Plants and Flowers

By |2019-01-12T17:27:37+00:00July 23rd, 2016|Resort|

One thing we knew right from the beginning when we first started building was that the land at the back of the resort was very fertile.  Here was untouched rain forest and the land took months to clear.  At first we thought we had cut down too many trees, but within a few months all the tree stumps we thought were dead had regrown two or three meters.  Now, after two years those tree stumps tower five or six meters.  When we were building, someone ate papaya, and papaya must be the world’s fastest growing tree.  From nothing, a papaya tree can reach three or four meters in a year if it gets enough water, and the resort must have about thirty trees by now!

But not all plants grow as fast and as easily as papaya.  Some plants like lots of water, some don’t.  Last summer it rained once in three months; this summer maybe there was only one day that it didn’t rain!  So even though the papaya trees have done very well, it has been almost impossible to keep plants such as bouganvilias which don’t like too much water.  Additionally, the land at the front where the bungalows are is quite sandy, so it has been a challenge to grow flowers there.

But for the most part we are quite happy with the variety of plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables that we have growing here.   In addition to the many coconut trees, we have mango and wax apple trees which are seasonal.  There are a few banana trees that are beginning to bear fruit, and we have grown tomatoes, long beans, melons, and chile peppers.  The boys have found wild orchids around the island, and we have planted a few that are just beginning to blossom now.

Below is a gallery of some of the plants that we have here.  There are a few that I don’t know the names of, so if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated!