What a fun morning!

We've had some plants sitting in the yard, awaiting getting planted for about a week. Over a steaming cup of coffee we decided to take advantage of the cool weather (overcast/rainy = high 70's = "cool" here) to get those plants in the ground. We potted a couple as well to put upstairs in the bedroom.

While working on that little project, our gardener brought by some beautiful 'avecilla' plants. They are like a miniature bird of paradise, with multi-colored flowers. The most coincidentally wonderful thing about them is that Jocelyn had just seen this particular type for her first time on Sunday and was really excited about trying to get some. Then today (Tuesday), apropo of nothing, the gardener pops in with an armload. Fun! So we planted those as well, then moved on to some banana trees that he also brought. Steve has been itching to put some fruit trees into the ground for months. Bananas aren't really a tree, but they are big and pretty, and produce fruit. Close enough.

We also put a Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata) tree in the front yard about a month ago. It is really happy so far and has already sprouted some new growth. We are hoping that within another six months it should grow a few feet (green growth, not woody growth yet) and also start blooming. Ylang-ylang is the base of many perfumes, smells fantastic, blooms day and night and stays evergreen throughout the year. Both birds and monkeys are fond of eating it, which we hope will attract both.

I'll get some photos soon, not because I'm confused enough to think that readers are just dying to see my plants, but mostly because I think it'll be fun for us to go back and look at the pictures in a year or whatever to see just how much they've actually grown.

Next up projects include planting a border area in the front yard with these cute little groundcover plants we've found that have a huge variety of flower colors, as well as getting some jasmine started climbing up the living room wall (outside) to shade the room and add Steve's absolute favorite smell to our yard. Still haven't decided if the jasmine will get a trellis or if we'll use wires for it to climb up. Oh, decisions, decisions.

Labels: Costa Rica, garden