PALMS And SAGOS

**Bamboo Palm Tree, Areca Chrysalidocarpus lutescens or Chamaedorea seifrizii or Chamaedorea erumpens
This is a lovely clumping type of palm whose one and a half to two inch thick stems look much like bamboo. It grows to be between fifteen and thirty feet tall and is just about as wide as it is tall when fully grown. You can also plant the stems individually, but they seem less interesting and lonely planted that way.
From: Central America
Planting and Care: We have seen them growing in full sun and light shade. Our small one is growing pretty much in full shade and is beautiful. They are said to like a moist soil, but we have not found ours to be particularly picky; it survived a long drought this year with no apparent damage. As they mature, they are said to become more hardy.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Fan Palm (Lankan Palm) Lantana litigious or Copernica baileyana
This is a spreading palm with fan-shaped fronds. Ours lives under our orange flowered flamboyant tree. It is hard to know which of the palms it actually is from the photographs we've seen in garden books so if you can identify it correctly, please drop us a line.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2007

These are two photographs of our lovely fan palm, one taken in 2003 and one five years later. I don't know the exact Latin name and if you do, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Florida Royal Palm, Cuban Royal Palm Roystonia elata
This is our most magnificent palm. It is about sixty feet tall with more than a foot thick smooth cement colored trunk. The debris from this tree is significant, so when a frond falls we run! The heavy fronds are more than twelve feet long. The characteristics that distinguish the cabbage and royal palms are not particularly easy to observe, but after seven years we finally did it. The berries on a cabbage palm are red; on a royal palm they are a dark purple. Though the trunks on these palms are similar in color, the royal palm's is smoother. Regardless of which tree you have growing, they are both wonderful. In truth, I'd have to say I rather like the royal palm a bit better than the cabbage palm (even its name sounds a little better, don't you think?).
Planting and Care: Capable of reaching seventy feet when full grown, this palm prefers fertile soil and lots of water to look its best along with an acid soil.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Jamaica Sago, Cardboard Palm, Scurfy Zamia, Cycad Zamia furfuracea or Zamia pumila
This plant is aptly named for its stiff cardboard like leaves, but it could as easily have a more charming name for its attractiveness. We first saw them growing in the gardens of the hotel where we were staying in Antigua in the West Indies. I came to a dead stop and fell in love. They are beautiful plants.
From: Mexico through northern South America
Planting and Care: This is a new plant in our garden and we'll have to see how it goes. According to one source, the Jamaica sago prefers an arid climate, but will do fine in one that is not if planted in a sunny area with good drainage. The second source recommended planting this sago in semi-shade and providing routine watering or rainfall to keep them happy.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Umbrella Palm, Umbrella Sedge, Galingale, Papyrus (most commonly used name here in Montserrat) Cyperus alternifolius
This is another of my tropical favorites. In appearance it seems delicate with its two foot stems topped by slender leaves in a circular pattern, but this is a hardy plant able to grow in sun or shade. Its one requirement is a moist environment or at least one that is not very dry. When it finds a comfortable home it will spread maybe more than you'd like. 
From: Southern Africa
Planting and Care: The umbrella palm will survive in almost any setting, but it will thrive in a sunny or semi shady place with lots of water. Here in our garden this plant has never been more than three feet high. We got the plant from some friends several years ago and theirs was more than four feet high. Go figure! Ours are green and multiplying so they must be happy even though they have become shorter by a foot! I gave a clump of these palms to a friend who planted them in an undrained cement enclosed garden; her palms are now six feet tall!
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Papaya Tree, Pawpaw Carica papaya L.
Planting and Care: My best advice for planting a papaya is to take the seeds from a fruit you particularly liked eating and toss them on good garden soil. Then wait. Once the seeds take, in about four to eight weeks, papaya trees are incredibly fast growing and will provide fruit in their first year. If you buy or are given a papaya tree, plant it in a hole 18" deep with lots of manure and hope for the best. We have never had any luck planting a tree, but lots of luck with casually strewn seeds. The papaya is an enormously productive tree and its fruits, whether green or ripe yellow, have many uses. Papayas are male or female trees and you need to have one of each to get fruit. The male tree can be identified more quickly than the female tree as it produces flowers when it is still pretty immature. Even so you'll still have to wait a few months to see if you have male or female plants. You will need only one male plant so extras should be discarded unless you have lots of room and a particular fondness for them. Papayas like to grow in full sun with regular rainfall or watering and a monthly dose of fertilizer.
Benefits:
1. Mix papaya and pineapple for a great facial.
2. Green papaya slices used on bee or wasp stings and on wounds promote healing.
3. The seeds or slices of the green or ripe fruit act as digestive aids.
4. Mixed with milk, the green fruit is used to reduce blood pressure.
5. Tea made from the leaves is said to relieve kidney disorders.
6. Papaya is useful for dieters as one of its ingredients, papain, helps you to burn calories more quickly.
7. Like the aloe, it is also useful for constipation.
8. When mixed in a juice with sour orange papaya is believed to help reduce high blood pressure.
Note: If you are going to be peeling more than one papaya, think about wearing gloves. Its enzymes, which are great for tenderizing steak, will also affect your skin.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Papyrus See Above, PALMS, Umbrella Palm

Parasol Flower See The "C" Page CHINESE HAT

**Parsley Herb Petroselinum crispum
First lost to the volcanic eruption in July of 2003, we have replanted this most essential herb many times, both in the garden and in pots by the terrace.
Benefits: The curly variety is high in amino acids, aspartic and glutamine, and also rich in vitamins and minerals. The flat leaved Italian variety is more chic these days. Either one is delicious!
Planting and Care: In a tropical environment plant parsley in moist well-drained soil and fertilize it regularly. Here in the Caribbean, flat leaved Italian parsley and frilly leaved parsley both seem to prefer semi shade to full sun to thrive. On our terrace garden in Taxco, Mexico, we were able to keep our potted frilly parsley plant alive and thriving for at least four years. Here in Montserrat, parsley plants are viable for no more than one year, more often than not six months is the limit.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Passion Fruit Vine Passiflora spp. or Passiflora edulis
The passion fruit provides very exotic purple blooms year round and the fruit is used as an important flavoring in local juices. I’ve read that the variety grown commercially for the best juice is Passiflora edulis var. flavacarpa. If anyone on Montserrat has one I’d love to have a cutting.
From: Brazil
Planting and Care: This is a vine so it is not happy when it is not in climbing mode. Unfortunately that makes it very difficult to retrieve its fruit. To be at its best the plant prefers to grow in the sun with regular rainfall or routine watering and a generous dose of fertilizer now and then, but it will survive with just about nothing making it another of my personal favorites.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008

Pawpaw See Papaya Above

**Peanuts, Groundnuts Arachis hypogaea L.
A few years ago I planted some peanuts just to see what happened. As it turned out peanuts are beautiful plants that produce tiny yellow orchid like flowers; they would find a welcome place in any tropical flower garden especially used as a border planting. There are two types of peanuts. The erect type has upright stems which is what we have grown (remember the seeds come from the supermarket) . Prostrate peanut stems grow on the ground and have the advantage of a higher yield with all peanuts ripening at the same time. This is the one to plant if you are commercially minded about your peanut crop.
From: Peanuts are native to Brazil.
Harvesting: About five months from the date of planting the leaves of the peanut plants will begin to turn yellow -- this is the time to harvest. Dry the plants with the peanuts still attached to the roots for two to three days before shelling and eating the fresh peanuts. Ideally you should get about forty peanuts per plant. We've never done that well, but then we aren't Jimmy Carter!
Planting and Care:
1. First buy some unroasted natural peanuts at your local supermarket. If they are fresh and taste good, husk them and remove the papery seed covering. In your garden, plant each peanut about two to four inches deep and about four to six inches apart in the row with rows about three feet apart.
2. In a few weeks the plants will be up and you can thin them to about one foot apart in the row (if you are determined to have lots of garden grown peanuts). I leave them at four inches and still enjoy pulling up the plants and finding -- PEANUTS! And, I especially enjoy having a row of such beautiful plants.
3. Peanuts prefer to grow in full sun, but will tolerate a little shade. They like a fertile sandy or loose soil with a pH of about 6 if they can have it and regular rainfall or watering. Boron is one of the very necessary components of good peanut growing soil and we are fortunate here in Montserrat to have the active Soufriere Hills Volcano producing the boron so essential to peanut plants.
4. Your peanut bed should be moved after two years to somewhere new in your garden.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Pear See The "A" Page AVOCADO

Peas Pisum sativum
This is one vegetable I have had no luck with here in the Caribbean. Maybe it is just too hot. I welcome any advice or suggestions.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2007

**Pencil Tree Cactus Euphorbia tirucalli
This cactus has relatively hidden spines and tiny leaves and looks very much like it should be growing under water. Its sap is poisonous enough to be used on both rats and insects. The pencil tree cactus really is a tree and it likes to get to that size very quickly. It is easily propagated; just stick a stem in the ground and soon it will be off and running.
From: Africa
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Penta See The "I" Page IXORA

Peony Paeonia

Pepper, Black See The "B" Page BLACK PEPPER

**Peppers (Green or Bell) Vegetable Capsicum spp.
One of the delightful things about growing peppers in a tropical climate is that the plants truly are perennial. Once planted, they will grow and produce lots of peppers. Then they will take a turn for the worse, leaves looking sad and diseased as if the plant were on its last legs. But, within a few weeks you will begin to see new leaves and then new peppers and so on and so on.... What a delight!
Fertilizer: same as for tomatoes
Growing conditions: Peppers in the tropics will do just fine with a little shade, but they do need water. You can also leave the peppers on the plants a little longer than you might in a northern climate. Unless it is very hot and dry the peppers will continue growing until they almost resemble those "store bought" peppers -- big, deep green and crunchy.
Tropical Climate Varieties: Yolo Wonder, Keystone Resistant Giant
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

Pergrina A Tall Ever Flowering Bush Jatropha integerrima or Jatropha pandurata
This is a very tough open stemmed flowering bush that grows to a height somewhere between eight and fifteen feet. The tallest one I've seen here in Montserrat is about twelve feet high. Ours suffered from brutal gardeners and falling volcanic ash before we bought the property. Despite all that, it continued to bloom, proving its reputation as a plant that will withstand almost anything and still give you flowers most of the year. Wouldn't it be nice if we were all this tough? On the downside, you must know the plant is poisonous.
From: Cuba
Planting and Growth: It will grow in poor soil and under drought conditions in either full sun or semi shade.
Text and Photos Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Periwinkle Flowering Plant Catharanthus roseus or Vinca major or Vinca rosea
First thought lost to the volcanic eruption of July 2003, tiny periwinkle plants are appearing all over our garden. It is a friendly looking plant, not at all exotic, with small lilac, pink or white flowers. It fills in all by itself here and there around the yard.
Benefits: This unassuming plant produces vinblastine, a component of a drug used in the treatment of Hodgkins disease and vincristine which has proved beneficial in the treatment of leukemia.
Benefits: Aside from being a treatment for high blood pressure its leaves were a Carib curative for diabetes. Reportedly substances in its leaves may also provide effective cancer treatments.
From: Madagascar
Planting and Care: Periwinkles will grow just fine in the sun or in the shade as long as they receive some very occasional rainfall or watering and a once in a while dose of fertilizer.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

Pesticides for tropical organic gardening See The "L" Page -- LINKS and REFERENCES FOR TROPICAL GARDENING

PHILODENDRON

Cut Leaf Philodendron Philodendron radiatum or Philodendron selloum

Lacy Tree Philodendron, Tree Philodendron, Saddleaf Philodendron Philodendron bipinnatifidum
We found this appealing little philodendron growing plentifully in scrub woods near a neighbors home and took a small piece of it for our terrace garden.
From: South America
Planting and Growth: Semi shade to shady is best and with routine rainfall it will do fine. As with pothos, the cut leaf philodendron seems to stay relatively small until it finds something to grow on finding its way off the ground and up into the trees. Then it truly takes off. The leaves and stems become several times as large and the overall plant seems to grow much more quickly, rapidly enveloping its host.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Red Princess Philodendron Philodendronx hybrida 'Red Princess'

**Petrea, Queen's Wreath, Sandpaper Vine Flowering Vine Like Bush Petrea volubilis
This is the vine-like bush that lives under and in and around the branches of our red flamboyant tree. The papery leaves are pretty and its long sprays of blue flowers are really lovely.
From: It originated in tropical America.
Pruning: Petrea will take very well to a hard pruning as we discovered this year. One of ours had grown completely out of control and had attached itself in an unattractive way to our bamboo. I cut it back severely and it is now bushy and beautiful. I would recommend doing this sometime during rainy season or at a time when you will be watering.
Landscape architecture: Petrea is a wonderful tropical cousin to the appearance of a wisteria vine in the north. It can be trained to a trellis in much the same way although sadly its similar flowers don't have any noticeable scent.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2008

Pigeon Pea Cajanus cajan or Cajanus indicus
From: South Asia or the East Indies
Planting and Growth: This plant is ideally suited to the Caribbean summer environment -- hot and dry. Plant it in full sun or with a little shade and it will do just fine producing lots of pigeon pea pods to keep you busy shucking peas while chatting with friends in the evening. We spent many an evening this way with friends in Tobago and with not a few rum and cokes.
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

Pink Poui Tree Tabebuia rosea or Tabebuia pentaphylla
Not seen in Montserrat, but normally seen in the tropics, the delicate looking pink poui tree is surprisingly resistant to termites and its wood is similar to oak. The tree loses its leaves and then showers the ground with pink blossoms. It will eventually reach about seventy feet in height.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2004

Pink Shower Tree -- See Pink Cassia Tree Above

**Poinciana Tree, Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant Delonix regia
The deciduous poinciana can grow to 50 feet, though the ones here in Montserrat never seem to get that tall. Even so, its branches seem to spread as wide as the tree is tall with feathery leaves resembling ferns. In our garden on the island, our poincianas usually begin blooming in mid-May and continue through July. We have two red and one orange flowering tree, all of which are very beautiful. Some of last season's long flat seed pods, often more than one foot in length, remain on the trees as the new flowers appear. Poincianas could be easily mistaken for jacarandas until they begin to bloom.
From: Madagascar, Africa and/or Costa Rica
Planting and Care: These lovely trees seem very tolerant of light variations growing well in full sun or in shade, but they do seem to prefer regular rainfall. Sadly, they are EXTREMELY vulnerable to termites so they are best planted in very sunny and even slightly dry areas. Whenever we see a termite track on one of our trees we spread boric acid on the ground after rubbing off the track, exposing the termites to sun. We tried using a strong soap solution, but it had no affect of the termites.
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Pok Choy Vegetable
This is our favorite vegetable for stir fried Chinese food. AND, it grows wonderfully all over the Caribbean, even here in Montserrat as you can see from the photo to your left. These were young plants growing in our herb garden as a temporary filler plant, followed by yet a few more square feet of basil.
Planting and Care: As with most everything in this tropical setting, it is best to start your plants in seed trays. When they start to grow, fertilize them well with something like Miracle Grow, move them toward a more sunny location everyday and keep them moist. When they are about three inches high, transplant them to a sunny or semi shady area of the garden where the soil has been loosened to a depth of at least six inches. Fertilize them more than you ever thought would be necessary and give them lots of water. Watch out for hungry caterpillars; we spray with soap every other day or so.
Tropical Climate Variety: Michili
Fertilizer: A nitrogenous fertilizer 10 to 14 days after planting along with regular watering should give you a good crop.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Pomegranate Tree Punica granatum
The pomegranate is a wonderfully exotic fruit that is not only beautiful, but tastes good too. I had my first experience with them when in college in Boston, Massachusetts. Back in those days there was a fabulous food market just behind Beacon Hill where you could buy whatever you desired from fruit and vegetables to meat and fish. At Christmas time it was also a place to get your tree and garlands of natural greens. The fruit of this tree is split open revealing seeds with a lovely red crisp jelly like coating. Take a bite, enjoy the coating and spit out the seeds. Grenadine, at least the real thing, is made from pomegranates and helps to make a truly memorable tequila sunrise!
Benefits: The pomegranate is said to improved circulation and to be not only an antioxidant, but a builder of red blood cells.
From: Southern Asia
Planting and Growth: Plant your pomegranate tree in full sun in a warm climate in an area that is naturally a little dry. It is a lovely tree and apart from giving us its glorious fruits it has very appealing red flowers.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

POPPIES

California Poppies Eschscholzia californica
This is one of the smaller continuously blooming poppie varieties. It is one of my favorites. Here in Montserrat I have tried several times so far to get it past the young, just germinated, phase. I have read that they will grow in "poor, but well drained soil" which we have plenty of. I will be trying again so wish me luck!
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Poppy Papever

**Portia Tree, Indian Tulip Tree, Pacific Rosewood, Seaside Mahoe Thespesia papulnea
This is a relatively small tree with deep green heart shaped leaves, interesting yellow flowers and visually appealing fruits, although I can't imagine making a pie with them. Growing only to about forty feet, it has won its place here in our garden. When we bought our property this tree had been butchered with a machete or what is known in the Caribbean as a cutlass. Its main stem had been cut and its side shoots had become solid four inch thick upward reaching stems. In truth, the first time I saw the tree it looked like a very tall bush. I had committed to leaving in place anything that I couldn't identify until I learned more and this tree was one of the garden's survivors.
Benefits: If you were to get very hungry, its new leaves, flowers and golf ball sized bright green fruits are all edible. And, probably more appealingly it is prized for the lovely colors of its wood.
Medicinal Uses: The portia's bark, fruit and roots are all said to have medicinal benefits.
Planting and Care: Although the portia is reportedly native to mangrove swamps and should require lots of water, ours is living just fine on the dry end of our garden in full sun. It prefers a pH of from 5.5 to 6.5. One peculiar feature it has is that it attracts a relative of the cotton stainer bugs that feed on a similar type of tree, the sea hibiscus. The portia's bugs are red and black and seem always to be mating, reminding us of the love bugs in the New Orleans area woods.
Links: http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/portia.htm
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika 2008

**Potato Solanum tuberosum
Ahhh....the potato, food of the Gods, the Irish and given to the world by the Incans of Peru! I tried growing chunks of a sprouting potato here on the island and had great luck with the plants coming up. However, they didn't last long as something ate them; I know not what. I will try again as I have had good luck even growing the plants in large buckets on our terrace in Taxco, Mexico.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2007

**Pothos, Devil's Ivy (Leafy Vine) Epipremnum aureum or Epipremnum pinnatum
This is the popular hanging plant with green and white leaves that so many of us have in our shady windows up north. It is similar to a philodendron, but more attractive and just as easy to care for. Here in Montserrat pothos appears just as it does in New England until it finds something to grow on. Then it becomes an entirely different animal. The leaves grow to more than 12" and the vine that supports the leaves will be an inch or more thick. It is extremely hardy and, though it prefers the sun, it will grow in low light as well.
From: S.E. Asia
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Prickly Pear Cactus See The "N" Page NOPAL

**Pride of Barbados, Dwarf Poinciana Bush like small tree Caesalpinia pulcherrima
This spiny bush like tree flowers almost the year with bright yellow or combinations of pink and white or red and yellow petals. The stems have very sharp spines.
From: The West Indies or Central America
Planting and Growth: Our property receives a fair share of rain for a place in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the average tropical soil does not absorb or hold moisture well so I'd have to give a round of applause to this plant that will even grow in Barbados an island much to our south and very dry in comparison to ours. My advice is to plant them anywhere there is full sun to semi shade and then sit back and enjoy. Pruning is a good idea and the plants do seem to do especially well when it is done.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2004

**Prickly Pear Cactus Opuntia repens or Opuntia rubescens Salm-Dyek or Opuntia cochenillifera (L.) Mill. or Opuntia dillenil (Ker.-Gwal) Haw. or Opuntia tuna (L.) Mill.
The ice green prickly pear will grow to between ten and fifteen feet tall. The plant has chubby oval pads with lots of long sharp spines. It flowers and then gives us the prickly pear fruit.
Benefits: The fruit is said to be helpful in treating coughs. Carefully peel and wash the pears. Crush the fruit and mix it with honey and lemon or lime juice. Strain the mixture and take it in tablespoons as needed.
Please also See The "N" Page NOPAL CACTUS
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008

** Purple False Eranthemum Leafy bush Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum Tricolor
This is an unremarkable bush with mottled grayish green and subdued purple leaves. We have it growing in the shade in what we call our plant parking lot, a place to put plants that we aren't yet ready to plant permanently elsewhere in the garden. This plant was proudly given to us by a garden assistant a few years ago and might have earned a better place had I known that the bush flowers, though it has not done so in the shade.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Purple Allamanda Flowering vine-like bush Cryptostegia grandiflora or Allamanda blanchetii or Allamanda violacea
More lavender than purple, the flowers are plentiful on this plant that differs also in its leaves from its cousin the yellow allamanda -- See The "Y" Page YELLOW ALLAMANDA. They have a whitish stripe down the main leaf vein that the yellow variety does not have. The purple allamanda is poisonous.
From: Madagascar
Pruning: Unlike the yellow allamanda, the purple variety seems well adapted to pruning in a draping bush shape or even as a small tree; simply prune all of the downward growing branches.
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Purple Horn of Plenty See The "D" Page DEVILS TRUMPET TREE