Plants

I was brought up in the western United States and know about plants that grow in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  I had a sunroom where I grew orchids and jade plants.  I had bulbs that came up every spring and flowered.  I knew how to trim, fertilize, transplant and root new plants.

Bonaire is very different.  It seems I will have to learn a new skill set.

In my yard, there are orchids that grow on trees without soil, bark, charcoal or pots.  They look awful and dry.  But they bloom and live with little or no care, as far as I can tell. 

The flowers in my yard are exotic, unusual and colorful. They grow from palm type plants, trees, and bushes.  I have no idea what they are or how to take care of them.  It seems they do fine on their own.

My neighbor gave me some plants that I know how to grow. She has a 3 foot tall basil plant.  It's the biggest herb plant I have ever seen.  I have a cutting from that beast that is doing well.  I also have a cutting from her coleus that is also in a huge pot and is 4 feet tall.

I have some giants of my own.  This beauty is about 30 feet tall.  It has big beautiful leaves and never gets watered.  It lives on the sparse rain we get.  When we trim these giants, the big leaves go out in the street for the wild donkeys and goats to eat. Trimming is a constant activity as things grow so fast here. 

We also have two golden mango trees that produce fruit. Once again, we know nothing about fruit trees in general and even less about mango trees. We do know that the Lora Parrots love mangos and we are happy to share.

We spend time on the internet to learn about the plants in our compound.  We are also planning a garden. The constant year round temps mean that we can start growing any time as there really aren't seasons.