I find it blisteringly hot at present and almost too hot to finish this piece of writing, but thankfully the discipline of it prevents me dozing off.
Diaries can be repetitious things and I often find that in this diary my memory tells me that I am dealing with things that I have talked about before. Never mind that, because gardening is like that. We are governed by the seasons and we have to respond to the changes in weather patterns each year, and make certain that our plants are cared for accordingly. Problems in the garden throughout the world change very little, only the plants we grow change because they outgrow their allotted space and we plant other things.
Many years ago at Kew Gardens I grew a plant of the Mexican ponytail, Nolina recurvata. Growing on a single stem which can attain six feet, it produces the most graceful head of leaves. I acquired another specimen some years ago, and as one might expect by now it has been given another name – Beaucarnea recurvata which is a nuisance. Mexican ponytails are curious plants, developing a large swollen base to the stem for storing water – a useful development in Guyana during the ‘dry.’ Mexican ponytails produce the most graceful foliage, and would be valuable as part of a well-lit modern interior decor (requiring little water), or a small patio or even a prominent slightly drier spot, for it is a slow grower. Any halfway decent catalogue will list it, and it grows very quickly from seed. If you get a chance, buy one or more.
Another Mexican was the cause of some concern this week. I have mentioned Antigua Heath before. Mine grows underneath my window, and is a particular favourite of a pair of hummingbirds. The sound of their wing beat is enchanting.
Well, having taken their fill of nectar this pair decided to have a look around the interior of my house. It took an age to catch them – and oh so gently for our young Amerindian girl could mimic them – and get them out again. They promptly started feeding again having been mightily bored I suppose, with watching England play cricket in Australia, and who on earth wouldn’t be? These lovely birds also feed on the flowers of the large eucalyptus tree and the multitude of flowers on the forever flowering small calliandra tree. I long to get hold of a plant of the scarlet flowered variety which I saw growing along the trail from Kato to Kurukabaru in the north Pakaraimas, which I walked with the girl who managed our home in New Providence.
Now dear readers, as it is so hot and getting drier by the second, there are certain things that you should remember. If you have the water to spare and you find that some plants are getting desperate for it, put plenty of water around the roots.
Just a little bit will merely evaporate and you must give them very generous quantities, but this evaporation can be reduced if you put a good deal of compost into the ground. This will help the ground retain water and encourage worm activity. Do this watering in the late afternoon and do it slowly enough so it doesn’t run off the surface, but just soaks in. Compost in the ground helps this.
Fertilizer should not be given at the start of the dry season but right at the end of it. The reason for this is that the roots may well be scorched if the ground is really dry. Slightly moist ground as will quickly occur once the rains start again is ideal for growth to begin.
Anyway, keep the letters coming. I do so enjoy them and learn a great deal from them. Take care. With the World Cup coming on us so quickly, lock up your cars and property and may your God be with you wherever you are.
