In the two years of gardening on the island, I’ve learned a few lessons.

Don’t pay for what can be propagated. You can stick a cutting in the ground and it will take root. Especially in the shade and rainy season. (Like the croton above, which would have cost at least $3 in a nursery.) If I knew I would be here for a month, I would be a propagation queen.

The sun is really hot here. I thought the snake plant would be able to handle the afternoon sun in the front of the house, but they look really sad. So I moved them all to the shadier side yard.

All bromeliads are not sun worshipers either. They lose their color and shrivel up. I moved some of these around as well. Since I cannot control the sun or rain (and I am not here to augment the lack of rain), the only parameter I have is location.

Mint thrives anywhere, or so I thought. I planted mint next to a afternoon sun only, downspout hoping for a endless supply for mojitos. It’s been an uphill battle, so now they have a new, shadier location.

I am working on creating more shade. Which is rather odd, as in PA, shade is for people and boring ground cover.

The weed-whacker is a plant’s the worst enemy. It has no respect when it goes after straying grass and weeds. I use short PVC pipes to mark and protect my plants from the well meaning whackman. That works on my tiny papaya, but not on this prickly century plant.

Orchids take patience. Our very first pair are flowering annually but I’m not investing any more money on them till the next eight orchids I purchased bloom.

While it seems to rain all the time, most times it is short. I don’t think the plants get a really good watering. But they seem to survive and thrive.

When a plant is happy it takes off like its on steroids! A neighbor gave me two gandule seedlings to plant. Also known as pigeon peas, it is a local staple. I planted them in the sunny backyard. They grew into 8 foot bushes with a base of 6 inches in diameter. And when the bean pods dried, they looked awful. I got rid of those plants. You have to eliminate the plants that are not quite what you expected, ruthlessly. This applies to all gardens. I am also a ruthless pruner!

Here is another plant that has exploded in size – lemon grass. Enough to make a lot of Thai soups and curries. I’m letting him go for now, as he is not in the way and looks interesting.

One challenge is the leaves of the fruit trees are prone to sooty mold. I keep spraying them but have not figured out how to eliminate this problem.

My papayas are not fruiting despite looking healthy and flowering. I think I have the right combination of males and females now, let’s see what happens.