And there are “bad luck” spots. We have a lovely trellis and the passion flowers loved it. Until the silver spot butterflies moved in, laid their eggs, and the caterpillars ate it. We planted another vine. It died. Then we tried a Mexican fire vine. It grew straight up and refused to spread, so we planted a grape vine. The vine sat there for over a year. Nothing. Then, suddenly and for no good reason, it grew 2 meters. It’s a mystery.

Then some things are just annoying. We have put in many tomato plants and babied them. Lime, fertilizer, screening from the sun, an “umbrella” against the rain…they died. Down at the end of our road, next to the trash bin, what do I find? Two (count them), TWO tomato plants growing wild after someone threw out an old tomato. Grrrr. I dug them up, gave them nice pots, and put them in the greenhouse where they are well cared for. They died.

Sometimes we just want to throw up our hands and forget the whole thing. We don’t, though, because gardeners are tough. We are persistent. We are a little nutty from too much sun. And we know, deep in our hearts, that next week, next month, or next year, we will get it right.

It’s a mystery.

Plant for the week. Sometimes it just has to be an orchid, and this is the week. This is a lovely Stelis orchid that I just transferred to the greenhouse. It has 70 or so flowering stems and is getting some raves on orchids' sites. The Stelis genus is common in Costa Rica, and the tiny flowers are 2.5-4mm in size. Look for them on fallen logs or downed trees. They love the rain and light shade.

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Find more interesting stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the AM Costa Rica Garden page. Questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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