**Sage Salvia officinalis
As a member of the mint family, sage is in very good company although I have to admit, despite my affection for this plant, cooked in almost any food it always gives me enormous indigestion. I recall my father had the affliction so maybe it is just a family affair. Nonetheless, I adore the flavor of sage as do most of us.
From: The Mediterranean
Note: As may be immediately evident to experienced sage growers, the plant you see to the left is a dwarf variety. I didn't notice that when I bought the seeds. If it matters to you, be a little more careful than I was when ordering your sage seeds.
Planting and Growth: The plant likes full sun and water on a regular basis. It will grow to be about thirty inches high and about the same in width. Bees are also said to love sage.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Sago Palm, Gnu Palm Cycas revoluta
Ours doesn't seem to give fruit, but they are said to be very similar in flavor to coconuts and are eaten the same way. A squat, beautiful, dark-leaved very primitive palm and one of the oldest plants in the palm family, the sago thrives in full sun and likes the rain. Sagos are native to S. Japan. Also see the Mexican Cycad Dioon edule.
Sadly, in the winter of 2007 our sago died from the white scale infestation that was so destructive to these marvelous trees. We were unwilling to use toxic pesticides and our soap sprays were not adequate to kill the scale during the six months we are on island. In our absence the scale got a great leg up and we had no luck getting it back under control when we returned.
Text & Photos Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Sandpaper Vine See The "P" Page -- PETREA

**Saritaea, Glow Vine Saritaea magnifica (Sprague ex Stennis) Dugand
From: Columbia through to Panama
Planting and Care: The saritaea likes a bit of shade and regular rainfall or watering. Like most vines, once it takes a hold of something it can grow on, it does so with gusto.

Schefflera, Umbrella Tree, Queensland Umbrella Tree Schefflera Actinophylla
Planted in a tropical or non-freezing environment the umbrella tree will excel growing to be about twenty five feet tall and spreading about half as much. This is one very tough and attractive small tree; it is used as potted indoor greenery in many northern climate office buildings and as a house plant by many northerly gardening enthusiasts, but it only achieves its true self planted outside in the sun.
From: Australia
Planting and care: The umbrella tree will handle a shady spot, but much prefers to be planted in the sun. It likes good soil and good drainage to be at its best.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Scotch Broom, Spanish Broom Spartium junceum
This is a tall wonderful yellow flowering bush aptly named as a "broom" whether Scotch or Spanish. It might as easily be called a "Greek broom" as it covers many of the dry hillsides on the Greek Islands, blooming in profusion in the late spring month of May. It is especially spectacular on the island of Naxos.
I like Scotch Broom enough to have given a large plant to a friend on her 40th birthday which we all celebrated in black tie and gowns at her "bawdy fawty" party in Rhode Island, the smallest state in the United States known for its strange accent.
From: The Mediterranean
Planting and Growth: Obviously a plant named Scotch and Spanish and seen everywhere in Greece can be considered tough. It is a perennial which will grow just fine in dry rocky soil in full sun, although a less harsh environment doesn't seem to do it any harm. Its needs it keeps to itself as most of us should.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Scurfy Zamia See The "P" Page -- PALMS AND SAGOS - Jamaica Sago

Sea Grape See The "G" Page -- Groundleaf

**Sea Island Cotton Gossypium barbardense
This cotton plant is a perennial bearing yellow flowers. The plant contains gossypol which provides it with insect resistance. Apart from giving us its wonderful cotton, there is an edible oil in its seeds. It grows best in full sun with high humidity and lots of rain. We’ve planted it in between the spider plants in our garden in front of the white wall that provides privacy to our home. Surprisingly, its lovely flowers are even more short lived than day lilies. They last only a couple of hours. The plants themselves are beautiful, even without the flowers.

I wrote the note above on sea island cotton just before we left Montserrat for our several month long visit to Taxco. When we returned to the island, the cotton had taken over much of the road. It was, lush and green, about 10 feet high and wide enough to have created a problem for the luckily few cars that pass our house. One funny thing came as a result. We got on the island tour route as tour guides drove island visitors past our home to see the sea island cotton Montserrat was once famous for. Sadly, I had to trim it back severely and eventually we removed it from the wall garden entirely. We now have it growing on the side end of the property where it has all the space it needs.
Text & Photos Copyrighted © KO 2007

Seed, Plant and Tree Companies See The "L" Page -- LINKS and REFERENCES FOR TROPICAL GARDENING - Seed, Plant and Tree Companies

Seedlings
Below is a four inch deep styrofoam tray of basil, parsley and sage seedlings ready for planting outside in our garden. We recover these styrofoam trays, once filled with grapes from the United States, and their more shallow tops from our small local supermarket. The trays are about eighteen inches by twenty four inches and they make planting a lot easier than many of the more standard alternatives. Here in Montserrat our biggest problem in planting seeds is getting a good sterile planting medium. I have become EXTREMELY creative in making something seeds will like, but it really should be easier. From the Montserrat Department of Agriculture we do see posted roadside signs such as "Eat from the yard, not from the can" and many more touting the "backyard garden." We just have never seen anything that would make a backyard garden or eating from the yard possible without an enormous amount of creativity, tenacity, perseverance and a determination to have "local" food that is not essentially toxic. All of our gardens are poison free though we have succumbed to using commercial fertilizers. These we use in addition to all the cow manure we can collect and all the compost we can make and incorporate into the worst soil I have ever seen.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2009

**Shallots Vegetable
Shallots grow like weeds which makes their high market price (in the US) hard to understand. Their flavor is a subtle blend of onion and garlic, not reproduced by combining the other two.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Shamrock Plant, White Wood Sorrel Oxalis regnelli
This is a sweet plant with lots of delicate small white flowers. Its leaves resemble shamrocks so it is a perfect St. Patrick's Day gift. It will grow happily in a window of your home in a cold climate, as did my first plants. It also grows happily outside in my garden here on the Caribbean isle of Montserrat. That's not bad for flexibility which automatically makes it one of my favorites.
From: South Africa
Planting and Growth: Oxalis are tiny bulbs which you can plant about one to one and one-half inches deep and about three to four inches apart either in a pot or in the garden. They will do best in semi shade and, like all bulbs, they will need a short dormant period during which they will shrivel back into the ground. During this latter period it is best if you can leave them to their own devices -- no fertilizer and no extra water apart from normal rainfall. I specify the latter because here in the Caribbean watering is a regular activity. The high heat and dry windy air take moisture out of plants at an alarming rate. We have established our garden beds as ones that will be watered when it doesn't rain for two days and ones that will not be watered except in a serious drought. Bulb plants seem to appreciate our having done so and they live for the most part in the latter garden beds.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

**Shell ginger See The "G" Page -- GINGER

**Snake Plant, Mother-in-law Plant Sanseveria laurentii or Sansevieria trifasciata or Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii'
This is one of my least favorite plants and in truth I am trying to get rid of them. On the island of Montserrat, I’ve found it’s best to wait until late March and into April, our dry season, if you are going to try to make it go away. With a sharp machete or cutlass slice the plant off at its base and spread the leaves on the lawn. The heat and sun prevent it from rooting from the cut leaves and it seems at this time of year the roots do not have enough stamina to grow again. The only alternative is deep digging and eternally eradicating new growth from very hardy tuberous roots.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Snotty Gobbles Tree See The "C" Page -- Clammy Cherry Tree

Snow Peas Vegetable
Planting and Growth: We got seeds of the of the variety “Dwarf Gray Sugar” and found they grow quite well here in Montserrat. In the Caribbean and in Mexico, plant them in late November or the first week in December to ensure that it doesn’t get too hot for them to yield. Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Soil in Montserrat
When we moved into our home in Montserrat, the soil on our property was as hard as a rock and so deficient in nutrients that the vegetables we planted remained miniatures until we relented and used commercial fertilizer. We also added hundreds of bags of sawdust which we used as mulch and also worked into the soil along with the compost we made and the manure we collected. After just a few years we have "real dirt" complete with a few earthworms and our vegetables gardens are showing promise.

Consulting with our neighbor, a former member of the Agricultural Department here in Montserrat, we learned that our soil is probably in the pH range of from 4 to 3.5 making it too acidic for successfully growing most annual vegetables. After some investigation, we found a local fellow who would sell us a bag of lime in order to raise the pH, though at an exorbitant price. We were naive and hopeful and had a bag delivered. When it arrived I saw that it was a dark gray and wondered, "What on earth??" We added it to the soil in our mahogany garden along with compost, waited a week before planting and hoped for the best. After a bit of research on the internet, we learned that what we had been sold at the MSJ Flower Shop & Garden Supplies store in Brades owned by the former Director of the Department of Agriculture here in Montserrat was "burnt lime." We had been told it was appropriate for use in the garden. It isn't really, but since it is no longer available, it is a non-issue.

PLEASE NOTE: Produce enhancing agricultural products are terribly expensive in Montserrat -- things such as tools, fertilizer, seeds, seed starting soil and agricultural lime -- if they are even available. But, you can save money when you become a member of the Farmer's Co-op. To moderate the highly acidic nature of the soil here, you will need to use agricultural lime which is not available in Montserrat. You might also use wood ashes, but you will need to burn quite a bit of the forest and save every bit of ash to put in your very small vegetable garden to raise the pH even a bit. This is apparently what the farmers do as there is almost constant burning in the Centre Hills forest area where most farmers have acre or more plots of land on which to work.

**Contact the Department of Agriculture for a solution because the highly acidic soil in Montserrat precludes most successful backyard gardening and farming.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2009

**Soursop Tree, Cherimoya, Chirimoya, Custard Apple Annona muricata L.
This is a relatively small tree growing at most to only about twenty five feet tall. We have two that live on the hill beside our pool and one that lives just by our banana garden. They give us the bumpy, soft, spiny-skinned soursop fruit each one of which weighs between two and five pounds. When ripe and cut in half, soursop is creamy white with a slightly sour taste and lots of seeds. Maybe the best thing about this tree is that it is just about free of diseases and insects, though in appearance it is a bit scrawny.
Benefits: Aside from giving us one of the premier fruits of the world (for true fruit lovers), the soursop's leaves are used as general curatives in teas and baths.
From: South America
Text & Photos Copyrighted © KO 2008

Spanish Broom See "Scotch Broom" Above

**Spanish Thyme See The "T" Page -- THYME - Spanish Thyme

**Spathiphyllum, Peace Lily Spathiphyllum
From: Tropical areas of Asia and the Americas
Planting and Growth: These deep green foliage plants with their occasional striking white flowers are a delightful addition to any fertile, shady and well watered and drained area of your garden.
Problems: Insect pests are usually mealy bugs which will succumb to a regular spraying of soapy water or a solution of neem oil.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2009

**Spider Lily Flowering Bulb Hymenocallis caribaea or Hymenocallis littoralis or Crinum zeylanicum or Crinum pedunculatum
With up to three foot long three inch wide strap shaped leaves and a two and a half foot flower stem, this is one of our favorite plants. On an irregular basis and all year long, it has spectacular spidery white flowers as you can see in the photograph to the left.
From: The spider lily is a member of the amaryllis family which originated in tropical America. It is a very tough plant and will survive in terrible circumstances, but will be happiest growing in light shade with a medium amount of water.
Planting and care: Plant your spider lily bulbs just under the surface of the soil in a garden bed well-worked with compost. If your soil is heavy in clay, add sand along with the compost and mix it until it begins to look like good soil. If you take good care in preparing the soil beforehand, you will almost never need to intervene in the future. Spider lilies will thrive for years with just a biannual dose of fertilizer or a more frequent dose of manure tea.
Problems: Normally these lilies are problem free, though each year they do have a couple of weeks of caterpillars. We had hundreds of them for many weeks in 2007 which was the "Year of the Caterpillar" here in Montserrat. The caterpillars are relatively easy to control if you cut off the spent flower stems every day and take a daily walk by your plants to see how the leaves are doing. Remove and destroy any leaves showing small caterpillar damage. If you are using the spider lily plant as a foliage plant, during caterpillar time simply cut and remove the flower stems before they bloom.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2009

**Spider Plant Anthericum or Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum' or Chlorophytum sp.
This is the old standby hanging plant found in most homes of indoor gardeners living in New England (and probably elsewhere). A sunny window and regular watering often produces more plant than you ever really wanted. Here in the Caribbean they thrive in the shade or semi shade with very little care. They do like some moisture on a regular basis, but survived our serious drought in the summer of 2007 when we were not here to water. Fertilizing is okay, but be a little more stingy than you are normally; spider plants do not like a very fertile soil.
Problems: There is something that chomps some of the leaves, probably an agouti, but the plants have never become unsightly or ill-looking as a consequence.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Spinach, Bhaji Vegetable Amaranthus dubius Mart.
In most of the Caribbean and in Montserrat there is a leafy plant sold locally called spinach. In many parts of the Caribbean is is known as a weed and is called bhaji. It produces prolifically year round here in Montserrat and probably in most of the Caribbean. It does not look like the plant we know in our spring time New England gardens, but very surprisingly it tastes very similar. It grows well in the hot climate of the Caribbean which makes it a great alternative to the cold weather northern spinach which almost always bolted in my New England garden before I ever got to eat much of it.
Benefits:
1. Along with beets and Swiss chard, spinach is a good source of Vitamin A, calcium, and phosphorous.
2. Along with broccoli and asparagus, spinach is high in vitamin K which can neutralize anti-coagulants. These vegetables promote blood clotting.
Recipe:
Curried Spinach
Lightly fry one diced onion in about two tablespoons of oil in a large heavy frying pan. As the onions are becoming translucent, add a thumb sized piece ginger that you have minced and saute the two together until cooked. Next add a 14.5 oz. can of whole tomatoes diced along with the juice and one teaspoon of good quality curry powder. Heat all ingredients together at a medium to low temperature adding about twenty-five grinds of fresh peppercorns. Meanwhile wash the spinach well and slice across the leaves in about one inch pieces. When the onion and tomato mixture is fully cooked, raise the heat and in a few minutes add the spinach and stir in as if making a Chinese stir-fry. When all looks minimally cooked add about one cup of sour cream and heat through. Serve over rice.
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Spineless Yucca See The "Y" Page YUCCA - Spineless Yucca

**Starfish Cactus See below Stem Succulent

**Stem Succulent, Starfish Cactus Stapelia lepida or Stapelia gigantea
When I planted it in our cactus garden, it had a large papery looking flower bud which opened just a few days later. The flower resembles a starfish in shape. It is about six or seven inches across and it attracts flies with its unpleasant scent. The flower almost dwarfs the tube like plant which is only about eight inches tall.
From: S. Africa
Planting and Growth: The Stapelia is another wonderful tough and delightful plant. It lives happily in our 'front of the house' cactus garden where it receives not much rain or anything else. Still, it blooms with abandon. The flowers are beautiful and extraordinary, but they attract flies, though this is not a problem when the plant is not next to your entryway door. We will be moving the plant soon!
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Stinkhorn Mushrooms See The "M" Page -- MUSHROOMS

**Stinky Toe Tree See The "L" Page -- LOCUST TREE

Star Anise Illicium sp.
Planting and Growth: This plant will do well planted in semi to deep shade.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Strawberries
I remember with great fondness my grandfather arriving on a hot sunny summer afternoon with a big ceramic bowl of his fresh garden strawberries. Mom would make shortcake biscuits, whip some heavy cream and we would indulge ourselves. One can never have enough strawberries and cream. In Taxco we were very lucky to be given strawberry plants from a garden in nearby Landa. The berries are not huge like supermarket strawberries; they are just like the ones my grandfather grew – delicious. We’ll be planting a whole bed of them in Montserrat next year.
Planting and Care: Strawberries are from temperate America and prefer an acid soil.They like full sun, but will tolerate light shade. For best results the soil should be moist, but well drained.
Benefits: According to Montserratian Bernie Callender, “Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer causing, blood vessel clogging free radicals.”
Update: All good plans do not go according to plan. All of the strawberry plants I brought to the island have died. I'll have to try again. I did try again, charming a neighbor into giving me one of his strawberry plants (I never knew he had them). It is now quite happy so we'll see how it goes.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Sundrops See The "Y" Page -- YELLOW ALDER

**Sunshine Tree See The "C" Page -- CORAL TREE

**Superb Lily, Kalihari in India Gloriosa superba L. Vine
This is a trailing plant with brilliant exotic yellow and red flowers. It trails over other plants in sunny areas and can be propagated by seeds or tubers, but most commonly by tubers. We have it just below the deck. It’s great for cut flowers, though all parts of the plant are toxic.
Text & Photo Copyrighted © KO 2004

**Sweet Basil See The "B" Page -- BASIL

**Sweet Corn See The "C" Page -- CORN

**Sweet Frying Pepper See The "P" Page -- PEPPERS - Italianelle Pepper

**Sweet Italian Frying Pepper See The "P" Page -- PEPPERS - Italianelle Pepper

**Sweet Potato, Camote (In Spanish) Ipomoea batatas
The sweet potato is one of the best foods in the world. You can eat it as you would eat a white potato -- baked, boiled, fried or in a million other ways -- but, you can also make it into a sweet treat as the name implies. The plant is vine like, not looking at all like a white potato plant. From one vine you can cut runners that will root in a few days so you can have as many plants as you want or have room for. Here in Montserrat sweet potatoes are considered desirable enough for folks to steal plants from my garden. Who would have thought?
From: Native to Central and South America.
Problems: Thieves!
Planting and Growth: Each plant will need a square foot of garden space in which to grow. The soil should be loose and fertile. Place a stem in the center of the square and carry on until all your available squares are planted. Water as you would any new plant for a few days every day, then every other day and so on. Within a week they should be off and running. Once set, they will do fine with the water that arrives by rainfall in most of the tropical Caribbean and unless they are not looking the lovely green (as above) they don't require much fertilizer. Planting them in good well composted dirt should be just the ticket for a good crop which you should harvest three months from the date of planting. Harvesting: Do not water the plants three to four weeks prior to harvest. When you do harvest, dig them up carefully so as not to bruise the skin and then let them dry a few hours on the ground. Our best advice for storage in the Caribbean environment is to cook and then freeze them. They will last about a month in a dry place, but they do seem to lose something which is impossible to describe -- best to cook and freeze.
Yield: In our second harvest we dug thirty pounds of sweet potatoes from a 10 x 10 foot patch of the garden. It had been fed with laundry water, never having been fertilized or watered in any other way. The potatoes were beautiful, more perfect than we've seen at any supermarket in the States!
Recipe: For those of you who live in an isolated tropical environment like us, you know that there is bounty from the garden at specific times of the year and a dearth of available fresh products at other times. And...it is difficult to imagine using a whole stem of bananas or plantains at a single go. So, when you harvest sweet potatoes give them a very good rinse to remove all the dirt possible and let them dry. Then peel and cut them into similar size pieces and boil them till they will slide off a fork when pierced. Drain them and put them in a big pan. Add an equivalent quantity of ripe bananas (maybe from the freezer), a bit of butter and mash everything together. If it needs a bit more sweetness add some brown sugar.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2007

**Swiss Chard
This is the first year we have grown swiss chard so we don't yet know how it will do. We planted a row of seeds directly in the garden with no success, not even one see germinated. We went directly to "Plan B" -- planting in plastic seed starter trays and we have had very good results. Soon the little plants will be ready to transplant into the garden which you can see in the photo to the left.

This year in Montserrat we have had an ENORMOUS problem with caterpillars, except on the Swiss chard. We think the local insects haven't figured out that the chard is a desirable food; maybe they think it is a weed and insects never seem to bother weeds.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Sword Fern See The "F" Page FERNS