We found a beautiful flower growing onto a neighbor's trash receptacle and figured it was bound to be chopped anyway (the local trash collector isn't what you would call a gentle fellow) so we pulled some cuttings. So far they seem to be doing well in a bottle of water on the kitchen table (one is over a week old, sprouting roots, the others just a day old). I was pretty sure it is a Passiflora (passion fruit) but checked online anyway and am pleased to discover that it appears to be Passiflora 'Pura Vida' a hybrid of P. amethyst and P. racemosa. Fun. We are hoping to cover an ugly pergola with it. Time will tell if it flourishes. The website I found predicts that this vine can grow up to 40ft. And some others suggest that P. racemosa can become an invasive pest in some areas. We'll have to keep an eye on it. Google turns up a bunch of sites on Passiflora, if you are interested. I like www.passiflora.info among others.

We also clipped a little bit off of a vine near Langosta- purple flowers that could be any of a number of Passiflora hybrids or species. It was growing well there, let's hope it does well here also.

Speaking of flourishing- our jalapeno seedlings appear to have been ravished by something. I suspect leaf cutter ants, but it could have been an iguana. Either way, we had 10 or so, now we have two :(
The good news: we can plant more seeds.

We also moved a pot-full of Vetiver grass that was suffering from bound roots. It is amazing how quickly the roots on that grass get constricted in even a large pot. In less than six months, two little plugs turned into a huge stand and made a root ball the size of a basketball (albeit a slightly deflated basketball). We broke up the stand, harvested the roots (they smell wonderful) and replanted. They are now planted in front of our wall, on the street. Trying to create a little more shade and some shelter for critters (dragonflies like to perch on this stuff) instead of just bare gravel and concrete wall. The pot? It will be become the new home for our Passiflora (we hope!). That should keep it from taking over the entire garden.

August weather has been oddly fabulous. We both feel that in years past it was wetter and less.... perfect. But the temps have been very pleasant and breezy weather has prevailed with evening rain storms that don't seem to last more than few hours. It sure makes it easy to stretch morning coffee out as long as we can!

Labels: Costa Rica, Garden, weather

The weather today is absolutely wonderful. At about 6:15 I was sipping coffee outside, enjoying the multitude of trees out in "our view" that were swaying gently in the morning breeze with low-angle sunlight flashing a million shades of green. I snapped a photo, it doesn't do it justice.
On top of the trees I enjoyed watching several groups of white egrets flying, a flock of parakeets, some vultures, a hawk, some annoying grackles squabbling over something, and a variety of little yellow birds here and there. An industrious squirrel ran around on the nearest tree while a green iguana basked by the pool.
The breeze was unusually fresh for this time of year, the air temperature was around 75, which feels cool to us (daytime highs are in the 90s right now) and it was easy to remember why we put up with all of the little hassles involved with living in a 3rd world country.
Oh, and here is a photo of our seedling nasturtiums and seedling jalapeno plants. We've got grand expectations of these little sprouts.

Labels: Garden, tamarindo, weather

More yard photography. Gardening in Costa Rica is more of a fight against invasion by your own plants than it is a struggle to keep things alive. The end result is that we feel like we don't have many resources online nor in print for tips and tricks for the tropical gardener. On the plus side, half of the time (or more) if we want a given plant, we can find it growing wild and just dig it up and stick it in the ground. If it doesn't grow wild nearby, often we can just cut some off of someone elses ornamental, stick it in the ground, and stand back. So it is a mixed bag. We are having fun with it, and it is labor that keeps on giving back as the yard gets prettier and prettier with each effort on our part.

Ok, sometimes we screw up, or prune too much, or let stuff go too long, then prune and it looks haggard- we aren't particularly *good* at this yet, just enthusiastic.

Locally called Avecilla. This is the prettiest coloration we've seen. We've got a stand of it by the front stairs now.	The Ylang ylang tree is sorta hiding behind the palm cluster. Small now, but only a month after transplanting it is looking healthy, we have big hopes for it.	We planted these Plumeria branches with the hopes that they'll bloom for us on the porch outside our bedroom. Eventually the porch will be covered (time and money permitting) by a roof, at which point we'll have to find somewhere else to put the plumeria. Assuming it takes. Local wisdom says to plant plumeria cuttings in the dry season as they don't like wet feet when they are freshly planted.
more pretty avecilla filling up empty space by the guest room door	This little iguana spends most of his time sitting on/around the compost pile. Not sure if he is dining on kitchen scraps, soldier fly larva, or both. He (she?) has gotten fairly tame and doesn't run away when I go out to add scraps.	Our baby banana trees. These are purported to be "manzana" banana trees. Which means "apple" in Spanish. I'm not sure what that is going to mean for the fruit that comes off of them, but I was told it would be delicious, which is fine with me.
Our vetiver champion. This was a plug about the diameter of a soup can and only knee-high tall just a few months ago	Lemongrass. It was even more pitiful looking last month, but seems to be coming back, we hope.

Labels: Costa Rica, Garden, photo, plants

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

People are always envious that we live in Paradise, and while we find this viewpoint is often an oversimplification of the ins and outs of living in an underdeveloped, dirt-road town in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Central America, we also need these same people to remind us that middle-of-nowhere or not, if we so choose, we can partake daily in things that prove to a certain extent that we live, if not in Paradise, at least in one of the more beautiful places in the world.

Lately, these reminders came in the form of a lovely and travel-ready friend of ours, who on the spur of the moment, decided that if I would stay in Atlanta for an extra five days, she would in turn, fly back to CR with me. I said okay, she got on her computer, and about half an hour later, we had her ticket, matched to mine and with a seat next to me on the plane.

Her real name is Katie, but I tend to call her Matty Jane, after a favorite grandmother of hers I would like to someday meet. Matty Jane spent her days here in dresses or a bathing suit, lounging by the pool, imploring us to go to the beach, go on the boat, go snorkeling, GET OUT of the house and away from our offices and computers. Her enthusiasm for the heat and the sun, for the beach and the forests around us was infectious and we came to see again, through her eyes, just how gorgeous the place is that we call home.

Much to our surprise though, the thing that has stuck with us from that visit was not foremost the gorgeous boat ride, replete with cocktails, sparkling water, frigate birds, body surfing and beach walking; or the rocky, deserted beach where we snorkeled; or the runs we took in Langosta; but our humble little outdoor shower.

Matty Jane pointed out to us that no sane person would ever shower inside, when one's other choice consists of a private, outdoor, poolside, ocean-view shower. She declared upon leaving that she believed she had only showered indoors once during her entire visit and she assured us that it was only because we had not fully explained her showering options.

So, thank you Matty Jane, for we have seen the error of our ways, and have begun to remodel our outdoor shower, because even though we are not necessarily the most sane of people, we do know a bit of Paradise when we see it, even if it has to be pointed out to us first.

Labels: Garden, photo

We were excited to read that several states are taking action against non-native plants that invade natural areas. You can read a Yahoo News story about it or you can head over to California Invasive Plant Council for more information.
Not exactly fun reading, but we have a devil of a time getting information on native/local plants down here (just 50 miles away here is non-native in many regards), so it is good to see that other areas, at least, are providing resources for everyone.

Labels: Garden

Haven't done much worth writing about these last few days... a few trips to Santa Cruz to shop and whatnot, a puppy that keeps growing, good food, good friends, some surfing. That about sums it up. The photo is from a sailing trip a few months ago with our good pals Crisonja from San Diego. Cris just emailed it to us.
It's nice living in paradise.

Had the pleasure of a visit from one of Steve's high-school and college buddies, Ben and his wife Sara	Caly is getting close to three tiles long	Fields and storm clouds near Santa Cruz (20 minutes from our house)
After pulling up some stumps on our lot by hand, we got smart and let Sandy do the work for us		Bb clearing the lot

Labels: Costa Rica, Garden, photo, sailing

We've been gorging ourselves on passionfruit recently (its in season). Not only is it really delicious and funky-cool fun to eat, but nutritious too- according to thePersonal Health Zone.

Labels: cooking, Garden