By Victoria Torley 

I envisioned a shaded driveway lined with palms and hibiscus, something set back just far enough from the paved road that there was little traffic noise. 

Did that happen? Not so much. 

What we have is three or four hundred meters of lumpy, rutted, dust-throwing road to almost nowhere, uphill, with a sharp turn into something more like a tiny parking lot than a driveway. The good thing about it is that all of that three or four hundred meters belongs to us. The bad news is that we need to do something about it.

Right now, it looks a little nasty. When they put what we laughingly call our road in, they found a lot of rocks of all sizes that were of little use so they shoved them to the side. Our side. 

This has made it very difficult to plant anything close to the road (no dirt) although the weeds don’t seem to mind. So far, the Sanchezia has failed, which is a shame as the leaf cutter ants don’t eat it often, and the African tulip trees have failed (because the ants love it), and the hibiscus have failed (cow attacks), so I am thinking that I need to cultivate some of the things that seem to grow as weeds.

We have some reasonably nice-looking “weeds” around the area and they seem to do well in rocky areas. Lantana, for example, is a terrific “weed” currently growing wild in our pasture areas where neither the cows nor horses bother it. Ants seem to avoid it as well, probably due to the herbal fragrance and flavor. We can just relocate the lantana – another plus as it saves on cash. We love freebies.

Juniper seems to be avoided by just about everything as well. I bet it tastes terrible so we may try some, even if we have to buy it. While we are at the vivero, maybe we will buy some pine trees as well. I don’t like using non-native plants, but the bugs are pushing me in that direction.

I have never seen an ant in the wandering jew or the purple heart and both have the advantage of spreading like mad and enjoying rock gardens, which are essentially what we have along the road. Although we love the vibrant colors of the impatience plants, too many things eat them leaving forlorn flowers on spikes, so they are out as well.

Well, that is my tale of woe. Hundreds of meters of beautification to get started in rocky soil and three hazards to avoid. If you have any other suggestions, or maybe a cutting or two, let me know?

Plant of the week. Granadilla, the Passiflora ligularis, is a member of the passion flower group, but unlike most local passion flower vines, it produces an enormous sweet fruit. The one below is 4.2 kilograms – a true monster nearly the size of a watermelon, and so sweet that I juiced it to use with tart fruit in smoothies. And the flower? The size of a dessert plate. How can you possibly go wrong?

-----------
Find more amazing stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the Costa Rica Garden website. Regarding questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com.