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OUR TROPICAL GARDEN

 

Click below to see our garden plants alphabetically listed by common name.
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Z page

**Zinnia Zinnia Sp.
This is one of the best annual flowering plants I can imagine. Along with giving us a choice of plant and flower size, it has a wide range of abundant and long lasting bright colored flowers and petal shapes. The only downside is it's tendency to suffer from spider mites and powdery mildew.
From: Mexico
Photographed: In our garden at our home in Montserrat and at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala..
Planting and Growth: Plant seeds outdoors in a vegetable garden row and then transplant to your most sunny flower beds. Zinnias need a moderate amount of watering or routine rainfall.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©KO 2008/2010
 
 
**Zoysia grass
This is the most wonderful lawn grass I've ever met! It is thick, lush and green all year and treated right it forms a soft cushiony carpet of a lawn. Here in Montserrat in the West Indies, zoysia is wonderful as most of what passes for lawn grass is considered some form of weed elsewhere. Amazingly, in the eight years we have owned our home here in Montserrat we have had the grass cut no more than four times. That's good for noise pollution, gasoline conservation and lawn mower purchases and repairs.
From: Southeast Asia, China and Japan
Photographed: In our garden at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Zoysia is a warm climate grass, not recommended for environments that have a cold winter as it turns an unattractive brown in that situation. Here in the Caribbean, zoysia is a delight as it is a deep carpet of green the year round, even when we experience months of dry weather. It is accepting of all types of soils and wide ranging pH levels, though it does prefer well drained soil. And it is resistant to disease, wear and tear, salt spray, invasive weeds, and heat and drought. Still, people either love or hate this grass. My personal opinion is that people don't like zoysia because it doesn't require all of their time, chemicals, poisons, fertilizers and noisy lawn machinery on a weekly basis. What on earth is a retired fellow supposed to do on the weekend if he doesn't have a difficult lawn?
Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©KO 2008
 

Zucchini Cucurbita pepo
This is the long green summer squash that seems to have more varieties and common names than most other squashes. It is wonderful in all of its incarnations. In New England, one healthy plant will produce enough squash for a family of five or so. And, if you aren't vigilant about harvesting the squash when it's young, you can end up with huge (more than two foot long squash) in a matter of a few days. In Washington, D.C., I always had picture perfect plants and never ever had a squash. Here in the Caribbean, I hadn't even been able to keep a plant alive, but when I planted seeds I bought in Corfu, Greece, when we were there traveling I had some very minimal success. The squash they grow locally there looks a lot tougher than what is normally grown in the States. It is a sight to see as it is often sold in supermarkets with the flower still attached so you can enjoy the flower and the squash itself which has a slightly stronger flavor than its cousins overseas. If you look very carefully at the photograph you may see the one lone squash the plant produced.
Photographed: In our upper garden at our home in Montserrat. If you look very closely you can see the one squash we got from the plant before it died.

PLEASE HELP: If you have any advice or suggestions about how to grow this squash in the Caribbean I will be very grateful to hear from you and will include your information on this site and will credit it to you.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2007/2010

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Click a letter below to see plants listed alphabetically by common name.
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