeeeease). 

These Mock Bird of Paradise were cut from plants that are now in our garden

Sadly, some of the plants we received did not make it.  It’s kind of funny how I became more attached to one plant than another.  For example, when the Ixora bush died after we moved it, I was all, ‘Ho Hum, put something else in its place.’  On the other hand, I babied the banana tree until there was simply no hope at all. The demise of the coconut palm almost broke my heart.   BUT, many of my favorite plants, including the lime tree, seem to have made it and that’s all that really matters.

Our lime tree!

We are very fortunate to have all of these great plants in our garden now.  But wait…. Who turned off the water?!?  Seriously, just days after the planting was done, the sky dried up.  There has been no rain for what seems like forever!  Occasionally we get a dark cloud or two that teases us into believing that some rain might fall.  Nothing.  Nada.  It really has been a struggle to keep these new plants alive.  Even the cacti have begun to droop.  I water like crazy.  What little grass we have growing amidst the weeds has begun to go brown and get crispy.  Whenever I see the tiniest bit of green grass, I water it.  The yard has become polka-dotted with tiny little patches of green here and there.  It has now become a game trying to connect the green dots. 

You know it’s dry when the cactus droops

A few small patches of green grass dot the dry yard

Aside from the near drought conditions and the few sad mortalities, most of the plantings are doing well.  As I water, I study them closely for signs of tender new growth and I am always happy and a bit proud to see a new little leaf popping out on a bare branch. 

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Post script:  When this blog was originally written, we had no measurable rain for close to 3 months.  EVERYTHING was suffering from the lack of rain.   I am happy to report that those lovely tropical rains have once again returned and our weeds are growing like… well, weeds!

If you’ve missed my previous blogs on my tropical garden, it’s not too late to catch up!

How my tropical garden grows – I have dirt!

How my tropical garden grows – a big  job ahead

by Tyra Hamilton

We now have a yard and flower beds (and weeds)!  Hooray!  It is obvious that it has been some time since anyone tended the yard or garden and things have gotten out of control.  There are also some existing plants that are not thriving in their current location and will need to be moved.  A big job lies ahead.

In a previous life I might have gotten out the checkbook, called the yard guy, made a quick trip to the nursery for a load of new plants and by the end of the day, ta-da, a nice, neat yard with pretty flowers and lush yard.   But these days, with a limited budget, this garden will mostly grow (or not) from our very own blood, sweat and muddy tears.

I did break down and buy some moss rose

I am a planner.  I can also be a bit of a procrastinator.  I like to study the situation and formulate a plan of action. I stand in the yard or stare out the window, strategizing each step.  I want to research the different plants and their growing needs.  Sometimes I spend too much time planning (procrastinating) and get nothing actually accomplished.  My partner, Jurgen, on the other hand, is a jump right in and ‘get er done’ kinda guy, often known to say, “Let’s do something, even if it is wrong.”  So with Jurgen and our friend Alex operating the heavy equipment (a shovel), that’s exactly what we did.

The first task was to relocate several existing plants. A leafless vine with 1 yellow flower (Yellow Allamanda) was moved to the bed by the front entry.  I hope this plant survives as I picture it in full flower, climbing the wall by our front door.  A sickly Ixora bush was put in the ground near the bedroom slider.  I’m pretty sure it will need more sunlight than what it will get back there, but for some reason I am pretty blasé about this plant.  A healthy Ixora bush is beautiful.  This one, not so much.

Will this Yellow Allamanda grow up to look….

like this one?

The biggest job, by far, was to move 4-5 bougainvillea plants.  These plants were sad, spindly things with few leaves and no flowers (bracts).  They had been planted in the shady part of the yard and were in much need of more sunshine if they were to ever become the big, beautiful, flowering plants we wanted.  So out they came and back in the ground along the exterior wall of our property where they would receive full sun.  Here in Playa you frequently see enormous bougainvillea plants with mounds of flowers cascading over a wall.  This is our dream for these babies.

Some day we hope these bougainvillea will…

climb up and over the wall like this

It was a full morning of back breaking work for Jurgen and Alex.  Just as the last of the plants were being watered in, we enjoyed a nice, warm tropical rain.  I will take this as a sign that Chaac, the Mayan God of Rain, is pleased with our work.