Tuesday, March 12, 2013

In the Home Stretch.........

Its hard to believe that I've been in Barbados now for just over 3 months.....the time has flown by from being continually occupied with building this garden from scratch. Ive had some help but it has mostly been done by yours truly. The dry season is well underway now with several weeks of no rain and searing temperatures. The 200 gallon and 400 gallon rain barrels have now been emptied this week. The rainy season usually doesnt begin until april or may. This was me returning from the annual garden and farm show "Agrofest" it was a treasure trove of plant vendors and prices very reasonable. It sort of like the CNE, Royal Winter Fair and Canada Blooms rolled into one. This new cultivar of Gloriosa rothchildiana given to me by Anna Leggatt has grown from a humble finger like tuber out of the ground 5 feet and blooming in 2 months!!! This cultivar has a much darker wine coloured flower from the usual yellow or orangy/red. Thanks Anna !! The dry garden is really doing remarkably well. Ive only watered sparingly a few times in the evening i will top dress with some more sand and compost mix then gravel on top.....most of the plants here were brought in as cuttings from ontario. But I have found some interesting specimens here in Barbados.

4 comments:

LauraH said...

Great to hear how your project is going. Love the snap of you on the bike! What is that plant that looks to be growing right out of your backpack?

Barry Parker said...

It would be interesting to know how many miles the plants in that garden have travelled.

David Leeman said...

HI Laura ...the pink plant in question is a cordyline....and Barry yes a portion of the garden has been well travelled before taking root in Barbados. Ive been particularly pleased that most of the succulent cuttings rooted well...the rainy season will be the test of endurance and swimming....

GAY to Z DIRECTORY said...

Beautiful transformation, for a demanding client... hope you enjoyed it. Steve