Gardener in Chacala Mexico

Sad News about Andee Carlsson

2008-01-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hi I am Erik Ordway, Andee's son. This Sunday Andee passed away, most likely from a stroke. There, the easy part is over.

I sent this out as an email this on Monday after I personally notified the people that I could. I will try to find others to send this too but I would ask you to send it on to anyone that you think I missed.

We should not feel to much sadness at this ending. We should fell happiness that Andee got to spend extra years, that she did not expect to be living, in what was to her a little paradise. She had many friends in the town, Chacala, and meet and gained friends for all over the world. Over the years Andee has touched and helped many of us in our lives. As I said to her more that once "I am who I am because of you and I am pretty happy with that." She tried to do good things to the world whether that was the glorious plants, the work she did with those that needed help, and just the people around her.

Andee was a private person about her difficulties but I think that at this point she would want it known why she moved down to Mexico, if she did not well I am sure she would have forgiven me. For a few years before she left, to Mexico, she was having issues with her memory and this drove her find a place that she could live and not be to burdened by this. Chacala provided this place for her and allowed her to live her last years as had she wanted. We should all be so lucky.

I will be traveling down to Mexico tomorrow (Tuesday) to take care of things. Tom my father and her ex-husband will be traveling with me. Andee largely left it up to me with what to do with her remains and I had discussed my plans with her on my trips down there. She will be cremated and we will spread some of the ashes there in Chacala. I also plan to spread some in a few locations in eastern Washington in the spring, some time around late June.

As to celebrations we all know Andee would not want a big fuss to be made, we had to sneak birthdays parties on her after all. I do hope to arrange something for June when I spread the last of her ashes. I do not know what this will be or where but I will let people know. In the mean time I would ask you all to do something good for the kid, cat or plant closest to you and have Coke. I think that she would like that.

To all of her blogger friends I will be updating her blogs in the next few days to let every one know. I plan to leave most of them online.

I can be reached at eriko@jumpsuit.org.

Bamboo Right in Front of Me

2008-01-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I took the collectivo from Chacala out to the Crucero de Chacala. The Crucero is the place where the Chacala road meets the main north/south highway to Tepic and to Guadalajara. It consists of about 40 fruit stands along the highway, a nice motel, and few places to each and a couple of basic restaurants.

At the Crucero I caught another collectivo to my favorite nursery, just north of La Penita. The total ride is about 20 minutes. Maybe a little longer.Rancho Las Palmas is the vivero managed by Benjamin. He’s been at the nursery for almost 15 years and is very friendly and helpful. They don’t have many fru-fru plants (flowering annuals) at Benjamin’s. But there are some, and the other plants are very healthy and about 25/30% cheaper than the other local Nursery, near the Pemex station.Anyway. I was there looking for bamboo and whatever, and hoping for succulents (only some lovely white and some rose colored Desert Rose/Rosa del Desertio/Adenium Obesium plants), and some smaller leafy type palms. The Desert Roses were large size-$20mx ($2us) for the pink and $70mx for the white. I guess because they are new here I guess. Or maybe new everyway. Don’t know. No palms in my price range. Under $40mx. ($4us).But I got some bougainvilleas for $15mx and $20 and a beautiful deep maroon geranium, like the one I got the other trip. And some portulacas and a small palm. Don’t know what kind.

No bamboo of any kind. I would have been nervous planting some anyway because of not having labels on the plants and not knowing how invasive a particular bamboo might be.

Then I bought my eight plants and I walked out to the highway and waited in the shade for the next collectivo. If they aren’t packed to the gills the driver will usually let you take almost anything on the collectivos. Including 5 big and three littler plants.
It took me a few minutes of standing in the shade to realize the shade was being provided by a giant stand of medium diameter bamboo. I couldn’t believe I hasn’t noticed the bamboo stand before. I have stood under the shade of this plant a dozen times, at least. And driven by in on the bus maybe 100 times.I have this maybe genetic longing for bamboo. My mom loved it too, and so did my Swedish granddad on my father’s side. I think the stalks are so graceful and lovely, swaying in the wind. And the leaves rustle so sweetly, and the colors of the stalks are so beautiful. I think Bamboo is my favorite group of plants. Maybe even more favorite than succulents.

Bamboo is sooooo useful. Bamboo grows all around Chacala. And is used everywhere in Chacala. Used in construction and decoration and making furniture, fences, and for all kinds of things. I walk the beach most days. Especially after storms. There are often some bamboo poles thrown up on the sand after storms. I drag them home. I keep thinking I will make something with them. But mostly I pass them on to people who remember seeing them on my staircase and who need a piece for something or other.I always keep my eyes open for stands of bamboo around here. But most clumps are owned, or at least claimed, by someone so I haven’t has a chance to collect a big stash yet. Or to transplant some into pots. But soon maybe. An almost empty collectivo came by after and few minutes, and took me to Las Varas. And then I caught another one for home. To Chacala. And I got home before dark. And the moon was out.

Walking Thru the "Jungle" in Chacala

2008-01-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know why the areas of deep vegetation around Chacala are called the "jungle".
Well, it doesn't seem like "the woods", or the "forest", so maybe it's a good name. Chacala is surrounded by jungle, cattle range, fruit orchards, wild animals, birds, little monkeys (sometimes). The animals that I have seer are mostly smaller animals, similar to raccoons, possums, armadillos, and various cats. Some of which are pretty big. Bigger than I would want to me up face to face. The only time i was close to a wild cat there was a steel house door and heavily grated windows. He was very long and blank and tall. With huge claws and a long, thick tail. And big big glowing eyes. He was leaping about 12 feet into the air, trying to bat down the plastic garbage bag that was hanging from a beam over the patio. Scary.Anyway. Christmas Day I went for a nice walk up into the hillside above the south end of Chacala. Via path and dirt road. I was up there looking at three construction projects (ugh) and just looking around.There are orchards on that hillside. The guy who is trying to develop a 40 acre plot into rich people vacation homes has totally blocked off access to orchards (which are not on his land). Using stone walls. Very strange.
These three photos are of one of the fruits growing in the orchards. Another popular orchard fruit here is mango, and bananas. And there are papayas everywhere. Anyway. There are some very tall trees on that hillside, aside from the palms. I love this one, called a Limbo Gumbo. It looks like a peeling Madrone. If I sit quietly near these big trees, and be still, the natural sounds start up again. Bird songs and other sounds. And usually I end up seeing animals sleepings on tree branches, kind of hanging over the branches. And sometimes snakes wrapped arund the bigger branches. I have the feeling that when I am walking along and make noise, all the wild things hold their breathes, and stop moving, until they thing I have gone on by. But if I sit still and wait, they seem to forget about me and go about there business. I love that.

Catching Up in My Chacala Garden

2008-01-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have hardly been blogging about my Chacala garden. Mainly because I was waiting for my replacement computer. Without it I have been spending time there. I am really pleased with how things are growing. also bought a really pretty deep purple geranium. I can't remember what's a geranium and what's a Cranebill (is that the correct name? Can't remember). Anywhere I love the color. $1us.
I have two sets of plants I grew from seed. I can't remember the names of the plants. Marta, from Mars Tres restaurant gave me the seeds for both. I think they are everday plants, even in the U.S. but I don't know either the Spanish or the English names.I bought a new little vine yesterday with kind of tubar yellow blossoms. I haven't looked for it in my book yet. Or planted it. It was 20 pesos, about $2us.The succulent has very similar blossoms to another plant that is growing all over my garden, but I think the leaves look pretty different. I love the blossoms. I have also been starting lots of plants from seed and cutting. I'll save that for another day.
MCM commented about this plant as follows:

"The succulent at the end of your post is Kalanchoe pinnata, sometimes called Mexican love plant -- according to Robert Lee Riffle (The Tropical Look), its probably originally from India, but now widespread throughout the tropics.

The other succulent plant with the similar flowers that you mention is a close relative (Kalanchoe grandiflora).

Another Kalanchoe, that I think you also have, has bright red flowers -- Kalanchoe blossfieldiana. That one doesn't reproduce quite as easily."

Crinium Blossoms in My Chacala Garden

2008-01-01T12:05:00.001-07:00

I just added a couple of photos to this post.
My Chacala garden has three of these plants growing in it. They are growing bigger everyday, and are about 4 feet across and four feet high, not counting the blossom stem. Apparently they are Criniums. They seem to blossom either two or three times a year. I am going back to check my notes later. One just finished blooming, and the other just started.
The stalk seems to just shoot up overnight. After a couple of days they look like this.
Then in takes another few days to burst in huge blooms. The blooms are usually between a foot and 18 inches across. Maybe more. This is a totally new plant for me. The first time I saw this plant, I don't remember seeing it anywhere before, and I didn't notice the blossom until it was fully in bloom.
My plant book for this area, Linda Abbott Tripp's "Ornamental Plants and Flowers of Tropical Mexico" was created by a non-gardener. But has been very helpful for me when I am trying to identify a plant. Unfortunately the author doesn't use the Spanish names, which makes it difficult when searching nurseries. Otherwise it's very helpful.
The author says the Crinium is in the Amaryllidaceae family, and is also called Swamp Lily, and Milk and Wine Lady. It seems to like heavy dampish soil and grows from a giant bulb. I have tried various ways to propagate it without success.

I don't want to dig any of the plants up. They are very large. The strapping leaves are often about 5 feet long. I think they are spectacular looking and am glad my landlady planted them here. She thinks she planted one plant about 5 years ago. She doesn't know how the other plants grew up about 10 feet away. Neither do I, but I sure like them.

A Plant on Playa Chacala

2007-12-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I walked over to the home of one of my favorite landladies in Chacala. I love the new palapa and grass turf at Mirador. The palapa, and two of the unit units overlook the ocean, with a short staircase and a 50 foot walk to the big beach.As I was walking home along the beach, I noticed a plant I didn't recognize, and don't remember seeing before. On a talk stalk, behind a fence, just off the beach.
It was growing just inside the fenced off area of a small home. Actually kind of a dumping area from the beach. The soil seems to be basically sand. I tried taking photos from different distances, and angles. And with the light shining from different directions. I read about doing that in a "Gardener Gone Wild" post a few days ago.
But, of course, my photos didn't look anything like the author's, . But it was fun trying. I looked thru my books, but haven't looked on the internet, to see what this place it.

Moving Plants Around in Chacala

2007-12-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a hibiscus cutting and four Kalanchoes and three Aloe Veras are sharing a space.
Probably not a good plan.

I have been gardening in this space where I live in Chacala for about eight or nine months now. It was hard for me to get started here. I had lots of plants from my old place. Still in pots. But I couldn't figure out how to plant them. How to arrange the gardening space.

The space was a strange mess, with no topsoil and several levels plus two small hillsides. It was hard to figure out how to get started.But my gardening consultant(works for frozen lime cheesecake pie), Sherry Merciari, from Oakland, California, came over from next door (she's here for a month each winter), and scoped on the situation in two seconds. She basically said to make planting areas tucked in the five different flat spots. And that's what I did. With the help of her son Freddie, the famous stone worker.

I worked on things for about three months. Making beds with low stone walls to hold the dirt in. And a little bit of terracing off the hillside. Freddie did most of that. You can see from these photos that the different types of plants are all mixed together: succulents and regular flowering plants, shrubs and Criniums, a papaya, a Noni, Desert roses and cacti and Bird of Paradise, a rose, and Gardenia, etc etc. Succulents in soil that was too rich and wet. But they mostly grew anyway. Some rotted.

But I kind of got discouraged the day I came home and found that my landlady's boyfriend hauled off all the 105 large rocks I had collected from across the road. To finish terracing the hillside. And he used them to make a wall......never mind. it's too annoying to talk about. Anyway.I kind of lost interest for two or three months. Partly because of the trouble I was having protecting my plants. From the malicious anti-plant behavior on the part of the male members of landlady's annoying family.But I am really back in gardening mode. Two trips to buy plants, three sacks of good dirt, and three containers of cuttings from plants I already have or that someone gave me. And lots of little pots of rooted cuttings. And some plants started from seed.
This past year I have been treating my three main (small) gardening beds like places to stash plants, rather than a "garden" with a plan and some thought about how would look. I was trying to figure out what the different plants need for sun/shade, poor soil/rich soil, water/not much water, etc. And being kind of lazy.
My first three years in Chacala I had gardened almost entirely in pots. And you can just drag them to another spot if they don't look happy, or even change to soil. So gardening in the ground in Zone 11 or 12 has been a learning experience.I am starting to move things around. It looks like I am going to have a larger (still very small) bed and some hillside for the succulents, including cacti, And three other area for lush flowering and and non-flowering plants. There is room for both sun lovers and shade lovers I think. For shade and privacy. And because some of them were already planted, from when I lived in this place three years ago.
Those beds are out closer to the road. Then there are two other beds right up near the house. They have been mostly nursery beds. For transplanting cuttings to after they root. And for sticking plants I don't know much about. There are two bouganvilleas, three plumbagos, and an oleander, payapa, rose, another Gardenia and four huge flowering Criniums, and some other flowering plants along one side of that area.

I think I am going to use two smaller bed areas just for young plants from seed and cuttings. I moved most everything out of those two beds today. Except for the oleander, plumbagos, and bougainvilleas, which are kind of big to move. And they look nice from from on the road.
(Above)This is a photo of a bunch of Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum) cuttings I put in a bucket of soil last spring and forgot about. Their roots are so tangled together, I just planted them as one big plant.

So the next time I go out there to garden, I am going to continue shifting plants around. And plant my last large purchase. Another Desert Rose that I am going to use as a cutting plant.

Seeing Chacala

2007-12-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

I often sit on the sand of Playa Chacala early in the morning. I love to watch the sunlight move across the water toward me. I usually remember how grateful I am that I live in such a beautiful place. And that I can see something new every day. Well, really, I can see something new every second, if I stop to take the time to look.But this morning I was triply thankful for my good fortune. I was watching three little kids, maybe 5-6 years old. They were into the water as soon as the sunlight crept up onto the beach.
A woman, their mother I assume, sat on a little low bluff about 50 feet from them. Watching over them and smiling.Several times I noticed on of the girls holding the boy's hand. I thought they looked sweet together. It look me a awhile to realize the little boy couldn't see. And that she was guiding him. I never would have guessed until I saw him up close. And then it was obvious.He was running in and out of the water, on the the smooth sand, enjoying the little waves rushing in and receding. They sat in the water, waist deep and dug little holes in the wet sand. These children were so full of life. Enjoying the ocean and the sand and the sunshine.I walked home in a much different space than I was in when I arrived at the beach. I felt overwhelmed with how much there was to see.I kept looking at all the plants in buckets and containers, in front of every house and restaurant. Every one is different. And many are filled what I still think of as houseplants.
But they grow out in the open here, year around. And often under difficult conditions. Sea spray, not enough water, blasting sunshine, and drowning in the rainy season.The containers in front of the yellow wall are set on the little landing to the restrooms at Chico's. The plants on the staircase are on the step's up to Socorro's daughters little home. These plants filled this little empty restaurant. It's only open during Semana Santa and Feliz Navidad/Ano Neuvo, when Chacala is packed to the gills with visitors from the inland states of Mexico.This container was in front of Augustine and Ana's house. And almost every yard has a chili plant. This huge one is also in front of Ana and Augustine's .It was a nice walk home. And I really enjoyed looking at my new plants as I walked up there steps to my place.Somehow I had never noticed this little papaya tree up against a fence. A very usual sight in Chacala. A wooden fence. Wood is rarely used in building in this part of Mexico. Too many voracious wood-eating insects. But here's a little fence section I never noticed before.

Bringing New Cacti Home to Chacala

2007-11-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is a piece of thread art created by a Huitchol Indian, who live in Nayarit and Jalisco.
They were being sold at the market today.

I left Chacala early this morning. I went to the street market in the neighboring town, La Penita, this morning. It's about 12 miles away, but it's a two-taxi/collectivo ride each way. I wanted to be home by 10:30am because I was expecting some company.

So I left home at 7:15am and caught the collectivo that takes the private school kids to Las Varas. And got out at the highway. And stood there for about two minutes, when another taxi that does the Las Varas-La Penita run, came by. It took 22 minutes to get from Chacala to La Penita, for 25mx/2.25us.
I was shopping mainly for plants and for a couple of new shirts and some shorts. I don't have a lot of clothes. So they get worn and washed a lot and only last a year or two. Found a couple of shirts I liked, tropical cotton shirts, and a pair of shorts. All recognizable brands from the US. But the price has risen because gringo season has started around here. Instead of being 40 pesos a piece, they were 50 pesos each (formerly 3.60us, now 4.50us). Still pretty good.

Then I moved on the plaza where there are vendors who come especially for the gringo season. About late November thru late March. I was looking for plants, maybe succulents. And my neighbors from last summer, Juan and Zule.

Found two of the three vendors right off. My favorite plant seller, a middle-aged woman, was nowhere in sight. She has her own little plant nursery and I really enjoy being around here. But the two guys who buy plants from wholesalers were there. They don't know the names, but they do know the prices. This time they were all 10-12 pesos. 90 cents to 1.10us each.
They had the strangest looking succulents I have seen.
Peculiar blossoms. Very odd.

Finally a nasty mouthed woman, said to her friend, in English, "Those idiots (the vendors) put fake blossoms on those cactus." In a very loud voice. So I put my glasses on, and sure enough, there were fake blossoms.After the lovely ladies left, the vendor told me the decorated plants were for Christmas and were very popular.Then we removed the "blossoms" from my plants so he would use them on some other plants.I found Zule and Juan hanging out with their musician and jewelry making friends. They lived downstairs from me for a couple of months this past summer. That was their "vacation". Meaning they sold pineapple "salads" from 10am to 7pm on the beach. From a rolling cart.When they are not on vacation, they sell pineapples at a beach closer to home. About 7 miles from Chacala. At the Playa de Naranjo. The beach area was just sold off to the highest bidder and all the restaurants and cuestos (shops in shacks) were bulldozed.So Zule and Juan are looking for another location. Right now they are back in Chacala on weekends.

I looked around for a few other things. Some coloring books and crayons for visiting kids. And some bright colored handtowels, and headed home. was home by 10:15am. Not a bad trip. I got 15 new little succulents,. some of them cacti for 15omx/$15us. No more spending money this month. Th spending spree is over for now.

Planting my New Plants in My Chacala Garden

2007-11-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Here is one of a about 8 Kalanchoe plants, from last spring. I guess these are blossoms. The little gobules are empty, mostly. A few seem to have seeds.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't the least bit surprised to see another sunny, blue sky, day in Chacala. I got busy doing anything but gardening. Like taking photos of a newly painted house, to send to the homeowner, as requested by the painter. And cooking a big double chicken breast, and a pan of cornbread. And eating up half of everything.These photos are the plants I got yesterday, waiting to hit the dirt.

But, finally, by 3pm, the hottest and sunniest time of day, I decided it was time to plant my nurseries purchases from yesterday. It very hot, but not terribly humid. But I worked as fast as I could. I made new planting spots for the Kalanchoes. It turned out by the six pots held 16 plants. So I dug out more little nests in the rocky hillside. I watered the hose every three minutes, hoping to keep the scorpions at bay. They don't like wet, so I made thee whole are very wet. I planted all the little plants, and then planted three of the bougainvilleas.

One of the bougainvilleas is tucked into the hillside bed that I never got planted last spring. Then I cleaned off the rest of the bed and added gravel to fill in the holes between the rock. I got the gravel off the paved road. Well., next to the road, where there is a lot of gravel for some reason. And then added some topsoil. Tomorrow (as in "manana", as in "sometime in the future") I will plant the last two bougainvilleas in that bed. They are the long branched variety, and I hope they will covered the hillside with blossoms. That leaves the two Desert Roses. I am planning to harvest a bunch of cuttings off them in a couple of weeks, so I don't know if I will plant them right now, or where. I am feeling sort of satisfied with the planting stuff. Nothing like having sacks of nice topsoil to inspire me to get to work. I am hoping to go to the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden next week, and to a few nurseries in PV, just to look around, and maybe spend what's left of my life savings, ($35us) on plants. Hopefully succulents.

Saturday Morning, at the Vivero, Near Chacala

2007-11-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, to another glorious Chacala day. It ended up the high was in the mid-80'sF. Clear and sunny with a light breeze. Cloudy in the late afternoon.
I decided it was a good day for a trip to the plant nurseries, located about 10 miles down the highway from Las Varas. That's the big city (12,000 pop.) where Chacala folks go to medical care, bank, ATM, paint, high school, the dentist, cell phones, long-distance buses, 3rd class buses and so on.

I got a ride with a taxi driver who had just dropped someone off in Chacala. He offered to take me to the two nurseries and wait while I chose my plants. For $150mx ($13.50us). since that included hauling 4 burlap sacks of nice soil, I accepted the offer. Taking the collectivo's etc would have been about $60mx ($5.40us), and I couldn't have brought home the dirt. So it seemed like a fair deal.

Besides, when I was getting dressed this morning, I found 2 -$ 200 peso bills folded in a tight little square in the pocket of some shorts I had washed last week. I can't imagine me folding money into a little square, so I don't know where it came from. Those bills are about $36US.
So I convinced myself it was okay to spend the money. And I did. On plants, dirt and the taxi.
The bags of dirt were $75 mx, ($6.25) and the plants were 260mx ($23.40). Plus a tip for the driver. Who kept me company while I selected the plants, and carried them out to the taxi.
First we went to Benjamin's vivero, just north of a row of fruit stands, on the east side of the highway just north of La Penita. I got 4 vine-type bouganvilleas and one bush type, 2 large Rosas del Desertio/Adenium Obesum/Desert Rose plants, and 6 Kalanchoe plants (in three colors). For about $19us. Actually I got a discount. I heard Benjamin telling the young guy who helped me say "discounto". My guess is I got the Mexican/locals prices. The plants are cheap anyway, but it's nice to get a deal. I took a bunch of photos of the place to have printed up for him, for a little thank you.
I actually prefer to go with the nurseries without a taxi guy waiting for me. Because then I can hang around and visit and watch how Benjamin's workers take cuttings, pot, and transplant things. He always has some guys doing that kind of work, and I love sitting there watching them. But when I am hauling dirt, I need some help. I can't seem to load big sacks of dirt into the collectivos very efficiently. Although I have done it before.
Then we went down the road a mile or so to the "Pemex" vivero. "Pemex" is the name for all the gas stations in Mexico. State-owned. And this vivero next door to "Pemex" station on the north side of La Penita.
I was hoping for some Portulaca's or some other succulents, but the lady said "Manana" and we laughed and laughed. She always says that, and they are never there on any of the mananas in the last year or so.
They did have these Kalanchoes. 25 pesos instead of the 12 pesos I paid at Benjamin's. Slightly bigger, but otherwise the same colors, etc. The woman on the right, the red hat, is the main customer service person at this nursery. And she's really fun to walk around the place with. She sometimes looks for some really ugly, half dead plant and offers it to me for a bargain price. Like 1 peso off. It's a joke. And she has given me cuttings from some plants. So that's nice.

We headed home. The taxi guy played a great CD and sang along with it. He was a much better singer than the CD singer. When we got back to Chacala, we put the plants on the stairway up to the garden at home. Along with the sacks of dirt.

Nice trip. Quick and easy. No waiting by the side of the highway for a taxi-van to come by. Some of the drivers have no interest in picking up a woman with 13 (some very large) plants surrounding her. Especially thorny bouganvilleas. Whatever.

Chacala: Tree Roots Entwined in Rock Columns

2007-11-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

For a short time Chacala was one of the earliest port on the central Pacific coast of Mexico to be used for unloading freight from ships arriving from Spain and the East. The freight was hauled to the Guadalajara area. And the ores and agricultural products being shipped back to Spain were hauled back to Chacala. Or on to Vera Cruz. It is a very protected little cove and a safe harbor for boats.Quickly, however, the ships began landing at San Blas, and later in Mazatlan. Both were closer to Guadalajara and had less mountainous routes.

There are a couple of structures in Chacala from those days. I think in the late 1500's or early 1600's, but I am not sure of that.There is a tobacco barn, which has been modernized repeatedly over the years, right above the dingy beach, and the little fishing boat docking area.Then next to that building are a set of stone columns from the same period (or earlier). Recently the owner had a lovely building constructed on the site. The structure leaves the columns mostly untouched, surrounding a lovely open patio.These photos of tree roots entwined in the rocks columns always catch visitors' eyes. They are very striking and unusual.

Aurora's Garden in Chacala

2007-11-17T07:23:00.001-07:00

Aurora is my next-door neighbor in Chacala. She was my first landlady, and is wonderful friend. This is a photo of one of her rentals, the one over her home.She and her wonderful husband, Beto, (above) have three kids, ages 13,15, and 20. All doing very well. Aurora has 4 very popular and affordable rental units, three built with an interest-free construction loan from Chacala's Techos de Mexico program. The fourth unit was built with a high intersst personal loan.In the past three years Aurora and Beto's garden has really taken off. It's very beautiful on the patios, and in front on the rental units.These house plants are about 20 feet long and tall. Lush and lovely.
The rental units have patios, and kitchens, and are only a little more than a block to the beach.

Aurora and I were walking on the south end of the beach one day and found some sprouted coconuts. We filled are arms with them and trudged home. Those palms are growing around the place now. And at my place too.
I love to watch how Aurora and Beto take care of their plants. The first time I saw Beto hack a lovely, 12 foot high, bougainvillea back to the ground I was appalled. And three weeks later it was blooming again. I have learned alot from Aurora and Beta, about many facets of life of Chacala.

Garden Blogging in Latin America, and Chacala

2007-11-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

When I first started blogging I had just one blog, My Life in Chacala. A few months later I added a Chacala Vacation Rentals blog, and then finally, after a year or so, I added this blog.

At the time I wasn't aware of very many other bloggers-in-English writing from Mexico or Latin America..There may have been more, but the search vehicles weren't very helpful. Even the Google Blog Search, (original version) wasn't very helpful. But I was curious about other people's experiences in Mexico, and always was on the alert for gringas, or gringos. Especially for gardeners blogging in Latin America.

My impression is that blogging about gardening hasn't really taken off down here, in Mexico, or in Central America. At least not compared to expat "my adventure in xxxxx" type blogs, which have really burst on the scene in the last couple of years.
I remember when La Gringa and I first noticed each other's blogs. It was much fun to find a fellow blogger. A blogger friend. Particularly someone who gardened in an unfamiliar climate. In her case it was in La Cieba Honduras.

And I found Neo-tropical Savanna, http://ntsavanna.wordpress.com/, in Panama, and another blogger gardening friend.

And since then there have been lots and lots of blogs from people moving to Mexico. And a few gardener type bloggers in Latin America. Diane's blog about gardening in Baja was one of the first I found. Her photographs of cacti just knocked me out. Really lovely.
(http://cabopulmo.blogspot.com)And I started finding more English language Mexico blogs, and a few Spanish language blogs and websites. And I especially looked for websites by photographers. Very inspiring. Larpman was one. And there are lots more.

I love having an internet connection at home. Now I have time to do all kinds of esoteric things on the computer. Like storing photos off my computer, and studying photography websites, late into the night. Sorting garden and blossom, tree and shrub and other garden photos into some kind of order.But the most fun has been sorting thru all the Bookmarks/Favorites I have been marking for the last year. Cleaning up the Garden websites and garden blogs. Re-visiting them and deciding whether or not to keep them on listed on my computer.

I deleted many that didn't interest me on second glance. And saved some pretty interesting websites. And blogs. A lot of the gardening blogs in English are for zone 2-7 gardeners, which usually are irrelevant for me. My first choice is reading about plants that do well here, in Zone 11. But I also enjoy the garden issues type blogs like Garden Rant and The Blogging Nurseryman. I know there are other also, but I am too tired right now.I love reading the posts where some one has just had an eye-opening experience, an awakening, about their new life. And my very favorite thing to read is about a gardener's small moment of personal, spiritual awakening. Someone having a new moment of awareness of some wonderful facet of their new life. Or a moment of being almost overwhelmed by the beauty of the natural world around them. The satisfaction of successfully negotiating a new hurdle in their new life.I started out this post thinking I would offer specific examples of various blogs where the author touched my heart. That sounds too much like doing research. But those little moments of connection and heart-felt recognition make my day. Reading someone else's story about how much there is to learn in this world, and how hard things are to learn sometimes, feels sort of reassuring to me. Keeps me going back to some blogs, again and again.And, of course, wonderful photos catch my eye too.

Palms Over Chacala

2007-11-15T01:54:00.000-07:00

If I think of the one plant that really stands out in the Chacala landscape, it would be the Palm. They are everywhere, and they are used for everything. Except toilet paper, probably. You can eat it, drink the mild, build your house with it, make clothing and mats, and palapa roofs, Whatever you ant you can probably make it out of some part of the Palm.Fishing nets are woven on ropes stretched from palm to palm. The fronds provide shade to work under, and a place to anchor the ropes. Hammocks are hung from palm trunks. They provide shade for RV's, and even a coconut or two if you are quick enough to catch a falling coconut. They provide shade everywhere in Chacala. They shade paths.And are used to cover the roofs for restaurants.And palapa roofs.They provide fruit to eat. There are many different kinds of palms. Men climb up the tall palms to clear the coconuts.The rope you see isn't a safety line. It's to tie around the clump of coconuts. Then the guy on the ground slowly lowers the clump so the coconuts don't get cracked.
Many local people have little coconut plantations. They find sprouted coconuts here and there around town. And the keep then damp while they grow big enough to be transplanted. These plants are used along the beach, to hold the sand, provide shade, mark boundaries, and to replace aging palms. And probably for other things I know nothing about.

Gardening with Magazines

2007-11-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

This post's title, "Gardening with Magazines", refers to reading gardening magazines, not mulching with them.San Miguel de Allende

I just read one of the more interesting garden blogs, Garden Rant, this morning. I love using Google Reader. Reading the new posts is almost like reading the morning paper. Which doesn't exist here in Chacala, at least in English or in Spanish.San Miguel de Allende

The topic of the new Garden Rant post was a review of Horticulture magazine, which was never ever one of my "must read" gardening magazines. But the review got me day dreaming about my favorite gardening magazines. I don't know if they even exist another more.San Miguel de Allende

Gardens Illustrated, Pacific Horticultural, Garden Design, Fine Gardening. I can't even remember the other titles. But I loved the English and French gardening magazines. Even if they were mostly irrelevant to my life and garden.San Juan de Las Lagos

My first garden was planting a peach pit in my mom's back yard. I started (vegetable and fruit) gardening in New Hamphire, and then Eastern Washington in the 60's. I relied totally on Organic Gardening and the Rodale books. Oaxaca

The only garden magazines I have found in P.V. or Guadalajara have been magazines from Spain. Which apparently has no tropical areas, because the garden plant selections look just like the typical garden in the U.S. Oaxaca

It was hard for me, a former, and still struggling magazine addict, to go cold turkey, especially from gardening magazines. Last winter Sherry Merciari, of Merciari (garden) Designs, in Oakland, CA, brought me some old Garden Design magazines. I spent the three days lost in the photos and articles. And I still re-read them regularly.Oaxaca

Learning to Garden in a Semi-Tropical Climate

2007-11-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

As a gardener craving information about how to garden in Chacala Mexico, I was interested to read a Post on one of the gardening blogs about annoying and useless beginner gardening books. My garden in located just off the main road in Chacala,
It's the thick white line in the upper center of this photo.
It's about a block, uphill, from the beach

Well, I have had the opposite experience learning to garden in the semi-tropical area, right on the Pacific ocean. I had gardened for almost 40 years in Zone 5, which eventually was re-named a Zone 6 area, in honor of global warming, I guess.

Chacala is at Latitude 22N, and the temperature highs are generally mid-90's and the lows have not been below 62F degree since I arrived here four years ago. That's a big change from -20's and +104. Different insects, plant diseases, soils, and plants. Here the idea is to protect many plants from the sun. It's just too intense for many plants. And the three/four month rainy season means nightly rainfalls, often drenching downpours for three or four hours.

Learning about how to garden here was mostly via word of mouth. Most of the local women garden in buckets and other containers. I think that's mostly because until the past year, it was difficult to get extra water for ornamental plants. And it's easier to keep the soil in container damp.

Very few plants are deliberately grown from seed here. Almost everything can be grown from a cuttings or via self-seeding. You know you at not in Washington anymore when fence posts sprout into trees in three or four months. And some plants grow a foot or more a day.

I started looking for information about when the growing season starts, and the names of plants, and how to propagate them, almost as soon as I arrived here in Mexico. I moved to Mexico with two suitcases and a backpack, so space was at a premium. I brought my favorite trowel and small pruners, and some flower seeds. That was it. Aside from two gardening books (out of three hundred) with me. The books were "Tropical Gardening" from David Bar-Zvi at the Fairchild Tropical Garden, in Miami, and the oddly named book "Cacti and Succulents" by Hans Hecht.

After I had been here for a couple of years a non-gardener produced a book of popular plants in the Puerto Vallarta area (two hours south of here, same climate). The photos were a big help, with English and Latin names of shrubs, plants, and trees. But the author omitted the Spanish names. Which made it difficult to talk with my neighbors and nursery staff about plants.

But I did learn the names of many of the local plants, in all three languages. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when to start planting things (like in April in zone 5, harvesting in September or earlier usually). I finally figured out most farming begins at the end of the rainy season. But not necessarily. With a year-around growing climate, there can be multiple planting of some crops. Not during the heavy rain times though: mainly August and September.
I often looked (and still look) on the internet for information about gardening here. But most of the Spanish language books and magazines here are actually from Spain. Not for Mexico or Central America. And I found a few blogger friends who are serious about gardening in tropical climates. Mainly in Southern Florida, the Caribbeans, Panama, and Honduras.

I would have loved to find a basic primer on gardening here, and haven't found one yet. I look on Amazon and gardening literature websites, but haven't found anything useful. I would love to find something like the Rodale organic gardening books. I studied them religiously in the early 60's. Those two volumes were like my bibles. Particularly the sections on building healthy soils.

I learned so much from those books. Having grown up in Los Angeles I didn't recognize many of the plants in my new Eastern Washington home. And those books, and the Organic Gardening magazine, where treasures to me. Like garden gold. The more I can speak adequate Spanish, and can understand what people tell me, the more I am learning about gardening here. I have friends at the two closest plant nurseries, who give me lots of advice. Benjamin in particular. He grows lots of tropicals from cuttings and seeds for sale to big landscaping pros. So I can hang around and watch how his workers take care of the plants, and how they water, and what plants get how much sun.

I guess I am learning a lot about gardening here, but not in the ways I am used to learning. Not from books, but from talking to other people who grow plants. And from internet forums, and other gardeners blogs. It's a slow process though. And I lose plants all the time. Most from too much sun or too much rain. Or the machete of my landlady's aberrant husband. But I would love to have a "Basics of Tropical Gardening" book, even if it had some nonsense like double-digging in it. Especially if it had details about plant propagation in this climate. Most of my old Zone 5 techniques work here. It's very humid and lots of plants will grow not matter what you do to them.

I just re-read this post. I want to clarify that I learned a lot from my gardening friends in Zone 5. Especially from neighbors, gardening club friends, and classes. But it's different learning from neighbors in a different language, and without appropriate gardening books to read.And it's hard to ask questions sometimes. Because local women here can't imagine a five or six month growing season. Or snow on the ground for months. Or where you want more sun, not less. Actually some of the local men have worked in California and Oregon. Some as garden work es or in nurseries. But most they learned to butcher-prune plants and how to spray poison chemicals on plants without gloves or masks. So those guys are usually not much help.

Mostly I have to work hard to think of how to ask the right question. And listen hard to understand the answer.

Machetes Gone Wild, in Chacala

2007-11-02T17:13:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, after it started to cool off, I walked around town, doing some errands.I almost always have my camera with me, and today I was especially glad of that. Lot's of kids wanted to pose for me. But then I started noticing the trees. I think the lovely trees are part of what makes Chacala Chacala. They provide shade and comfort. And they are so beautiful. All kinds of things are hung from trees. Hammocks, street decorations, posters, fishing nets being mended, swings, and so on. And palms give us cocos, palm fronds, lumber. And lovely shade.Trees shade the Bibliotecha were every one can use the computers.Sometimes trees are just the backdrops for other plants. In Gracia's garden this little cluster of shade plants caught my eye.Or trees can just be something a plant can climb on, like at Inez and Isreal's place. The saddest thing I saw today was a tree butchered to make a bigger view for some tree killer. It happened this summer, in the new gated development just north of Chacala, a whole bunch a beautiful, mature trees were destroyed to order to put in new lots and road. So ugly. So sad.

And then today, as I was doing my errand, walking along the Malecon, the dirt path connecting the beach and the muelle (fishing dock), I saw this pile of brush.And looked up. I couldn't believe it.The same lame-brains with too many machetes were at work again. It looked like the same guys who chopped down two big trees last year. in order to made a bigger view were back at work this week. Another tree, butchered and sacrificed for a sake of another few feet of view. It's possible to prune a tree without destroying it's appearance. Although you would never know it, looking at these photos.
Further along the Malecon I saw a young couple meandering along, enjoying the view, the shade and each other, I hope.And then, further along the Malecon, I admired some more lovely trees. Shade is so important around here. The highs in Chacala are still in the low 90's and you can't walk without with spots of shade stand in.

Mystery Succulent in Chacala

2007-11-01T20:20:00.001-07:00

I got some starts from a succulent from a Chacala neighbor a couple of years ago.Now I have hundreds of them By accident.I don't know what it's called, and my best sources of info on succulents, Sherry, and her son Freddie, from Merciari Designs in Oakland CA, weren't sure either. Or I wasn't listening when they told me the name. Or I forgot. Sherry, and her daughter Nicole come to Chacala alot. And Freddie came last year. The results of their gardening and rock wall projects are all over Chacala. At my place, Aurora's, and even rock work on some construction projects around town. They are wonderful people. I am so glad they are coming back this year.
Anywa, this is the most prolific, self-propagating plant I know. Not that I know alot about this kind of plant, whatever it is. Anytime a leaf touches dirt, it starts a new plants.Lots and lots of new plants.And today, all of a sudden these plants in my "garden" are going to seed.Or blossoming. I don't know how it works with this plants.
I think they will have noticiable blossoms.

I guess I will know in a few days. I can't wait. But I guess I will have to.,

Dead of the Dead, in Chacala

2007-10-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

I don't think I had ever heard much about the"Day of the Dead" until I came to Chacala. It's not celebrated here as a tourist event or some kind of spectacle event, like in Patzcuaro and other Mexican towns. As far as I have noticed in four years, it's just the two days when families remember the children (on the 1st) and the adults in their families who have died (on the second).
Mainly they bring flowers to the cemetery where their family members are buried. Sometimes they are flowers they grew themselves, or bought in Las Varas, or from a truck.

More often the are huge bouquets of artificial flowers.
Some are in loose bunches.
Others are made especially for leaving at the cemetery. The flowers on mounted on circles made of styrofoam discs with green paper backing. Wrapped in plastic so they will stay "fresh" longer.This year I will really miss Palila, Maria, who died earlier this year. One of her many money making talents was making the circular wreathes for local people to buy for their Day of the Dead visits to the cemetery. I liked to watch her working, and to support her efforts. I saw Butcho, her husband, this morning, to make sure he has what he needs for whatever he wants to do on Friday. It's almost 9:20pm as I write this. And the giant trucks hauling lovely topsoil from a mango orchard to the gated development are still going up and down the road. Speeding and vomiting exhaust fumes and noise. Been at it for days again. Huge loads. Very annoying.
And seeing the mango orchard being destroyed so that rich people can have decorative foliage growing in the lovely topsoil. Planting plants for decorations, instead the food that dirt was used for previously. It's the ugliest sight, the orchard being dug away by huge machines. Killing lovely mango trees to get dirt to grow plants for decoration, inside of food for people to eat.

Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Portulacas Love Chacala, and Vice-Versa

2007-10-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about gardening in Chacala is that I can grow succulents year-round here. Some of them go semi-dormant during the rainy season. Like my favorite, Adenium Obesum. But they live thru the rain and start blossoming as soon as it stops.I have always loved Portulacas, ever since the very first time I saw one. In one of the greenhouses at Manito Park, in Spokane WA. I love to able to grow them year around here in Chacala. Or, maybe I should say, I love it that I get to admire Portulacas growing year-around in Chacala. That's because I have almost nothing to do with how well they grow here.Local ladies come by for pieces, cuttings, of the plant all the time. If they see a new color blossom, it's time for a new cutting. I love it. It's so nice to have something to share. And they just stick the pieces in a pot and ingnore them. They almost aways take.

Bouganvilleas Gone Wild, in Chacala

2007-10-30T02:53:00.000-07:00

I planted this Bouganvillea late last March I think. It was a one-gallon plant. 1.80US.
It's now about 10 feet tall, and growing about six inches a day.
And it has it's first blossoms. I never really noticed bouganvilleas until starting living here. I know they grow in Los Angeles, where was a child. And they plant them at most resorts in Mexico. Huatulco north. So I know I have seen the vines/plants, and adminred them. But I don't thing I ralized I could actually grow them until I had lived here for awhile.

I didn't have a clue about how tough they are, and how fast growing. You can whack the plant down to a three foot stub with a machete, and a month later it's heaving for the roof again.
Lovely plants, with big sharp thorns. At least the plants around here have big thorns.

Quick Trip Thru My Chacala Garden

2007-10-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

The stores in Chacala, and all over Mexico, are filled with hand-made flowers this week. Families are preparing for the two Days of the Dead. One to honor adults and the other two honor children. They make wreaths from these flowers. And take them to the cemetery, or set them in a place of honor at home.

Chacala, and all of Mexico, returned to Standard time this morning. It was lovely to wake up at 6:20am and to find the sun shining in the window onto my pillow.

I got downstairs, to my garden space, awhile later. We haven't had any rain for a couple of weeks, and everything is blossoming out. I don't expect rain again until late June. Of course, you never know about rain. The humidity has dropped too.

It's a sunny, breezy, lovely Sunday morning. And I am happy with my garden.My landlady came up this morning. She knew I had some large pieces of oilcloth I wasn't using and she needed them for something. She told me she was buying paint for the house this week. We talked over colors, but it's really her decision. And since I don't have total control of the color choice, I don't much care. Fresh paint will be nice though.

The little archway I formed over the sidewalk is growing quickly. About three months ago I tied two tall morning glory tree stalks together over the sidewalk. And then twisted and tied vines onto the arch. One from each side. The right side is a jasmine vine, and the left side is a fast growing vine with small purple, trumpet shaped blossoms. I don't know what it's called, and it's not in my books. When in blossoms again, I'll take a photo. Someone will know what it is.

It's hard to see the jasmine because the Ixora, with the red blossoms is in front. On the right.

I love living upstairs. The view is great, and I usually get a nice breeze. But I have to go down the stairs (which are behind the house) to garden. And sometimes that's annoying. I don't want to have pots of plants on my patio, because they seem to draw scorpions. They like being under the pottery pots. I think.The pepper plants continue to produce. People pop some off most days, and the peppers keep on coming.And the yellow Lantana bush is growing really quickly.It's been in the ground since April. Started out in a gallon can, and now it's about 3x6 feet, maybe bigger.

Papaya Trees in Chacala

2007-10-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

The two papaya trees in front of the house where I live are growing really quickly. They bear fruit year around in Chacala, and all over in this part of Mexico. I don't know if that's normal or not. Mangoes only bear fruit May and June around here.
These two papaya trees grew from seeds threw in the dirt in front of the house. I don't know how the fruit tastes because I have never tasted one. I like the blossoms on the tree trunk, but I don't really care for papaya. Strange after-taste.
The larger tree was about chest high, a bearing fruit, a year ago. Now it's about 14 feet tall. Amazing. From my patio I can see the lines of the trees in fruit orchards on the hills just south of Chacala. The trees are mostly Guayaba or Mango. The part of Mexico, on the Pacific coast, a few hours north of Puerto Vallarta is agricultural country. Fruits of all kinds. Vegetables. Corn. Tobacco, Cattle, pigs, turkeys, etc etc etc.

It's nice living in farming country.Lots of good food.

Mundo en Flor, Flowers of Oaxaca

2007-10-26T20:48:00.000-06:00

These cacti are just ordinary photos that I took this summer at the Oaxaca Ethno-botanical Garden.If you want to see some really good photos of plants in Oaxaca, go to

Mundo en Flor.

This is a wonderful collection of beautiful photos of the blossoms and vegetation around Oaxaca, Mexico.

With identification of each plant.

The photos are wonderful and a great resource.

http://web.mac.com/lauriemoody/Site/mundo_en_flor.html

The Loveliest Path/Stairway in Chacala

2007-10-25T12:53:00.000-06:00

In response to Gardening Gone Wild (GGW), a blog I just started reading yesterday, I am posting photos of a staircase in Chacala. The suggestion from GGW is to post garden "path" photos during the month of November. For purposes of this Post, I am thinking of staircases as paths with abrupt changes in elevation. I don't know if that concept will fly with the GGW people or not.The stone wall on the uphill side of the staircase is covered with "Flame Vine", Pyrostegia Venusta". It blossoms for about three months a year.This staircase starts at the Malecon in Chacala. The Malecon is a four wide dirt walkway that skirts the ocean between the two beaches in Chacala. Shots the oceanfront in front of the staircase.

The staircase rises to Mirador, a small (6 unit) family-owned rental place at the top of the small bluff.

Isreal, the owner, has planted this pryrostegria vine on the rock wall above the stairs.
He and his his three handsome sons (Hector, below) built the wall and staircase. One rock and one bucket of hand-mixed cement. I love it.

This photo was taken prior to the Flame vine taking over the staircase.

"Garden" Paths Around Chacala

2007-10-25T12:03:00.000-06:00

It's a perfectly lovely, sunny day in Chacala. And so, of course, I have been sitting inside, reading a blog that's new to me. It's called Gardening Gone Wild (http://www.gardeninggonewild.com). It's a group blog, including one of my favorite garden photographs Saxon Holt.

The blog is having a monthly opportunity to show garden photos on various themes. November's theme is "Garden Paths".

My garden paths aren't particularly photograph-able at the moment. One skirts a small swamp created an over-full septic tank, and the other was just blocked by my neighbor doing "cleaning". Which is using a machete to chop down and gather un-wanted vegetation. The plant material is burned a few weeks later, whenever it dries out enought to burn. But right now the pile is blocking the path to the neighbors. It wasn't deliberate, just a handy clearing to pile brush in.

So instead, I am going to post two photos of local paths. One natural, the other human-made.
This is the path Chacala residents use to go down thru a little draw/arroyo that divides the town. The first four years I lived here it was a trail, not a path. It required careful negotiation in the daytime and was difficult at night. Then about two months ago someone doing the construction job on the east side (my side) of the gully used his bobcat to clear the rocks/boulders away. Slightly. At first I was annoyed. I don't do well with change. Any change. But over time I got used ot the new smooth, walkable without hanging onto the rocks, path. And love it.This path wanders thru Majahua, a lovely, very small resort (five units, gourmet restaurant, and spa) at the south end of the beach in Chacals. The entire resort is gently set down in the jungle right above the ocean. You can't see one part of the resort from any other part. It's very beautiful. and all the planting are natural growth. The only imported plants are in pots.
It's very lovely.

Morning Glories All over Chacala

2007-10-25T08:03:00.000-06:00

Chacala is covered with flowering, blossoming plants this time of year. Especially morning Glories. Or, at least that's what I call them. Or maybe Opeoma, but I not sure about the names of these plants. They can be vines, shrubs, or trees. And they come in different colors.There are very invasive and aggressive. They cover phone poles, buildings, or shrubs. They grow on roadsides, fields, buildings, everywhere.I don't understand much about the succession of plants growing in the wild. I know some plants are the first to grow in newly disturbed soil.I would like to know more about what plants like to grow together naturally. I have so many questions about plants in a year-around growing climate.I know people in Chacala see the ever-encroaching vegetation as a problem. And it is. A building can become buried in vegetation in less that a year. I guess I will just keep watching and listening.

"Wild" Flowers in Chacalal

2007-10-25T06:39:00.000-06:00

Chacala is bursting into bloom right now. The rainy season (late June thru yesterday) is almost over, and the eight month dry seasons is about to begin.For two of my four winters in Chacala there was a short rainy period ( a day or two I think) sometime during the winter. Otherwise, it's very dry, and not very humid late October thru late June.There are "wild" flowers everywhere. I doubt if some of them, or even most of them, are really "wild". But they grow all over, usually in dense patches. And what grows where changes over the weeks and years, so you never know what you will see this week.

I love the intense yellow blossoms all around town this week.It's really beautiful.Hillsides are covered with flowers.Banana's grow in places where it's unlikely they would have been planted there.I walk around town a lot, doing errands, visiting, and looking at what's new in the flower world. I feel so lucky to surrounded by an every changing palate of plants, shrubs, trees and vines.

Chacala's Garden Zone

2007-10-18T08:20:00.000-06:00

Chacala is located at the 22N degree latitude. It' about halfway to the Equator if you live in the mid-U.S.. And it's at about the same latitude as Cuba, Cancun, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.

The highs in Chacala are usually mid 90's and the lows are in the low 60's. Most of the year the lows are in the high 60's and low 70's. Usually the temp is low 90's in the hottest part of the year and low to mid 80's the rest of the year.The rainy season (almost all the rain in during the evenings or nights) begins in late June and continues through mid October. Peaking in August and September. It's quite humid here mid-June thru early October.

Most gringos seems to find it too hot and humid in Chacala during the summer months. But I don't think it's much different than New Orleans, or South Carolina, or Washington DC in the summer.I think Chacala is in Zone 11 (U.S. zones) or maybe Zone 12. No frost ever. There is no rain from mid October until late June, so the vegetation gets dry in spring. But only about 1/3 of the vegetation is deciduous, so there's always lots of green stuff growing.

Because we are closer to the Equator, the days are never as long as in the summer in the U.S.
the latest the sun goes down is about 7:40pm. And when the sun does down it gets dark within about 12-15 minutes. Spectacular sunsets almost every night, but then it's dark.It's been fun for me to rediscover the plants I knew as a child in Los Angeles: Bouganvillea,
Hibiscus, Lantana, Jasmine, and so on. They all grown and blossom year-round here. More or less.

This is a fruit growing area, mainly Mangos, but also lots of melons and especially Pineapples. Papayas grow year-round here.I wrote this little summary because several people have written, asking about the climate, etc.

Waking Around Chacala

2007-10-17T15:58:00.000-06:00

Few people know the moon is a giant cantaloupe,

but photos don't lie, right?

I walked over to a friend's place yesterday, on the paved road for a block or so, and then on a little short-cut path. I am always amazed at how many things are growing around here. On there own, more or less. The Chickens are always around, fertilizing and bug picking. And various rodents, snakes, and small animals are everywhere. There is lots of vegetation providing cover and homes for these animals and for birds too. Except for the area where a developer has removed every bit of vegetations. leaving only boulders.
These dying clusters of little vines have the cutest little squash-looking fruits on them.
Maybe two inches acrosss.And these woody seed pods are so orderly. I love the little spaces, grooves.This tree with a Strangler Fig growing up it's trunk may live like that for a long time. I love being able to walk down the stairs behind my place and to be in the woods immediately. With birds singings and iguanas sunning themelves, and all forms of life crawling around. Some varmints and all kinds of animals make there homes within 50 feet of my home. I love it.

Walking on the Beach Path, in Chacala

2007-10-13T11:07:00.001-06:00

First thing this morning I walked thru Chacala to deliver a rental deposit to a landlady, and her husband. It's really warm still, even at 8am. And humid. But I think it might be cooling off a little. I read that is was 98 yesterday and I believe it. But it's supposed to start raining again tonight. I walked home along the walkway, or Malecon. It's a wide dirt path that runs between the big sandy beach and the little dinghy beach near the muelle (fishing boat harbor). Lots of flowers are growing wild along the path, and some were in bloom. It's amazing how many plants are blossoming at any one time, year round. Last Saturday night the banditos who stole Chacala's well-water pump about a month ago returned to the scene of the crime. This time they stole the electric/electronic? control panel. I guess they missed it the first time.

So we had no town water from Saturday night thru Friday morning. The small roof tinaco at this house ran out of the water the second day. I knew the boys downstairs would indulge in long showers until the tinaco ran dry. So I filled all my water containers (buckets, etc) from the shower head. And then boys keep showering, and that was that. No water by Tuesday morning. I had enough water to flush, and mostly took showers at a neighbors. She has a very large underground water storage tank and three large tinacos on the roof. She has four rentals, so she needs a lot of back-up water storage.It was kind of an odd coincidence. The last rain was on last Friday night, so there was no water for the plants all week either. Things around this house were looking very dry. But the plants are perking up again, and it's supposed to rain tonight. We'll see. A young blossom,

watching the boys on the playground exhibit the "manly" sports skills
Bored, I think.

Bananas in Chacala

2007-10-05T11:34:00.001-06:00

Being without a vehicle ( a good choice for me), I walk around Chacala all day long. Or, at least that's what it seems like to me. I arrange rental reservations for some of the local landladies, which requires alot of walking over to their homes. I walk to the beach, and to visit friends from one end of Chacala to the other. Mars Tres restaurant, with its vined covered roof.I walk along the paved road, hoping for a ride into the nearest town, Las Varas. And walk to the tiendas, the primary school, the hardware store, and to my favorite resturant, Mars Tres. I can walk on little paths thru the "jungle" (dense vegetation), on the beach, the muddy beach road, some dirt roads, and on a couple of roads that have been crudely cobblestoned.

A few days ago noticed a new (for me) banana plant across the road from Berta's hme (Estrella del Mar rentals). The bananas looked lovely, but I am sure they are "owned" by someone, and that they're not up for grabs.The hillside around chacala are covered with various fruit trees. Mangos, papayas, limon, naranjo, and lots of citrus fruits that are new to me.
And, trust me, every single tree is being monitored by a local person. It isn't "wild" fruit, waiting for you to pluck it. Someone is patiently waiting for that fruit to ripen. And that person, or someone in that family, has been watching that tree for years.

There are mango and citrus orchards all over the hills around Chacala. You can see them from the beach if you look up to the hills. Lines of trees in small patches, maybe a acre or two.
There are also Noni trees (or bushes really). Their fruit is new to me, and i don't care for it. But it is considered to be very healthful, and life -giving around here. Everyone has planted a bush or two area their home in the last year or two, And most of them are beaing fruit now. The two plants at this house are both bearing fruit right now. I don't know how long they take to get ripe.

Vines, and Two-legged Pests, are Invading My Chacala Garden

2007-10-02T10:02:00.000-06:00

I haven't been in a very gardening mood lately. I love Chacala's year-around gardening climate, but sometimes it gets sort of old. And now that I have a "high-speed" internet connection at my place, I would rather read gardening blogs. Or take care of rental reservations for some of my neighbors, or swim, or visit somebody. Anything but gardening.

I guess that's downside of being able to garden year-around. I seem to kind of lose interest off and on. But yesterday I found my tennis shoes, which were packed away in a suitcase I store in my neighbor's bodega.And with my feet more protected than when I am just wearing sandals, I waded out into the knee-deep vines that are taking over the north end of the garden area. For now at least, I can see individual plants, rather than a sea of green vine leaves.The are two kinds of vines I have noticed so far. A morning glory type vine. And then a very aggressive vine with a thick runner that roots every foot or so. I think it can group 4 feet or more in a day. But the nice strong tendrils make it easy to pull up 15 or 20 feet at a time.

Before cleaning the vines in this section,
you couldn't see the boulders, let alone the plants.

I went back down this morning, all dressed up in tennis shoes, to do battle with the vines again.
I had been pulling vines for a few minutes, quickly clearing a large area, when I noticed a distinctive order. The smell of human excrement, and urine.

That's when I discovered my landlady's husband (E) had rented the downstairs room sometime during the night. My new neighbors are of gang of four young baby hoodlums. My first clue to their existence, besides the smell, was a small car parked half-way into the water ditch. Surrounded by empty beer cans.

These healthy young spoiled brats had used up the 55 gallon drum of water for flushing the toilet in maybe four hours. And were using the garden relieve themselves.

I decided to skip my gardening chores until after at least two heavy heavy rainstorms have passed over Chacala. I refilled the 55 gallon drum and came back upstairs to lose myself on the internet, and let my frustration with my landlady's husband fade away.Whatever. On the upside, one of the Crinium's is blooming again. I think it bloomed about six months ago. Amazing plant, wonderful blossom. And the jasmine vine I am training on a "trellis' over the walkway is blooming. I am guessing the slight cooling off is encouraging blossoms, but who knows?

Mariachi in Chacala

2007-10-01T10:56:00.001-06:00

I accidently posted this here, instead of on "My Life in Chacala". Then I decided to leave it here. When I first arrived in Chacala I had no notion of Mariachi music, or any other popular music in Mexico. I think my complete knowledge of music in Spanish was "La Cucaracha", and "Vaya Con Dios, My Darling". I don't know much more now, but DO I know what I don't like. I know that I definitely don't like ANY music played over sound systems as big as trucks. Or played by band consisting of 10 trumpet and 8 drum players, and a tone-deaf lead singer. Or music played after midnight, until 3 or 4am.There was a big wedding and fiesta in Chacala last week. The fiesta/dinner party had one of those big-speaker-bands. I didn't go down to the beach to look it over: to count the speakers and admire the flatbed truck they probably came to Chacala on.But I could hear every note of their "music" from my bedroom window. Didn't even have to open the window. Very loud music. When it's that loud you can't really hear the "tune" or the singing. It's just LOUD. IT doesn't matter that the speaker can't sign and can't remember the words of the song. I bet if they tested the hearing of all of Mexico, hearing problems would be endemic.But there was a Mariachi band at the Chacala church. Before, during and after the Mass. And it was lovely. Beautiful music and singers with good voices. Nice romantic songs. With real instruments: violins, real guitars, sax, and trumpet, and more.I walked by the church about a half hour before the actual ceremony, and visited with the band a little. I guess I am a band "groupie" now. I think there are 15 band members, all wearing very dressy outfits.It was late afternoon, in the 90's and very, very humid. No breeze. I am surprised that no members of the wedding party fainted from the heat. The was a lot water and beer being inhaled during the breaks. the bride needed a hand-held paper fan to keep cooler.Apparently every piece of their outfits has particularly significance and a history. I think that this band has been playing together for a long time. Some of the main players are at least 60, maybe older. Quite a few youngsters too. I had the impression there were a number of family members in the band, but I am not sure about that.I was back outside the church when the music started. We we sitting and standing under the huge tree outside the church, listening to the music and watching as the wedding party, guests and some town people entered the church.The band also played several times during the ceremony, and then afterwards. I think I have come to appreciate Mariachi music by osmosis. I don't remember actually sitting down and listening to it, and I couldn't name in particularly songs. But the music just feels so Mexico.The band had another "groupie", beside me. A local guy who is part of the Chico's Restaurant family. I think he does night security. And I know that sometimes he collects the entry fees for the bathroom facilities. He's over 80 year old. He was also very interested in the band, and was lurking around them the whole afternoon. He's the guy in the white dress shirt, and sunglasses, looking good.

Buds in Chacala

2007-09-28T10:53:00.000-06:00

It's Friday morning here in Chacala, and it's a very strange day, weatherwise. I just checked the hurricane warning site, but nothing is going on out there. But that's it's hard to believe. It's very, very windy and thick dark clouds are everywhere in the sky. I think it will start raining in aminute. Which rarely during the day in Chacala.I was sitting here at my computer, and all of a sudden the windows on the east side of the room slammed closed. The wind coming in from the ocean side did it. I ran out on the to patio because I had just hung out some wet launry. I double pinned some of it and brought my shirts on hangers inside, to hang in the bathroom. It's been windy like that for about 40 minutes. At least it's not hot and humid for the moment. Changes, changes, changes. I like it.Earlier I went down to the garden, thinking I would practice taking more "macro", bud, photos. I think I am starting to get the hang of it, but my photos still don't look anything like some of the spectacular shots I see on the garden blogs at "Garden Voices".I took this shot of these yellow buds yesterday, by the side of the road at the edge of Chacala. The vegetation had been sprayed there, and I think that's was caused the spots. Up until now men with machetes cleared the vegetation around Chacala at the start and end of the rainy season.

But my guess it that some "elected" government official got a spraying contract for his brother-in-law. Possibly an incompetent, non-reading, non-trained, and unable to find other work person is now out there spraying god-knows-what-where ever. Spraying without gloves, a mask, and eating his lunch without washing his hands. Probably a short-lived phenomena. Oh well. I am so happy to see the Desert Roses coming back to life. I donn't think I realized how hard the hot, humid summer was for them, until they started putting out new growth and blossoms a week or so ago.
I always get confused about this plant. I keep thinking they are gladious, but they are plananititos, from the banana family, I guess. I know I still have so much to learn. This plant puts out new blossoms about every fifth day. The previous five or six blossoms were yellow/orange, but this one seems pale. Maybe my landlady's esposo peed on it. That would probably kill it though. Whatever.

By the Side of the Chacala Road

2007-09-28T08:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I left Chacala, via collectivo, for a few hours. I had some errands to do in La Penita. That's a nearby town that happens to be located near two nurseries. Plus their tianguis (Thursday Street Market) often has plant sellers.
But I just went to the bank and both nurseries, hoping for some succulents, or whatever. I ended up with only a nice new Desert Rose (. It's big enough to harvest right now for some cuttings. This plant is a fvorite around Chacala, so I like to have to to share.

I also took some photos of blossoms at the nursery near the Pemex station. It's slightly most expensive (still cheap) but they often have some unusaly plants. Not this time though.
But on the way I had to wait for taxi/collectivos bys the side of the road, and was bored. So I took a few photos of wild things.

After the Equinox, in Chacala

2007-09-26T15:30:00.000-06:00

I just re-discovered this photo from my trip to San Miguel de Allende a year ago.

I couldn't resist posting it. SMA is very very lovely, building and plant-wise anyway.

I think the weather in Chacala is changing a little this week. I am sleeping with a sheet the last few nights. And with the fan turned down to low. I guess that's a sign we are nearing the end of hot-himid-hot-humid-hot-humid and moving toward pleasantly-warm-and-breezy. that's ny plan anyway. We'll see.
I think the plants are sensing a change too. My Rose of the Desert (Adenium Obesum) plant havn't blossoned for months, but there are baby blossoms on all six plants right now. And new leaves.
Today I was looking at my photos from last May and June, and I realized quite a few of my succulents are gone. I went out and looked around, and I don't see any withered rotting plant remains. Which makes me think someone felt they needed them more that I do. Which is probably true, since I just noticed they are missing. Of course, it's s slightly weedy jungle out there, and I wasn't looking very closely.

On the other hand, many people have told me succulents don't like the summer weather here. The plants I kept in pots, and sort of out of the nightly rainstorms seem to have done okay.
This Gardenia plant is covered with blossoms, bu then it never really stopped producing all summer. The old Gardenia plant, about five feet away, hasn't blossomed in months. But the somewhat impaired husband-of-my-landlady may have sprayed it. Every once in a while I find him wandering around with a sprayer, spraying god-knows-what god-knows-where in the yard. It's scary for me. Sometimes I hope a local bandito will disappear the sprayer.

This Ixora also blooms all year. I love the young blossoms. They look sort of pretend. I have about six started in buckets. They look okay. But after my helpful whatever ripped the best new Hibsicus babies out of their buckets the other day, I am nervous about what he will do next.

I got home from errands around town this morning and my neighbor waved me over and said pointed over to my place. She said "He's got is machete out, I don't know what he's doing". But he wandered off with the machete as I arrived. And I didn't see any signs of machete madness around my plants. Not this time anyway.I can't remember what this plant is called, but I know it's a houseplant in Zone 5. Here they have to hack it back with a machete once or twice a year. The giant is climbing up my neighobr tree.
An hour later: I just went out to re-shot a couple of baby-blossom shots and found a few plants I thought were gone were juse buried in the jungle. So I ended up weeding alittle. And re-discoving some sweet little plants. But the little pink and white fringed sweetie is the only plant of seven that were growing there in June. Darn!!!

Making a "Comment"? or Selling?

2007-09-25T08:54:00.000-06:00

I got a perfectly nice "Comment" for this blog today. As follows (with the book's title deleted):

How do you have a beautiful yellow rose in such a humid enviroment? My roses have yellow spot and I have been blaming the humidity but I may have to look at another culprit. I Love the zinnias and wish mine would reseed, but they become choked by the grass. I am encouraging all of my gardening friends to read my book "..........". Check it out at Amazon.com it is humorous account of a gardener tryin to create the perfect flower garden. Your pictures are great. Enjoy nature and enjoy life.

But the writer's efforts to advertise her book kind of offended me. It seems like a misuse of the "Comment" concept to me.

I would have written the "Comments" auther directly to complain, but it was posted anonymously. Well, with writer's name but no email address.

A Little Work, in Chacala

2007-09-25T01:32:00.000-06:00

The is a squash vine, a Luffa sponge-type vine.It's on the side of Juan Luis's rental units. You dry the squash and break the outside skin off, and there's luffa. I just used my last one, so I will have to go pick some soon.

Due to my lack of attention, my Chacala garden has gotten kind of out of control. It’s rainy here almost every night in August and September. And it’s warm and humid, often overcast during the day. Everything is growing wild. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours pruning and hacking away in my little garden area.The succulents seem to be doing okay, even in the rain. And the cacti also seem to be doing okay. I am starting to clear out their little beds too. When I first planted them last March I wanted to fill them up with plants, but they are too full now.

This garden definitely looks different from other gardens around Chacala. I don’t know if that’s good out bad. And really, the beds are just places to hold my cuttings and baby plants. Not very organized.

The one yellow Lantana I planted in one of the little dirt pockets in the rock wall has burst in blooms and is growing wild. I am going to do cuttings today.
And the red Zinnias, which seem to re-seed and grow wild here, are growing all along the roadside.The Portulaca’s are blooming every minute there’s a bit of sunshine.

The arch I am trying to create over the front sidewalk seems to be taking shape. I tied a Opoema tree "trunk" to the trunk of a lovely purple vine that isn't blossoming at the moment. And started twining a jasmine around up around one side of the arch, and the purple vine up the other. It seems to be doing okay.
Now I just have to hope my landlady's husband doesn't decide to machete it down in a moment of whatever. Yesterday he broke the main branches off my young hibiscus plants. Ones I grew from cuttings and were now almost a foot tall. No longer. I actually heard the sound of him breaking the little twiggy branches. But I didn't realize was it was until I down to turn the water off at the road. And there were the remains of the bigger branches. lying on the walkway.

This is one of Aurora's roses. The plant has about a dozen blossoms.

It's hard to be motivated to work in my little garden when I don't know what he's going to do next. I am going to try to talk with my landlady about it again, but I am not optimistic that she can do anything.

Hot and Humid, Gardening in Chacala

2007-09-23T11:38:00.000-06:00

These plants are flowering all over Chacala right now. I think they are the not-Bird of Paradise plant, whose name I can't remember. But I'm not sure about that. We are still smack in the middle of the intense part of the rainy season in Chacala. Rain, thunder and lightning most times, and very hot and humid days. There's almost always a breeze during the day though, so it's pretty nice in the shade.My patio catches the sea breezes, and I love sitting out there.

I just got a wireless internet connection at home, yesterday. HOORAH!!!! First time in Chacala. Now I will be able to look at all the gardening blogs and websites. We are having a burst of Hibiscus blooms this week around Chacala. Many of the Hibiscus plants were killed by the government plant inspectors this past six months. They are trying to eradicate a plant disease that has infested Nayarit and Jalisco. It has a name similar to the fungus-looking stuff that is used to make a red dye. Cochinillea maybe. But some of the plants survived repeated spraying and extreme and repeated pruning and are looking wonderful. These colorful little portulaca plants are real eye catchers, and many people around Chacala want cuttings. Some ask and some just take, and either is fine. There are lots of plants, and they grow quickly.

However, some of my favorite succulents have disappeared. I don't know if they just melted in the sun, rain, and humidity, or if some busy fingers removed them. Whatever.
Last week I got to share some of the plants that a lovely couple had to leave beyond after they decided not to return to Chacala. This sweet little palm is in foster care at Aurora's until I figure out how to levitate up into my garden.
My neighbor,Aurora have planted some vines to partially cover her lovely bodega building. I added some yellow vines from the same family last month. I think the vines will soon cover the south (shaded by a fruit tree) wall of the building and it will look lovely.
This palm-in-a-pot is really large for the pot. It burst thru the walls of it's previous, smaller, pot, and it looks like it's going to do it again. I love the life force in seeds and plants and vies and trees. They just want to GROW!!!

This plant (below) is popping up in pots all over Chacala. Apparently they are selling it at the nursery in La Penita. No one seems to know it's name. Or if it will blossom again.Time with tell.

Chacala and the Birds

2007-09-12T11:24:00.000-06:00

Birds seems to be especially valued in Chacala. Maybe it’s because the air filled with birds. All kinds of birds fly through the sky here. Even pelicans and big black vultures. And beautiful little green parrots, who fly thru the air in coveys/herds/clumps of hundreds. It’s an amazing sight.Most people seem to have some kind of bird in their lives. Cages filled with little canaries and other colorful birds are hung on the patios of many homes. Larger cages with doves, Palomas, are common. And colorful little birds are everywhere.
People walk around work and home with a colorful little bird on their shoulder.
And fighting roosters are in cages around many homes. Something to avoid when you are looking for a vacation rental. And hens and chickens run around every where. Dogs and cats ignore them. The ones that can’t stay away from chickens are usually poisoned or disappeared in their youth. I have seen a little line of baby chicks, following their Mom, hop right across a dog sleeping in the sun. Without a peep or a glance from the dog. Lots of peeps from the chicks though.
It’s not uncommon to see someone with a bird perched on their shoulder, as they work. Or visit, or go walking. This woman has a pina stand on the beach. Her little “Talon” is right there with her, keeping at eye on things. And the fellow who works at one of the tourist shops has “Magico” perched on his shoulder.ers showers with agua dulce (meaning not salt water) and toilets for rent. (add photo)

Little Blossoms of Chacala

2007-09-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

It's still raining every night in Chacala. And it's still really "humido". It's 11am and I am sitting at a nice table at Majahua, my favorite Chacala spot. I am dripping with sweat, but luckily it's a little breezy, so it's sort of cooling.I am going to skip the gardening stuff today, and talk about how nice it is to live in a town with lots of kids. Every age of kids. And almost all of them are free to roam around town and have kid-adventures.The bigger kids, maybe 10 and up, take care of the little ones. And mostly work in their family's business. A restaurant or tienda, or deposito, or rentals or whatever.They seem to be very willing and able to take care of thir siblings in a loving way. Itdoesn't seem as though kids resent taking care of thirr little siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews.
And most kids make do with very few "toys". They make toys and cgames out of anything. This mud hole is in front of the primary school. There always seems to be leak in the water line right uphill from this spot. Her Mom is working in the schoolyard, doing a big cleanup, and her sister is watching her.
This boy is the younger brother of the girl working in Angeles's tienda near the church. He helps out when needed, and quietly watches what's going on. When some other boys show up he is ready to play.
Gilberto is a ball of evergy, always running around, doing whatever. He's the youngest of six, four brother's and a sister, and he roams freely everywhere. Here he is swinging onthe
primary school gate. He loves to pose for the camera.
These little guys posed for me all over the parking area at Las Brisas. From one plant filled planter to the next. The boy on the right is one of my favorites around Chacala. His single Dad is a fisherman. His grandmother and two Aunts help out alot, and he has 3 boy cousins the same age, so he has a pretty full ife.
There are three new, least than two months, babies in town right now. I expecially notice Angelica, who is Guadalupe's little sister. Guadalupe is almost three. It's been amazing to watch her response to having a baby sister. I don't see jealousy (althought it might be there).
What I see is Guadalupe aligning heerself with the women and bigger girls. She stepped irght up to being the "big" sister without a pause. It's very sweet to she her trudding up the road near my house. Her mom carrying the baby, and Guadalupe carrying the bag with their supplies. Usually the bag is almost, but not quite, dragging on the ground as she marches along.I feel so lucky to know so many kid around town. I love it when they call out my name or come running up to me. I don't have grandchildren, and don't mind that at all, but I am glad I get to be around babies and little kids. Every \day.

Chacala Flowers in the Rainy Season

2007-09-11T08:47:00.000-06:00

The plananitos are blossoming all over Chacala. Everyone has some growing around their place.. Wild and cultivated. Very pretty. This one is in front of Mirador, which has lovely gardens on their hillside. It's fun trying to grow plants here in Chacala, even during the rainy season. It's considered semi-tropical here, never below about 62 degrees, and very rarely over 93 degrees. Very humid for the six months of summer, and perfect during the winter. Perfect for plants too. Low 80's and sunny all the time.

This little plant stand is outside the door of one of Concha's rentals. I like these twisty wooden plant stands.
My Desert Rose and Oleander plants, waiting to go in the dirt.

The two following plants, the Hibiscus and the ?Plumeria? are growing at my neighbors, next door. I gave her the Hibiscus, grown from a cutting, and it's looking good. It hasn't been infected with the Conchinillia (?) disease that has spread throughout Jalisco and Nayarit states.

It's still raining everyday. Pouring rain all night, with lots of thunder and lightning. But it started out sunny and bright this morning. so maybe the overcast, cloudy days (since the middle of August) are over for this raining season. It will probably rain at night for another month.

The weeds are still growing like crazy, but so are most of the plants.
An odd thing happened yesterday. As I have been clearing out the abundant weeds from my little garden patches I noticed some of my favorite succulents are gone. I assumed they rotted in this rainy seather. But yesterday I was walking along and noticed a house with some new plants in cans, out front. Guess what, I am pretty sure they are my missing plants.
The woman came out when she noticed me, and we introduced ourselves. She is new in town. I said "I really like those plant. I have some like them. I was wondering how they would do in the rainy weather". And I pointed out where I live. And she looked really funny, and I went on my way. I hope those weren't my plants. But if they were, I hope she doesn't return. Or asks first. I like sharing plants. But by my choice.

This is the walkway along the oceanfront, from the big Chacala beach, to the dinghy bach and the disherman dock. It's called the Malecon, and two of the nicest rentals in Chacala are above the Malecon. Mirador and Villa Celeste are both right aboce the oceanfront, with lovely gardens.

Corn in a Rock Field in Chacala

2007-09-07T11:42:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I am just amazed how often I am surprised in Chacala. About who is related to whom, for example. Or bits of people’s history that they share with me. Or pieces of Chacala history I hadn’t heard before. Or who speaks passable English. Or has been to the U.S.

But I was really surprised today when Isreal showed me his corn field. Right behind his two story rental building. Overlooking the ocean.Yesterday afternoon I was visiting with Isreal and Daniel (a visitor from Monterrey I know from a previous visit). We were standing down on the Malecon, below Isreal and Chata's place. That’s the walkway around the point, along on the edge of the seashore.I was asking Isreal if he had removed the beautiful Flame Vine (Pyrostegia….) that was growing on the staircase that goes up to his property. It seems to be gone, pruned away. But things grow so fast here, maybe it’s coming back.Anyway, he asked me if I had seen his milpa.I had no idea was he was talking about. But he said “Ven”, I will show you. We walked up the stone staircase, and then under the new giant palapa that he and his wife, Chata, have built for their guests. With hammocks and an incredible ocean view). And stepped over a break in the brick wall behind the palapaAnd lo and behold! Here was a corn field. Maybe 100 by 150 feet. Or maybe less. It turns out “milpa” is “corn field”. The field was covered with boulders, but there was plenty of soil between the rocks, and very bit was planted. The corn was more than knee high, and Isreal said it was really growing fast. And the field was pretty much weed free.It’s field corn. They don’t grow sweet corn around here. They eat roasted ears of field corn here a lot though. Usually slathered with butter or mayonnaise or some red stuff. It’s a big treat. A small pickup drives around Chacala every night, offering corn that’s being roasted in the back of the truck. Lots of takers. Or maybe it’s already been roasted and is being kept hot in the truck. Can’t remember.Anyway, Isreal was really pleased to surprise me, and to show off his field. We talked about growing garlic and peppers. And I mentioned that the Indios in New Mexico, Colorado, etc used to grow beans
(frijoles) and pumpkins (Calabasas) together with each hill of corn. So save water I think. Isreal hadn’t heard that, but Daniel had.We ended up talked about my having grown peppers and garlic in small fields like his (minus the boulders). Without sprays. The use of herbicides and insecticides around this area is really frightening to me. People who can’t read or understand the application directions, wearing no protection, spraying waterways that deliver contaminated water directly in the ocean, etc etc etc.

Anyway, I really like seeing the corn field, and Isreal’s pride in his good work.

Succulents, in the Chacala Rainy Season

2007-09-06T13:16:00.000-06:00

Here are some more photos of the succulent plants out in the "garden". Everything seems to be doing okay. We have had an amazing amount of rain. The rainy season starts about June 22, but it only rains two or three nights a week until mid-August (as least for the past four summers). And then it starts raining most nights and some late afternoons. And there are five or so days in a row of overcast, no sun. Not the best weather for succulents but things seem to be okay for now.
The aloes are sending up babies all over the place.
And the Adenium Obesum went thru about six weeks of no blossoms and dropping leaves. But they all have new l eaves now, and even a few blossoms are forming. They are my favorite plant and I can't wait for the flowers to start coming again.

I don't know the name of this little cactus, but it's a very vigorous grower. This plant came from a broken off piece of another plant, in April or May.

What's the Name of This Plant, in a Chacala Garden

2007-09-06T13:04:00.001-06:00

Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico. My home. I love living in a different country, with a different culture, a different language, and especially a different climate.

I have been worried about my succulents, incluidng a few cacti, during the rainy season. I put some in pots (as above) and buried the bottem few inches out in the garden. They seem to be okay. A few plants have dissapeared, but I think that's due to sticky fingered friends.

And many different plants. And even the plants I know from my previous gardening life in U.S. Zone 5/6 have different names here. Very few people I have met in Chacala, or even Puerto Vallarta (the nearest big city) use Latin names for plants.I haven’t been especially interested in gardening that past few months. I try to keep things pruned back, so we can get up and down the steps to the road. But otherwise, I have planted a few seeds, and done a few cuttings, but that’s about it. The nightly rain and warm temparatures, mid 80's to mid90's keep the jungle growings around Chacala.

Don’t have to worry about watering. It rained most nights. And with the high temps I am not not worrying much about early frosts either. I think the coldest it has been here in the past four years was 64 degrees one night. Usually the low is 68 or so.This is one of the water lilies (Lirio?) that I have growing in about ten white plastic buckets. I am trying to get them to grow in the pond of water that comes from the over-full septic tank. So far they plants haven't gone for that idea. They seem to like the buckets better.

I have photos here of some plants I don’t know any name for except some local names that are descriptors, not really names. Like red vine, or whatever. Or stinky plant.

Here is mystery plant #1. This is a self-propagating plant that seems like a succulent. It that thick juicy leaves and grows very quickly. The tips of the large leaves bend over to the earth and send out roots. And new babies grow off the end of the leaf. Makes for easy starts, but I don’t know the name and I haven’t seen the plant blossom yet. And I don’t even know if it does blossom, or what it’s called.

Mystery Plant #2This vine has dark green glossy leaves and trumpet shaped blossoms with light purple and white. It’s growing very quickly. It’s about 7 feet tall and has lots of long stems. None of us remember planting it. All of a suddenly the blossoms were popping out of a large gardenia plant. I peeked into the center of the gardenia plants and there was a very healthy, multi-stemmed vine growing up thru the gardenia.My landlady wants me to create a arch made of plants over the sidewalk coming up to the door of the downstairs units. I kept thinking I could make some kind of trellis, but I finally just used the plants twisted together. The purple flower vine is tall enough to create the arch, and it’s attached on the other side of the sidewalk to the sturdy, skinny trunk of a morning glory tree sapling. And a jasmine vine, about 4 months old, is just starting it’s growth, and is also tied to the morning glory trunk. We’ ll see how this works.

This is Mystery plant #3My gardening neighbors in Chacala call this an oregano plant. And the leaves smell like Oregano. They also grow what I like of as Organo, and is grown all over in the U.S.
This looks like a succulent, and grown very, very quickly. Really, in a week it has whole new branches two or three feet long, with lots of smaller branches growing off the main branch. I haven’t seem it blossom yet.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Oaxaca Ethno Botanical Garden, Part 2

2007-08-29T11:40:00.000-06:00

The front garden of the San Domingo church.
I think I have finished with showing Oaxaca photos.

Here are the last three, maybe. If you want to look at other photos of Oaxaca go to http://mylifeinchacala.blogspot.com.

The entrance gate to the Oaxaca Ethno-botanical GardenThe library window at the Garden, from the outside.

Gardener in Chacala Goes to Oaxaca

2007-08-25T15:51:00.000-06:00

I got back to Chacala yesterday, after my eight night trip to Oaxaca. I had a hard time figuring out how to download the 500 photos in my camera unto my computer. But
I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and knew the problem was too many photo in the camera. So I edited out about 100 photos (doubles, blurry ones, etc), and everything worked fine. I was really anxious about it. But it worked out fine.

Oaxaca is a 24 hour bus ride from Chacala (east and south), and about 8 hours southeast of Mexico City. That's a very long bus ride. It cost about $80US each way. Oaxaca is a state and a city, and it a very different climate than Chacala, although it does have the same rainy season in summer/dry season in winter as in Chacala.It poured a heavy, drenching rain every afternoon, starting about 4pm, and lasting for two or three hours. It's warm though, and I only used an umbrella, no jacket or rainjacket.Oaxaca is at about 5,000 feet, I think, and is surrounded by three Valles, and then heavily forested mountains behind the Valles. It's very beautiful, the setting and the people too. There are many different Indio groups in the stae fo Oaxaca (including the City of Oaxaca, where I was monstly). Many people speak only their Indio language, with no Spanish. They are very beautiful people, and many of the women and girls wear their traditional clothings. If you would like to see other photos of Oaxaca, go to My Life in Chacala at http://mylifeinchacala.blogspot.com.All these photos are of various private gardens in the Oaxaca area. Some are at museums, at hotels, at homes, office buildings, and parks. This is the entrance to a small, bohemian cafe, gallery, and 8 unit hotel. It consisted of a series of connected rooms, anll with gardens and plants in pots. I think this is the Rufino Tamayo Museum courtyard, with a roof garden. The Musuem is filled with wonderful exsamaples of every old art objects, some from the years 500BC. Incredibly delicate and beautiful. There are gardens tucked in everywhere in Oaxaca, even on roofs and walls. I would have seen more roof gardens, but I was usually to busy looking and the buildings and the people and the traffic.

Tour of the Oaxaca Ethno-Botanical Garden

2007-08-25T13:30:00.000-06:00

I am going to post photos in as soon as I can figure how to do it.

Yesterday I went on a tour of the Oaxaca Ethno-Botanical Garden. Twice a week the Garden offers a two hour tour in English. The guide was an American woman named Carol Turkenik. She seemed to be very knowledgeable about the "ethno" aspects of the Garden. Uses of plants and the place of the various plants in the culture, history, and religious life of the area. I really enjoyed the tour.

The garden itself is very beautiful. It´s set in what was originally a work area behind a cathedral and monastery in Oaxaca, that was built in the late 1500´s. On two sides it´s surrounded by the lovely old buildings, with a nicer building (1800´s maybe) on another side and a tall stone wall on the fourth sides. It´s really a spectacular setting for a garden. It´s right on the north edge of the centro area of Oaxaca.

We were mostly in the areas of the garden where there are succulent plants, mostly cacti.

I loved hearing about all the ways people from the pre-Hispanic era up until today use the plants and trees in there lives. I live the idea that ordinary, but very knowledgeable people know how to use the plants area them for food, medicine, clothing, shelter, and everyday life.

I think the tour guide had read the Jared Diamond book about how the plants and animals that were originally in each area of the earth impacted the growth of ¨culture¨in that area. I thin it´s called "Guns Steel and .......". I really liked that book. The Americas originally had no animals that could be domesticated for agricultural or other work. Except for dogs and Llamas in the high mountains of South America.

Anyway. The Oaxaca garden is wonderful. And so are the Cathedral and monastery (now a beautiful museum) are really amazing. Even before people had arrived in what is now the U.S. gorgeous stone buildings were building built in was is now Mexico. And many of those buildings are still in use. I love it here. Even though I don´t love was the Spanish invaders did to the people of Mexico.

Oaxaca Water Gardens

2007-08-24T16:47:00.000-06:00

I love water in the garden. Oaxaca seems to be full of water "features". That's a phrase I don't care for, but I can't think of another one right now.
These are a few of the water "features" I remembered to take photos of. But almost every park had working fountains, and many were really lovely.
I was surprised to find out how difference the normal rainstorms are in Oaxaca, as compared to Chacala.This little garden, above, is in the entrance to a small office building. This rill, in the Oaxaca E-B Garden, faces the Museum in the San Domingo complex of very old buildings.Begun in the early 1500's by Dominicans. In Chacala it rains the same months, late June thru mid-October, but rainfall almost always happens at night. And there is often major thunder and lightning storm.According to people in Oaxaca, those kind of storms are unusual there. But the rainfall is much heavier, really drenching downpours. I was caught in one my first afternoon in Oaxaca. I didn't have my umbrella and was soaked before I got on a bus. This photo, with the brickwork, is in the Oaxaca's Ethno-botanical Garden. I took the photo from inside the adjoining Museum. This rill goes across most of the garden. I love how it looks.
I am trying to get more hits on my Chacala Rental website. This site supports local women with rentals who don´t speak English or use computers, or have a way to have reservations from English speaking renters.

Oaxaca Ethno-Botanical Gardens

2007-08-24T13:11:00.000-06:00

Oaxaca, the capital city of the State of Oaxaca, in south- central Mexico, has a lovely 10 year old Ethno-Botanical Garden. It's located behind the beautiful San Domingo Church and the Oaxaca Regional Museum. The Garden is a large space, walled in with colonial-style walls. It is called an "ethno-botanical" garden because the emphasis is on the use the plants of the area have been put to, in the past and currently. The meaning of plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, succulents, cacti, etc in terms of religios meaning, food, medical uses, and everyday household uses, for example.The garden is closed to the public except for people who take the twice weekly two-hour tours of the garden. Cost is 100 pesos, about $9US. There are both English and Spanish speaking tours. I took the English tour, with Carol Turkenik. She did a wonderful job, and never stopped talking for two and a half hours. I think she could have shared her knowledge for days. It was very interesting, and a highlight of my Oaxaca trip.
The garden has a number of water features, including a buried cistern for the garden's water supply. The city of Oaxaca doesn't have enough water for the population, so the garden has a huge buried cistern, so it can be independent. Many of the plants are never watered, except for rainfall, but some plants require supplemental water, especially in the nursery area. The garden has a number of different areas: tropical plants, trees from arid areas, succulents, etc.
There are many succulents in the garden, but most of them were cacti. I am starting to like cacti more than before I moved to Mexico, but I like the spineless succulents much better.I liked the blossomng plants the best. I was surprised to see plants I think of as Hawaiian orgininaly came from the Oaxaca area. According to our tour guide, Oaxaca state was the origin for many many plants now growing all over the world.

If you want to see more photos of Oaxaca go to My Life in Chacala

Gardens in Oaxaca

2007-08-20T14:19:00.000-06:00

I haven´t posted for more than a month, so I don´t know if anyone is still reading this. But I am visiting Oaxaca, in Mexico right now. When I get back to Chacala, I will have lots of garden posts. So if you are still checking in here, please check back. Thanks, Andee

My Chacala Garden, Now and Then

2007-07-13T18:13:00.000-06:00

I just took some photos of my Chacala garden. I thought I would post photos of my little garden taken mid-March, mid-May, and today. Sort of comparison shots. Things grow fast here, especially now that we are in the rainy season.

(Later) I just realized I mixed the photos from the three dates all together and it's too much touble to sort things out. I am just going to publish them all together. I don't feel like fooling around with them. And it's not that interesting anyway.A plant Sheri Merciaro and Nicole gave me is growing really fast. It's a succulent that my books calls an "Elephant" something. It grows really fast and I have taken maybe 20 cutting off it for other people. It's really different looking. Bad photos. Can't really see the plannt. It's in the lower right.

The little hillside is filling in quickly. I gave up on finishing the wall when my landlady's husband took the fifty large rocks rock I had carried in my hand. He used them to built a diversion wall to direct all this summer's rain water directly unto the foundation of the house. Sometimes I can't believe what people do around here.

I'm not sure this is a really a garden. It's really four planting beds tucked unto a hillside and some flat spots in front of the house. It's full of whatever plants I can start from cuttings or seeds.And plants people give me or I buy at the nurseries. Although it's been months since I bought a plant.

All the plants are mixed together. Water-lovers, succulents, cacti, vines, shrubs, etc. I guess I am experimenting. Or too lazy to make a plan of some kind.

A few days ago on

Some Flowers Around Chacala

2007-07-06T12:43:00.000-06:00

I don't seem to be in the mood to write about gardening right now. But I have been taking photos.This is definitely the rainy season. It started about the 22nd of June and we've had some pretty good storms for far. The power has been out three times already.Last night the lightning and thunder was really wild. Scary and loud. Right overhead. Lots and lots of water. Roof leaked in two places. The patio and my laundry was soaking wet.The town water has been off for 6 days and my tinaco on the roof has been empty for four days. It's kind of a pain.With all the rain, I don't have to water to my plants. Which is fortunate with the town water being off.
I have been transplanting everything out of buckets into the my little garden areas. Still learning about gardening here.

Pulled out my dead little palm. It's dead because my landlord's husband likes to break plants off when he is enebriated. Which is often. He kept breaking off the new central shoot, until the plant finally just gave up. Oh well.

Hot Humid Chacala Days

2007-06-22T13:47:00.000-06:00

It's a hotter than usual June in Chacala. Yesterday was the Solstice, and it was in the low 90's. I don't know what the humidity was, but I was dripping sweat most of the day and evening. Went swimming twice. The water is lovely.One of the beach families has a rancho somewhere around here. Last week they brought a hourse down to Chacala from the ranch. The grandchildren move the horse around the palm grove several times a day. I'm not sure about how the watering works though.I keep three buckets of water on my terrace for doing dishes when the water isn't on. That's about 18 hours a day. Yesterday I reached down for a bucket and there was a cute little frog in the bucket. He couldn't get out, and was swimming circles. I gently tipped the bucket over and he swam right out. And hopped around the terrace and down the stairs to the "pond" were the laundry water sits. I bet he never visits again. My landlady and her husband mostly finished the retaining wall between their "parking space" and the hillside above the road don't know what's next there, except they want to plant Noche Buena (Poinsetta's) in the bed.

Gardens in Mexcaltitan

2007-06-11T09:31:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I was visiting with some friends of mine, here in Chacala. We were hanging out under their palapa, enjoying the shade and the evening breeze.

My friends invited me to come with them on a trip to Mexcaltitan. It would be on Friday, and we would drive in a large, ten person van their extended family shares. Of course, I said yes. I have been curious to go there ever since I read about it a book called “ Western Mexico, a Traveller’s Treasury” written by Tony Burton in the early 90’s. It’s a little out of date, but the history pieces are great.I didn’t get the details of what the trip was about, or who exactly was going, but I didn’t care. Mexicaltitan is a tiny town an island, in the middle of a large lagoon, about twenty miles from the ocean. The lagoon is salt and fresh water. It’s turns out it was very muddy, and not especially appealing. Mexcaltitan is known as the place that the word “Mexico” came from. According to the story, in 1100BC, mas o menos, people from this island began a journey that lasted for over two hundred years. They were trying to find the place they saw in a vision. They finally found the area where D.F. is now. It was an island then. They also looked at the lake near Guadalajara and the Patzcuaro Lake. Which also has an island. Anyway, that’s the popular theory.

Another interesting thing about this town is that it floods two or three months a year, during the rainy season, late summer and early Fall. At those times, you walk on the high sidewalks to get around town. There are no cars. Just handcarts and wheelbarrows. Lots of people garden in cement boxes on the streets in front of their houses, or on the sidewalks.Anyway, 11 of us left Chacala before dawn. We traveled for about four hours, including a breakfast and bathroom break in Hildago. To get to the island, you leave your vehicle at a boat dock, and take a 10 minute boat ride out to the island. You wind among many islands and channels and then land at another dock, on the island. It was about a ten minute ride thru the lagoon to the island. When we arrived family and friends of our group came out to greet us as we walked into town. The entire town is about six blocks by six blocks, with a plaza, church, and museum in the middle. I was introduced to family members, and then some of us wandered around town. It’s about six or seven blocks by six or seven blocks. There are dirt walkways which will become canals in the rainy season between the rows of houses, and high sidewalks on each side. I was taking photos and My guess is the paint colors were part of a some government tourist funding project, where people got free paint, but had to choose from certain colors. They looked very nice. I liked the colors a lot.I took photos of lots of the flowers. I asked each time, and people seemed to be very friendly. They told me the names of their plants, and how old they were, and what they did when the streets flooded. It’s kind of hard to imagine how some of the plants survive. But maybe some plants can tolerate more moisture than I imagined. We hung around the nice shady little plaza for awhile, snacking and shopping. Then I realized there was a Mass starting, at the nice little church . It was then I realized, we weren’t just visiting. We were here to honor the anniversary of the death of our driver’s wife’s brother. I think he died fifteen years ago.I listened to the Mass from outside, on a nice comfortable metal bench under a tree in the Plaza. I fell asleep. When I woke up seven or eight little boys were staring at me. I finally figured out that wanted me to get out of the way, so they could climb the shade tree. Then we practiced our Spanish and English on each other. The kids were wonderful. Full of fun and laughter. We spend the afternoon at a large, three room home, with a covered patio were we ate, and visited, and listened to a nice two man band. And danced. I walked around town some more. I had read there was a small hotel in Mexicaltitan, and I was curious about it. It turned out to be very nice, and I can imagine staying there for awhile. Nice and quiet with no vehicles in town.Anyway, after hours of eating, talking, visiting, and wandering around, we finally headed home. We drove straight thru to Chacala, and made it in under three hours. It was a great day. I think my favorite parts were the lovely colors of the houses, and the lack of motor vehicles. And being part of such a friendly and happy family gathering.I keep finding more and more favorite places in Mexico, and places I want to explore. And Mexicaltitan is definitely one of them.

Gardening Around Chacala

2007-06-05T10:09:00.001-06:00

These photographs are of the house of Gracia. The upstairs is a very nice rental unit. It is one rentals built with the help of the Techos de Mexico project.
Gracia is a wonderful gardener. All her gardening areas are in the shade, and she growsmany different plants.

Even the canna's and the bouganvillea seem to do okay with maybe two hours of sun a day.

Camping in the Garden, on Beach, in Chacala

2007-05-31T11:07:00.001-06:00

It’s getting hotter every day in Chacala. More humid too. But it’s still nice if you stay out of the sun mid-day. Of course, today I didn’t do that, and ended up out in the sun about 1pm.

So when I got as far as one of the camping areas, I stopped and visited with a friend who lives in one of the homes that has a beach concession for camping and bath/shower facilities in Chacala.It was very comfortable, sitting in the shade, and catching the breeze that comes off the ocean, and comes between the house and the bath house. And admiring the ocean.The is a new home, rebuilt after Hurricane Kenna destroyed the old one, in October 2002. All the plants, trees and garden areas were planted since then. The shade trees in front of the house are about 18 feet tall now, and make a nice shady place to relax and visit.I have posted photos of the Cannas at this home before, but I can’t resist doing it again. They are so lovely.There are flowers and cacti and palms and shrubs around the house and palapas. Some are volunteers and some are planted. And they really make a lovely place to sit and visit.

I just had to take some photos. Especially when there where no people picnicking or camping this afternoon.Except for a truckload of police who were taking their lunch break down under the next net of palapas down the beach. I decided not to take a photo of them. Their guns are too imtimidating.

Bird Nests and Jasmine, in Chacala

2007-05-26T16:12:00.002-06:00

In February some friends of mine were leaving Chacala after a two month stay. I am babysitting their two clay pots, and their jasmine plant. The jasmine is growing so quickly I had to take it out of the clay pot, and put it in the ground. It's growing like crazy and covered with blossoms.
A few days ago a couple of small birds came zooming out of the entryway of the downstairs unit here where I live. I looked up and saw there were two bird nest mudded to the wall, up near the ceiling. Two little heads were peeking out.I have to include another shot of my very favorite plant, the Desert Rose, Adenium Obesum.

Lilies and Peppers

2007-05-26T16:06:00.000-06:00

This is Saturday morning in Chacala, and it’s slightly overcast. It’s too soon for the rainy season, which usually arrives on the summer solstice. At least, that’s what’s happened for the past three summers. Anyway.

I have a hot pepper plant in the garden. I started it from a seed packet that just said “Chili”, so I don’t know what it is. It seems to be very popular around here. When people visit me and my little garden, they are very interested in the peppers, and I tell them to take some.They don’t usually take them that time, but I notice people seem to come back later and pick a few. People don’t generally notice me looking down from my second story perch, my little kitchen-patio.

So sometimes I get to observe people picking peppers without knowing I am watching. I love it that I can grow something people want to eat.

I started some more peppers from seed this week, and some tomatoes too. I haven’t had much luck with tomatoes before here in Chacala, but I’m going to give it another try. Tomatoes are my very favorite vegetable, and I normally eat them everyday. It would be nice to have some that haven’t been sprayed, etc. This will be about my sixth trial with tomatoes since I came to Chacala.

The main difference this time, is that it’s almost the start of the rainy season, and some people have told me that’s a good time to plant time.

When I first moved back to this house, my lovely landlady gave me a bucket full of water lilies. I don’t know what they are exactly, but they have pretty blue blossoms every six weeks or so.
The lilies are multiplying quickly, and now I have six buckets of lilies, and three buckets are blossoming right now. I am running out of shade to tuck the buckets under.

Swimming with Crocodiles Near Chacala

2007-05-25T11:22:00.000-06:00

Here I am jumping into the clear spring water, up at the end of the Tovara swamp and crocodile ride. I was scared to death of crocodiles giving me a nudge.
I swam to the ladder really really fast.

When I got home a friend of mine here in Chacala told me there is a watch guard who screams to get out of the water if he spots the big old crocodile who likes to swim there. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's a scary thought. There IS a chain link fence across the end of the swimming area, but.....

May Blossoms in Chacala

2007-05-19T16:36:00.001-06:00

It's definitely getting hotter in Chacala. I don't have a thermometer, but I bet it's getting close to 90 in the afternoons. Mid 80's for sure. Not particularly humid though. Lots of plants are blossoming right now, in preparation for the rainy season , which starts in late June, usually. this Aloe has grown from about six inches tall to a couple of feet in the last 4 or 5 months. This bouganvillea is growing so quickly. I love how it looks. They come as either vine or shrub plants, and you never know exactly what you are getting, unless the plant is big enough to see the difference. I wrote the name of this tree down, and put the paper in my pocket,

and then promptly washed the shirt

The town water didn't come on until about 11am this morning. Usually it comes on about 9am or so. There is a hose bib on the front of the house, and I water my plants with a hose attached to the bib. Until a few days ago, the pipe the hose bib is attached to continued on to the water tank, tinaco, on top of the roof of this house. But that line seems to have clogged up. I can still use the hose though, and there's plenty of pressure, so I have been filling the tank with the garden hose. It's working okay with just me living here, but this set-up may get tricky when the other two units get rented. Maybe at Christmas.The Primavera tree,called something else in Mexico

(but that name was on the same piece of paper),
also blooms in pink. The blossoming seems to go on for months.

I walked around town at sunset the last couple of evenings. Taking care of business and doing some visiting. One of my favorite women here in Chacala is very ill. I try to go by her place every other day, with a little gift or food or cash or whatever. She almost always has other women visiting in the evening, so it's sort of nice. We all sit outside under the trees and visit.
These photos are of the plants, trees, and shrubs that are blooming right now in Chacala. I know the names of some plants. In English, Spanish, or Latin. Depending on who told me the name. It's very beautiful in Chacala right now. Not as nice as after everything greens up after the rains start, in late June. But still, very nice. I think maybe the plants know the rain is coming, and they go ahead and blossom. Like they just can't wait.

I bought a photography magazine at the P.V. airport a few days ago. It's the best place to find English language magazines around here. There were some great articles about taking photos and I am trying to practice what they preach.

From Chacala to La Laguna and St.Maria del Oro

2007-05-13T20:44:00.000-06:00

Today I got to go on another day trip, with some nice folks who are visiting Chacala and have a rental car. We went to La Laguna, a small town, and a lake called St. Maria del Oro. It's about two hours north and east of Chacala, on the way to Guadalajara. Nice quick ride, most of it on a toll road. I am not used to being in an air-conditioned car, but otherwise it was a nice ride.

There were lots of succulents in at the St.Maria del Oro camping place, called Koala. They were all around the camping area's refreshment stand.And a nice stand of very thick bamboo.And lots of beautiful trees.Including some Jacaranda's, which seem to be blooming for an extended period in this area. At least two or three months so far.The lake is set in a volcanic crater, and you reach it by driving down a step road to the lake. Which I didn't much care for. After visiting the lake we had lunch at a nice little restuarant across the street from a church.
And the church had a lovely courtyard.And there was a row of orange trees along the street.I loved seeing all the healthy succulents and the bamboo. I would have liked to visit with the gardener, but we were only there for a few minutes. It was a nice trip though, and I liked the town of La Laguna. But it's another tourist town, so it's not a possible alternate living location for me. Oh well.

Crocodiles and a Mangrove Swamp

2007-05-11T19:51:00.000-06:00

Chacala is so beautiful this time of year. Even though we are still in the dry season (only one evening of rain since mid-October), the trees and shrubs are going ahead with growing fresh new vegetation. Many of the trees that lost their leaves these past months are now covered with lovely new leaves. And/or blossoms. Same with the shrubs. And in some area new grasses are coming up, and the Coral Vines are covered with little blossoms.Today I went on a wonderful trip with some people who are visiting Chacala. We drove in their rental car to Tovaro, just south of San Blas. It took less than two hours, and was a nice ride. We took a boat ride through a mangrove swamp. We visited a crocodile farm, and saw crocodiles and odd birds and lots of Crinum plants growing on the banks of the swamp.The bathrooms at the boat dock were surrounded by beautiful dwarf Poinciana lants. Very beautiful blossom. We had lunch at a nice little restaurant overlooking a lovely crystal clear swimming area. With a rope hanging from a tree to swing out over the water, and jump in. It was really fun, although I was only actually in the water about two minutes. Even though there was a chainlink fence across the inlet where we swam, it was still scary. Crocodiles have REALLY big mouths.

May 9th, in My Chacala Garden

2007-05-09T17:12:00.000-06:00

These little cacti came from one of the big Mexican supermarkets: Soriana. I moved them out into the direct sun (4/5 hours a day) about a month ago. In the dirt, not a pot. They look peculiar, with red spots and a bleached side. I assume it's too much sun, but would appreciate advice or suggestions. They are still growing quickly. They were one "column" each when I put them in the dirt.

Today is a lovely Chacala day. Sunny, breezy, and nice and warm. There are some cement workers plastering the walls of the rental room downstairs, and I spent most of the morning puttering around with my plants. And keeping the water barrels full for the cement boys.
I walked over to my neighbors to get some starts from a plant I gave here about six months ago. It’s a succulent that puts out babies at the end of it’s large leaves. They have little air roots, and when the ends of the leave sag down close enough to the earth, they plant themselves.But it this case I cut the little guys off with my scissors and took them home to pot them.

And I planted the jasmine plant I bought I few weeks ago. 20 pesos/$1.80US. My landlady showed me how she wants the purple vine that’s coming up thru the gardenia plant on the left side of the walkway to meet the new jasmine plant and make an arch over the walkway. I think I will make an arch out of old long branches. But for today, I just planted the jasmine. It’s in a shady spot, and I hope it will grow quickly.When Dona Lupe was up here the other evening, we fiddled around with some of the plants. She is fascinated by how quickly the succulent cutting grow. She thinks she can do the same thing with the Ixora plant.

So she borrowed my clippers, which she loves, and hacked some big branches off her nice Ixora plant. And then stuck them in one of my dirt pots. I think it really unlikely that they will grow, but who knows. I just have to water them. And cross my fingers.I did some other succulent started today, and did some weeding. Some of my aloes that I planted in early March and not making it. I moved them today, hoping they will revive. I don’t know if it’s too much water or two much sun, or both.

Probably both. The red zinnias in these photos are self-seeding, and they are providing lots of shade for the baby plants.Dona Lupe loves the plumbago plant. It’s blooms are really wonderful this year. She is coming up to the house a lot lately. To cut fresh flowers for her little restaurant. I am so lucky to have local lady gardener friends here. I learn something everyday.

More Swamp Boat Ride Remarks

2007-05-09T17:07:00.000-06:00

I had been hearing about the Tovara boat ride for four years, and somehow it never seemed like something I particularly wanted to do. But I'm really glad I went. We drove north about an hour and a half, and stopped at Matanchen, a famous surfing, and where the Boat ride starts.But lately someone mentioned the birds, turtles, and flowers along the bank of the "swamp" or whatever it was. So when my nice neighbors invited me along, I went with then, and it turned out to be a great day.These photos are some of the things I saw. The weather was perfect.The sun was blocked by the trees most of the time. Good thing, because my umbrella didn't appreciate the breezy ride. It turned inside out, and finally semi-disinegrated. The boat ride was worth it though.

We saw three or four crocodiles sunbathing in the water as we headed for the Crocodile Center (or whatever it's called). Then there were lots more at the center, all sizes and ages. It was kind of sad, really.There were epiphytes in lots of the trees.And Criniums growing in the dirt and directly in a water almost the whole trip.And lots of big turtles And birds Even the banos had nice landscaping, and were clean, with a very nice attendant selling toilet paper and candy.

Little Green Fruits, in Chacala

2007-05-07T17:07:00.000-06:00

There’s a little path between my place and my favorite neighbor’s house, here in Chacala. It saves me walking down a flight of stairs to the road, and thqat up a small hill going up to her house, so I use it a lot.

I though I usually noticed every little thing that grows along that path. And I prune the green stuff back regularly. But today, all of a sudden, this tree I thought was dead, is now covered with little green fruits. Almost overnight. Hardly any leaves, but lots of fruits. I am going to ask somebody what they are later today.

I guess I see or learn something new every single day in Chacala. Today it was the green apples, I mean fruit. Plus some neighbors down the hill are adding on a nice sized bathroom to their house. They were digging the hole for the dirty water/septic this morning. I was amazed to see how much space there is back there. Everything is done by hand. With two guys with some handtools.There is a second papaya tree growing up thru between the plumbago and gardenia in the front of the house. I can’t believe how quickly it’s growing. Maybe a foot a week right now. With blossoms.

A few days ago the government guys who come around every week showed up really early in the morning. If I hear them I run down to protect my plant babies from their spray stuff. The workers are part of a huge effort to control a “plagua” that is attacking the hibiscicus in the states of Nayarit and Jalisco.

The inspectors seem to have tried to identify every hibiscus in either state (I think). And if they find the white foamy stuff they spray. And spray, and spray. And if there are still problems, they hack the plant down to nubbins and haul away the remains.The other day they removed the second hibiscus from the front of the house. There’s a empty space where it was. But I know it will grow back quickly.

I don’t know what’s in the spray, but the workers don’t wear any protection. They have a big tank full of spray on the back of a pickup, with a generator to run the sprayer, and about 100 feet of hose. I hate it. I try to get my pots out of the way, but they don’t pay any attention to where their hose goes. They always leave a mess. Oh well.

Garden Garden

2007-04-30T17:25:00.000-06:00

I purchased this oleander at the vivero about a month ago. It didn't seem to like being transplanted. Or maybe it didn't like the spot I picked for it, near the papaya tree. It lost all it's blossoms quickly, and I thought it might be dying. But it suddenly perked up a few days ago, and burst into bloom. With two lovely blossoms. We had a big oleander bush at the house I grew up in the Los Angeles, and seeing one always reminds me of playing in the yard of our home.

This lovely vine is called Copa de Ora according to Chacaleans ,and Allamande(sp?) according to my PV plant book. It's located right below my patio, where I throw my non-soapy dish and clothes washing water. I aim for the vine and it's growing like crazy. Last week I buried six of the stems in the dirt, without separating them from the plant. I am hoping they will root and that I will be able to transplant them.

This is one of the buried stems. Above.
I love the plant. I make cuttings all the time, and end up giving them away about as fast I grow them. They really catch people's eye.
There of three of the scrubby looking trees right around the house. This one is to the south of my patio. This photo is taken from on my patio. There is another one of the west, ocean, side, and one around the back. Or two maybe. I think the blossoms have a very nice fragrance, but they are all too far away to smell. Esparanza, my beach lady, has one of these trees at the entrance to her pay toilets/showers, and it smells wonderful.

Blossoms in Las Varas, Near Chacala

2007-04-28T18:20:00.000-06:00

This morning I took my bag of laundry (sheets, towels, and pillowcases) into the laundry in Las Varas. It was 6.5 kilos and it cost 75pesos (about $7US). I mostly do my laundry at home, but it's hard to wash sheets and towels by hand. So I do a big laundry every three or four weeks. Luckily I now have four complete sets of sheets, plus four extra sheets for bedspread. I got a ride right to the laundry, but had to walk the six blocks or back to the bank and computer place.
I took some photos from around town, but these blossoms were my favorites. The first four photos are, I think Poinciana blossoms. It has just started blooming again around here.

And the Flame Vine, (Physostegia (?), is right below. This vine finished blooming about six weeks ago in Chacala. It seems to blossom for about three months at a time. I don't know why it's still going in Las Varas. it looks like the same plant, but who knows?

Puttering Around in My Chacala Garden

2007-04-27T21:41:00.000-06:00

Chacala: My landlady came up to the house yesterday morning. She was on her way back from visiting a friend who is very ill, and who lives up the road from here. We talked a little about what a good present might be, for our mutual friend. It sounds like cash for medicine and water and so on is the best bet. I guess the average old people pension around here is somewhere between $600 and $1000 pesos. About $50/90US$. So money can get pretty tight if you are sick.

Anyway, she and I looked around at what I have been doing in her yard, and she picked out some baby plants to take down to the restaurant. She showed me the actual boundaries lines on each side of her property. Originally she told me the stone walls on either side were the actual property lines, but it turns out there is only about 12 feet on each side of the house. Instead of maybe 25 feet. Big difference. I am glad she told me sooner than later.
We walked around back and she pointed out a private place I could garden in pots. It’s about 20 by 15 feet. And surrounded by vegetation, with one cement block wall on the west side. I would have to garden in pots there. The ground seems to be solid rock. But there’s some shade in the morning from trees, and shade in the afternoon from the back wall of the bodega. I am sort of excited about that space because it’s shady. And it could be kind of private. I am picturing an arbor maybe, with vines. And a hammock. And pots. Maybe I will do some hypertufa style pots. I like the idea.

Things are growing well out front. I have four beds going, with another one started. I have to finish a bed on the rock wall, where I am going to plant bougainvillea.

Then I will work on the area to the left of the entry staircase. There are already some plants there, tree or shrub morning-glories, a jasmine plant, I am growing for my friends Bill and Mary, and a tree my landlady planted, and three plumbagos I started from cuttings.A woman who is building a house in Chacala, and planning to going back and forth to the US, is a garden enthusiast. She has only been here a few months, but she seems to have lots of energy. We have talked plants a little. She is interested in bamboo. I love bamboo, so that’s cool. Anyway, it’s fun to be able to talk plants with someone who speaks English. And even more fun to learn about plants and gardening in Mexico from someone who speaks Spanish only.
I was at the tianguis, the street market, at a nearby town this week. I got a Jasmine vine, for 30 pesos, ($2.70US) and visited with the nursery lady. I asked her where she got her plants, and she said she has a viviero/nursery in the next little town. And she invited me to visit, and gave me written dirctions.I am really escited to visit her and she how she gardens and what her place is like. I get to learn new things about gardening everyday. Of course, sometimes I misunderstand what people are saying to me. Oh well.

ALERT: Sidebar/Archives

2007-04-23T11:11:00.000-06:00

I just realized that when this blog is viewed on Internet Explorer the sidebar with all the Archives, etc are dropped to the bottom of the bag.

Since I write this on a Mac I Book, I didn't realize what was happening, and haven't figured out how to fix it. But the archives ARE down at the bottom of the first page if you are viewing this thru Internet Explorer.

I will fix it as soon as I figure out how to do it.

Thanks, Andee

Updates on My New Chacala Flowerbeds

2007-04-23T10:55:00.000-06:00

It is so satisfying to be garden here in Chacala, especially since I am now planting in the ground, rather than only in pots. I love having a real year-round growing season. But I am worrieda about the strength of the sun's rays here, and the intensity of the rainstorms during the rainy season.I have to remember, I am on the starting end of my learning curve here. I have been gardening for 3 and 1/2 years in Chacala now, but I still have alot to learn. I mostly watch what other people seem to be doing, and experiment with my own plants.Sometimes I am just amazed about how last things grow here. Especially the succulents. But almost everything grows very quickly now.I have to spray the dust off the leaves of all the plants everyday. The dust from the dirt trucks is pretty heavy. In my mind, i think the plants like having clean and shiny leaves, and clean and fresh blossoms. But who knows, maybe it's hard on them to be washed off. Or bad for them.
This is my newest little bed, which is only half planted. I don't know how I want to use this last bed. They are surrounded by rocks, and filled with about 10 inches of soil, over pickaxed clayish stuff. As the papaya tree grows it will offer less and less shade, and I don't know how fast the plumbago and bougainvilleas will grow. Quickly I hope.

The following two photos are of my first two beds at this house in Chacala. Things are growing very quickly, and I am getting ready to move things around. To plan different kinds of plants in each the four new beds. Based on their sun and water needs, and their tolerance for rain. I don't know how this will work yet, but things are looking pretty good so far.

Starting Plants in Chacala

2007-04-21T18:46:00.000-06:00

I have a new routine for adding to my garden plant collection here in Chacala. I will start at least on bucket full of starts of some plant every week, and also, starting new vines by burying a section of a vine stem, at least once a week.Right now I have 34 buckets or plastic dishpans, all with holes in the bottom, with plant starts in them. Most are looking pretty good. I am kind of proud of myself for sticking to my schedule. It's much cheaper to grow my own plants, and I like doing it. I am having pretty good luck, and some failures.I have about 50-50 success with bougainvilleas. I haven't figured out why it's not so good. But I am working on it. My project for tomorrow is to make starts from three different colors of bougainvillea plants: violet, red, and orange. But in order to have room to start them, I will have to plant three buckets of plants. I haven't decided what to trying planting. So much of what I am doing here is guesswork and experimenting.But the climate is so nice for these plants: humid and warm. It's never been colder than about 62 degrees or hotter than about 95, so it's nice for the little ones. Of course, they are in the shade and don't have to deal with the direct sun rays on their tender little shoots and leaves.

I am doing pretty well with this money-saving effort. I am trying to keep myself out of the plant nurseries. My addiction was kind of getting out of control.
But I have gotten some good deals lately. At the vivero near the Pitital Soriana (superstore) in Puerto Vallarta I spent 80 pesos on plants last week. About $7.20US. I got one pot of this plant. It turned out I got 12 plants from that one pot (20 pesos/1.80US).

My favorite starts are the succulents, but almost all the plants here in Chacala seem to be ready and willing to offer me starts that what to grow.

Overcast and Warm, in Chacala

2007-04-17T11:53:00.000-06:00

I was down on the beach a few days ago, visiting my neighbors from my beach camping days last winter. They have some beautiful cannas growing outside the pay toilets they operate for campers on the beach. And some coconuts we collected from the creek beach are growing like crazy. I love how the cocos sprout just sitting on the damp ground.
I just started my third little bed in my new garden area. It's partly under a papaya tree that's growing pretty quickly.
I am trying to take drainage during the rainy season in account, but it's hard to guess where the water will come down thru the garden, and where it will be trying to go.I am hoping that by having these slightly raised beds the rain water coming down into the beds will be able to drain out easily, but who knows. I am still struggling to figure out when various plants bloom here. I am always asking people, and often get conflicting answers. Or, at least, they seem to be confusing to me. Things are getting pretty dry here. It has rained one night here since mid October. That was a pretty good rain, but there has been nothing since. And you can tell. The vegetation and vines on the hillsides are starting to look stressed.