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Acacia Tree -- Variety Unknown
Photographed: At the former home of the head of Montserrat's Farmer's Co-op in Woodlands, Montserrat.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2009/2010

African flower Plectranthus ecklonii
From: South Africa
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Find a shady or semi shady and moist area of the garden for this generally low growing and almost always blooming plant. Prune it well to keep it in flower. Cuttings will rapidly take root so you can spread them around the garden. It is not generally considered frost hardy.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

**Agapanthus, Blue Lily of the Nile Agapanthus africanus or Agapanthus praecox
Agapanthus is another of my very favorite flowers. In Mexico they are available in the flower markets for a few months every year and a dozen stems of this purple or white flowering bulb (tuber) costs under five US dollars. We bought bulbs in the Taxco flower market last year and planted them when we got back to Montserrat. In the photo to the left you can see them getting started.
From: Southern Africa
Photographed: The left photograph was taken at our home in Montserrat and the bloom to the right was taken at the Hotel Atitlan Botanical Garden on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in May of 2010.
Planting and growth: Each tuber will provide a plant about twenty inches tall and about twenty inches wide so don't underestimate its need for space. Plant them in full sun or a semi shady area for best results and give them a rich moist soil.
Link: somethingforthegarden.co.uk/agapanthus.htm
Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©KO 2008/2010

AGAVES

Agave attenuata
This little beauty -- eventually to be huge -- has a special place in our upper garden. I just love it!
Photographed: In our upper garden at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Once planted in a sunny spot in the garden with room to grow the agaves seem grateful for almost any kindness, a little dirt, a little water, lots of sun and they don't complain. If you enhance any of those things, except the water, your plant will thrive.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2008/2010

**Agave Marginata Agave angustifolia variegata
This is a yellow and green variety of plant in the large yucca family, a great old standby in gardens from New England (where we had one in the garden when I was growing up) to Mexico and now to the Caribbean. As it was in the States and Mexico, here in Montserrat this yucca has so far proved immune to disease, fungus, and insects as well as being highly resistant to volcanic ash. As an added plus, it regularly sends out runners from which you can make new plants. Its downside is the extremely sharp points at the ends of its leaves, but that seems a small price to pay for such an attractive and worry free plant.
Text and Photo Copyrighted ©KO 2008

**Century Plant Agave americanum or Agave Palmeri
We have these icy green leaved variety of agaves growing in our Montserrat garden, understandable since the plant is native to tropical America. Our Montserrat agave is very different from the one we have in Mexico; the surface of its leaves is papery and rough while the Mexican variety is hard and smooth.
Benefits: It is said that juice squeezed from the leaves of an agave will treat dandruff.
Photographed: In our garden in Montserrat.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2008

Ajuga Burgundy Glow Ajuga reptans
This was a lovely hanging houseplant many years ago when I lived in Rhode Island. The foliage is green with a purple or bronze tinge and very attractive as you can see in the photograph.
Planting and Care: Outside in the garden this is equally attractive and makes a very hardy ground cover. It is little bothered by any pests, never grows higher than 4 to 6 inches and even flowers in early summer. It lives best in shade or semi shade and will probably burn in full sun. It is recommended that you plant seedlings rather than seeds.
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan Botanical Garden on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in May of 2010.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2010

**Brown Bud Allamanda Allamanda cathartica 'Hendersoni'
This seems to be a second generation of the allamanda above. Its leaves are larger as are its flowers which have a velvety soft almost drooping quality and it is less of a trailing plant. Side by side though I could not decide which one I prefer so we have both.
From: Brazil
From: Brazil
Photographed: In the mahogany garden at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Plant this second cousin to the allamanda above in full sun and don't worry to much about moisture unless you are in a very dry environment. Give the plants fertilizer now and then. This is another of my favorite plants in the garden, not only for its lush yellow flowers, but for its easy going nature.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2009

To see a larger view just click the picture!

Alocasia
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2010

 **Aloe Aloe vera (L.)
We have two varieties, one that loves the heat and lives happily in Montserrat in very dry and sunny areas. This aloe we’ve planted in our cactus and succulent garden (see the photo to the left). The other, more sensitive plant probably from a more northern climate, lives where it receives lots of rain and not so much sun. (See the photo to the left below)
Benefits:
1. We use the leaves from both varieties of aloe as a soothing treatment for burns, but also as a terrific natural skin lotion. It does wonders for any type of skin problem, wrinkles included! Slice a leaf lengthwise, clean off the sharp edges and apply directly to the skin.
2. Though long known for its skin soothing qualities, aloe can also be used as an internal curative, providing relief from constipation and neutralizing an irritated bladder. Peel the leaves completely, eating only the inner pulp. Aloe pulp is extremely bitter and unappealing. Plan to mix it in a blender with other fresh fruit once you have peeled it and removed enough of the skin to get rid of the yellow slimy liquid.
3. Mixing pulp from the peeled leaves with water and salt makes a drink that is said to prevent and treat cancer.
4. At the very least it will have a beneficial effect on an upset stomach. If you have a bleeding ulcer, try this. Take two tablespoons of the pulp one hour after each meal and another dose at bedtime. You should see results in five to ten days.
5. Aloe leaves peeled and heated on a flat surfaced pan on the stove top can be applied to any muscle wound as a poultice. Salt the heated aloe, lay it on the affected area and wrap it. The salt will cause the aloe’s juice to penetrate the skin and bring its healing qualities to the wound. (A cure from Lester in Montserrat.)
Blooms: In the Caribbean in mid to late spring.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © krika.com 2009

Aluminum Plant, Watermelon Plant Pilea cadierei
This is an attractive low growing foliage plant that does well in warm climate gardens year round. I've also seen it as a potted plant in places where there is a freezing winter.
From: Vietnam
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 2010.
Planting and Care: Bright light with no direct sun will keep this plant happy along with adequate moisture. It will do best in a consistently moist, but not wet soil.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

**Amaryllis Hippeastrum equestre or Hippeastrum puniceum
This plant pictured on the left is less showy than the cultivated US or Mexican potted varieties. It is no less attractive growing in our Montserrat garden, blooming lightly in February and March, but spectacularly in May. It is also a long-lasting cut flower.
Our personal favorite in the potted varieties is the Hippeastrum "Apple Blossom" which seems almost unreal when it has 6 to 8 blossoms open at the same time. We have these and other normally potted amaryllis now growing in our garden.
From: South America
To See More Varieties of Amaryllis Click the Photo!
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Angel’s Trumpet Tree Brugmansia arborea (white) or Brugmansia hybrid (peach) Brugmansia Unknown (pink)
This year we brought pieces of the branches of a friend's brugmansia with us to Montserrat. We planted them and not long afterward were rewarded with leafy stems. We will plant one of them below our deck so we can enjoy the flowers everyday. The other, we will keep in a pot in a safe place away from possible ash damage from the volcano. Both the flowers and leaves of this exotically beautiful tree are highly poisonous, though parts of the plant are said to become an asthma remedy when smoked. Its many large flowers hang like decorative bells all over the tree which grows to about 15 feet.

In the summer of 2007, we had a wonderful visit to a very small Mexican town called Tenerillas where an American friend has bought property and is planning to build a home for his family. He has a field of flowers that are coveted in Washington, D.C., but which he considers close to weeds -- white freesias. Orchids decorate the ground and flowers seem almost like what I normally think of as weeds. They are everywhere and they are beautiful.

High in this mountainous and sparsely populated area we drove on mud roads seemingly a lifetime away from the colonial silver capital of the area, Taxco. Our friend's Aunt lives there and we visited her home and her chaotically planted acre or so. The following week she brought tubers and corms to the market spot were she sells her flowers each Saturday. I planted all that she gave me and am waiting to see what comes of these now beautifully different green leaved plants.
From: Angels trumpets are native to Central America.
Planting and Growth: When happy, angel's trumpets grow like weeds and are covered with blossoms. Unfortunately they have proved to be difficult to keep that way. The plants are subject to leaf curl disease caused by the Gemini virus and are also vulnerable to a number of insects and a variety of caterpillars. We have used a soap spray to eliminate the insects, we've handpicked the caterpillars and we've waited out the leaf curl problem. Still the plants looked scraggly and had few blossoms until we discovered their voracious need for fertilizer. They are perking up nicely now that they are fertilized twice a month with a heavy dose of nitrogen along with a more balanced dose of regular fertilizer. They prefer to be planted in a semi shady area here in the Caribbean and one where they will be out of the often very strong island winds.
Text and photographs copyrighted © Krika.com 2009

To see more Angels Trumpet Tree photographs click here!

ANTHURIUMS

**Anthurium Anthurium dominicense Schott

**Aralia, Dinner Plate Aralia, Balfour Aralia Polyscias balfouriana or Aralia balfouriana
This is a peculiar upright plant with with rounded bicolor frilly leaves. At first I thought it unattractive, but as it came as a gift I had little choice but to plant it. A few years later it has won me over.
Photographed: In our driveway garden at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Ours is doing well in semi shade with very bright light. With an occasional dose of fertilizer it seems to do well with little other care.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Arrowhead Vine Syngonium podophyllum or Syngonium angustatum
This is a very tenacious vine with about six inch arrow shaped leaves as its name implies. It is often used as an easy to care for house plant in northern climates. In a tropical environment it can be extremely tenacious so be sure to plant it where you will forever want it to be growing.
From: Mexico and Central America
Photographed: At the Hotel San Buenaventura at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: This vine requires very little, but is probably happiest in a semi-shady area of the garden.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008/2010

Artichoke Vegetable Cynara scolymus
We think artichokes, along with asparagus, are the beluga caviar of the plant world. We have one plant of many that we planted in small pots that still survives and we are crossing our fingers. It seems a very difficult plant to get started, although it is sometimes seen as an "invasive" plant once it does. Go figure!
This small artichoke was gone when we returned to Montserrat having been away from April 15 to August 15. A local fellow described these few months, not as a drought (as I had thought), but as "a barbecue," too hot and too dry!
Description: Adult plants will be four feet tall and six to eight feet wide.
Where and how to plant: Artichokes are native to a Mediterranean environment; in the Caribbean they grow best in partial shade with moist soil and a daily misting of the leaves. We have found the plants extremely hard to start and keep growing, but recently we found this advice. Soak the seeds eight hours in water and then put in a jar of sand in the fridge for two weeks before planting in small pots or directly in the garden. We're going to try this and let you know how it works.
Once planted, artichokes like to be cared for with regular watering and generous additions of compost and manure each growing season. They like a slightly acid soil around 6.0. Once you have them growing well, each year replace a few of your plants with side roots from one of the healthiest plants you have. This way you will ensure production for your family, usually 4 plants for every two artichoke lovers.
Variety for the Caribbean: "Texas Hill" If it will grow in the Texas heat, it should grow here where daytime temperatures never reach those in Texas, but where the sun is extremely hot.
Pests: aphids, snails, slugs and gophers where there are gophers.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2007

**Asparagus Vegetable Asparagus officinalis ‘Argenteuil’
Back in 2003 or 2004 we planted the Martha Washington variety and had six inch plants set out when feral (or wild) chickens arrived and dug them up as they looked for bugs to eat. We have now planted a French heirloom variety of seeds called Asparagus 'Argenteuil. They didn't prove particularly difficult to get started and we now have eight and ten inch plants set out in the garden. We are going to try to replicate a non-growing season by not watering during the dry season. We are hoping this might fool the plants into thinking they have endured a winter once the rains begin again about three months later. Asparagus normally like full sun, but here in Montserrat we'll plant them in a semi-shady area.
Benefits: Along with spinach and broccoli, asparagus is high in vitamin K which can neutralize anticoagulants. These vegetables promote blood clotting.
From: France
Planting and Care: Seeds should be soaked overnight to enhance their chances of sprouting, but if you can buy asparagus roots, all the better. The roots are easily handled and sprout readily not too long after being set out in the garden. Plant them where they will have a long and productive life, fertilize them frequently or use a good amount of well rotted manure. I think asparagus are probably in the grass family so they are heavy feeders, but they do give us one of the world's most delightful vegetables. As mentioned above, asparagus normally have a dormant period during winters in temperate climates. Here in the tropics it will prove a little tricky to keep them happy. If anyone has had success with them in the Caribbean or in a similar environment, please write and let me know how you did it.
Email: krikaworks@yahoo.com
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2009

Asters Callistephus chinensis

**Avocado Tree, Pear Persea americana
Depending on the variety, it can be a relatively small tree growing only to about thirty feet or a large tree at sixty feet with a breadth about half as wide. Growing one from a seed in my Boston based Beacon Hill apartment was not difficult. Once the seed had a root and a few leaves, I transferred it to a large pot with good soil and stuck it in a sunny window. It was thriving when I finished college and passed it along to a younger student.

Here in Montserrat we have bought and planted four avocado trees, all of which died soon after. We then took a seed as in the picture to the right and when it had a few more leaves we planted that. A few days later the two foot stem was lying on the ground and there was a hole where the large seed had been planted. An agouti, a Caribbean vegetarian rodent, had eaten his fill and gone on his way. Not long ago, we rescued a three foot avocado tree growing in a six inch black plastic bag in full sun at the Montserrat Department of Agriculture -- very sad. It has now been planted in a semi shady area and given a dose of urea. Its leaves have already turned a wonderful green and the little tree seems to be on its way.
Benefits:
1. Ounce for ounce, avocados contain 60% more potassium than bananas.
2. Its mono-saturated fat has been shown to lower blood cholesterol.
3. Apart from giving us its delicious fruit, its leaves steeped as a tea may help to help reduce high blood pressure.
4. As a skin moisturizer a ripe avocado is hard to beat. Mash the fruit of a peeled avocado and spread it generously all over yourself. Wait about fifteen or twenty minutes and rinse off in the shower.
From: The avocado is native to the jungle forests of Central America or to Mexico.
Fruit: Avocados normally flower sometime between January and March with its fruit maturing from August to September. Oddly enough it usually bears heavily one year and lightly the next.
Planting and Care: Plant your avocado in the garden in a hole about 18 " deep and wide using good non-acidic soil in an area that also has good drainage. Then stake it, give it some shade and protect it from strong winds. Be careful not to over water as that seems to be the worst thing you can do with an avocado. It should begin bearing in three to four years if it is a grafted tree. If not you will have to wait up to twenty years for the first fruit. When fertilizing remember that avocados favor the use of potassium and phosphorous, but use everything with a very light touch as this is a jungle tree.
Link: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/avocado.html
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008/2010

Azaleas
Photographed: In the garden of our apartment in Oaxaca, Mexico (bottom left), at the Hotel Riviera on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala (right) and in the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala (all those below).
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2010