Love the internet. Really do. Great Facebook pages
like ‘Gringo Gardeners in Costa Rica,’ ‘Arenal
Gardeners,’ ‘Orquideas Tropicales de Costa Rica,’
and the American Orchid Society where you can meet
and greet and even help from time to time.
For example, if I have a new orchid, I take a
picture and post it on the AOS site. Bingo, someone
in Germany is online and has a name! In minutes.
From Germany. Wow.
Still, over the years, I have developed some small
skill in tropical gardening (yes, I literally wrote
the book: “Life is a Tropical Garden”) so sometimes
I find myself helpful.
Here’s an example. One of the pages featured a
question on why a lime tree hasn’t produced and
showed a picture of said tree. Well, diagnosis was
easy. There were suckers sprouting from the base of
the trunk near the ground, more suckers a bit
higher, branches reaching for the sky and the center
was so thick there was no way to see through to the
other side. Answer? Remove suckers, trim the top,
and thin the middle where, currently, “the sun don’t
shine.” Finish that up and fertilize. Easy answer.
Other answers are harder and require a physical
presence. I love it! I love walking around someone
else’s yard looking at everything that is growing –
or not growing – and helping them figure out why.
No, I am not great on names or identifications (at
the great age of ‘mumble mumble something years’ I
sometimes forget my own name) but I do remember
where and how things grow. Since we moved to Costa
Rica from Georgia, I also have a handle on why
things don’t grow well where you think they should.
Take my friend’s tomatoes for example. Why are the
leaves turning white? The answer is, too much sun is
bleaching out the chlorophyll. Part two of the
answer is, don’t drown the roots. I’ve come to
appreciate raised and elevated beds and recommended
a few, properly placed. Too much sun at the wrong
time of day can ruin a garden.
But back to walking around in a different yard. My
favorite thing when I take one of these strolls is
finding an amazing little plant here and there. Most
people who move to Costa Rica, have no idea of what
they have already growing in their yards or whether
or not they are something worth growing. I suggest
you take a picture and send it in to one of those
Facebook pages. Or call me. I love other people’s
yards.
Plant
for the Week
Speaking of Facebook,
here is a picture I put out there and finally got Cissus
eroas as an answer. It’s a neat little vine in
the grape family that seems to like partial shade.
Now that I know it’s there, I plan on weeding out
around it and trying to keep it happy. According to
the web, its leaves are caterpillar food so it will
do double duty as an ornamental and a butterfly
‘helper.’
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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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