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Food |
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 This lovely flower is blooming on a
vine. / Victoria Torley
courtesy photo
Ah, April |
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By Victoria
Torley
What a great month. Not only did I turn (mumble, mumble,) years old yesterday, but now is the time to get ready for the rains while the clay colored robin are singing their joy of the season. So much to do a month ahead of the rains. Get those darn morning glory vines off of the shrubs before they smother them. They are untamable and unstoppable. Get them now. Watch out for the local hives of wasps. We have one in the Sanchezia that we can’t get to. We need wasp spray in Costa Rica, the kind that shoots 20 feet so we don’t get stung. I’ve been stung and come back to the house with the little monsters clinging to my clothes ready to start again. There must be a solution… The fruit trees! Remember tree spikes? They were so darn easy. Buy a few bags, pound them into the ground around your trees and you were done. No muss no fuss. Down here, they would be dissolved by the rain in a week, washed away somewhere to do the weeds some good, but certainly not the fruit trees. Either that or they would wash down full strength into the roots of the orange tree and burn them. Either way, things aren’t looking good. Instead, we have to do it the hard way here. You have to get out there with a round-tipped tool - I use a tent peg – that pushes the roots aside. Can’t use a spade or a hand trowel because it cuts through the roots you want to fertilize. Now push gently into the soil around the tree past the roots of the weeds, drop in some fertilizer and cover up the hole. Round and round the tree until it is happy and you are too tired to do any more. I did that last year and had mandarinas that weighed a pound. Now is the time. And cuttings! Get them started now. I give way rooted Sanchezia to anyone who stops by just to get rid of it, but reina del a noche (angel trumpet) is different. We have three colors in the yard and I am happy to clip them and let people root them at home. Get the cuttings started and well rooted when the rains come so they will be ready to plant. Sometimes you just have to keep them in water, sometimes they root so fast you need to pot them, but now is the time. Then don’t forget to plan for all those wonderful free trees from ICE. They come in May so be sure to leave space for them. Remember to mark them with a tall stake and even a flag. Those weed whackers can make a mess! Plant for the Week This lovely flower is blooming on a vine. The homeowner couldn’t tell me what it was. The books I have don’t tell me what it is. Now the web has failed me. The vine was growing in the shade. Anyone? ---------------- Editor's
note: For more information on this
article of request for information
about gardening, Ms. Victoria Torley,
gardener columnist, can be reached at
victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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