Click below to see our plants alphabetically listed by common name with their cures and cooking ideas
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S earch for Latin names and more here!
Pacific
Puka Meryta denhamii Seem.
Benefits: Surprisingly, I haven't yet found any specific benefits
aside
from its visual appeal.
From: New Caledonia and New Zealand
Photographed: In the Palermo Botanical Garden in Sicily, Italy.
Planting and Care: This small tree, growing only about 20 feet
tall, lives naturally in dense humid frost free forests. If you can duplicate
those conditions you will have a happy tree. Pacific pukas grow well in full
sun
or
light
shade, but they cannot tolerate frost. On the plus side pukas are tolerant of
wind and sea air.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018
**Pacific
Rosewood See Below -- PORTIA TREE
Palm
Beachbells See
the "K" Page -- KALANCHOE -- Donkey's Ears
Palm
Trees and Sago Palms See the
"PALMS AND SAGOS" Page
**Palm
Grass, Bristle Grass, Broadleaved Bristlegrass, Knotroot Curculigo
capitulata syn Molineria capitulata (Lour.)
This is a strange plant to call "grass," but despite its inappropriate
name it is a very appealing plant.
Benefits: I didn't find any yet aside from its wonderful quality
in the
garden.
From: India and Tropical China
Photographed: At the Hotel San Buenaventura on Lake Atitlan
in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Palm grass is a tropical
perennial. Its 2 to 3 foot leaves resemble palm leaves, hence
its name. It prefers to live in semi-shade in well-draining moist
soil.
palm grass
Text & Photograph
©KO 2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Palma
Christi See
the "C" Page -- CASTOR OIL PLANT
Panama
Queen Please See the 'O'
Page -- ORANGE
SHRIMP PLANT
Pansies Viola
tricolor var. hortensis
I have always loved these low growing brilliantly colored softly petaled flowers.
I grew up with them in spring flower beds in New England and have only rarely
seen them since then. When we got to Ushuaia, Argentina, it was the end of summer
and the pansies were a little tired, but I was thrilled to see them anyway. It
was
particularly
surprising to see them then because they were always considered "only for
spring" flowers in New England.
Benefits: Believe it or not, pansies are edible, both leaves and flowers,
and
they are also high in A and C vitamins. With pansies in your garden you
get a lot of benefits for such a small and easy to care for investment.
From: Europe
Photographed: In Ushuaia and Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina.
Planting and Care: Pansies are easy to grow and most often purchased
at a flower shop as tiny plants that you can take home to enliven your springtime
garden
with their wonderful colors. They are pretty short, maybe about 8" tall,
so they
make wonderful "filler in" plants. They do best in full sun in the
cooler parts of the world like New England and Patagonia and they prefer a well-draining
soil.
Water
them
occasionally
if it doesn't rain often.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018
**Papaya
Tree , Pawpaw Carica papaya L.
These are fast growing very attractive small trees that with a little luck will
last for many years in a warm climate bearing lots of fruit throughout the year.
The
appearance
and
flavor of its fruits vary considerably so always try to taste a fruit before
you plant its seed. Most of the papayas
sold in the United
States
are GMO, so do look for organic papayas to get the full benefits of this fruit
and to avoid allergic reactions down the road.
Benefits and Cautions:
If you'd like to have an all natural cosmetic
'peel' ,
think about a mix of fresh papaya and pineapple for a great facial. Give this
a quick try, maybe 5 minutes and then rinse off. Next day try it for 10 minutes
if you didn't get the benefits you were looking for. Remember you are trying
to improve the skin on your face, not have your face digested!
Green papaya slices applied to bee or wasp stings
or wounds have been said to promote healing. I haven't
tried this myself, so go easy at first. Try using papaya for 5 minutes on a bee
sting if you want and see how it goes.
Seeds or slices of the green or ripe fruit may act
as digestive aids relieving constipation, bloating and gas.My husband swears
by
its ability to make his tummy feel good when he has eaten
something dicey.
Mixed with milk, the green fruit is used in some
countries to reduce high blood pressure. I don't have any personal
experience with this and have no idea what the milk/papaya quantities might be.
If you've heard of this, please let me know so I can share it with others. Somewhere
else I read that when mixed in a juice with sour orange, papaya is believed to
help
reduce high blood pressure.
Tea made from the leaves is said to relieve
kidney disorders.
Papaya may be useful in weight
control,because one of its ingredients, an enzyme called papain, may help to
burn calories more quickly. Papain, similar to one of our own enzymes produced
in the pancreas,
has long been used as a meat tenderizer and it does just that. It breaks down
proteins. On the down side, if you are peeling or slicing papayas frequently
or in quantity, it can easily break down the skin on your hands; wear rubber
gloves
for protection. Papayas are also high in Vitamins
C and A.
From: Tropical Americas, from Mexico through Latin America.
Photographed: On
the left above at the top of our terrace garden at our former home
in
Montserrat. Below in a neighbor's garden at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: My best advice for planting
a papaya is to take the seeds from a fruit you particularly
liked eating and toss them on good garden soil. Then wait.
Once the seeds take, in about four to eight weeks, papaya trees
are incredibly fast growing and will provide fruit in their
first year. If you buy or are given a papaya tree, plant it
in a hole 18" deep with lots of manure and hope for the
best. We never had any luck planting a tree, but lots of luck
with casually strewn seeds. The papaya is an enormously productive
tree and its fruits, whether green or ripe yellow, have many
uses. Papayas are male or female trees and you need to have
one of each to get fruit. The male tree can be identified more
quickly than the female as it produces flowers when it is still
pretty immature. Even so, you'll still have to wait a few months
to see if you have male or female plants. You will need only
one male plant so extras can be discarded unless you have lots
of room and a particular fondness for them. Papayas like to
grow in full sun with regular rainfall or watering and a monthly
dose of fertilizer, but they are adaptable within limits.
Text
and Photographs ©KO 2008/2010 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
Parasol
Flower See
The "C" Page -- CHINESE HAT
Parlor
Ivy See
the "G" Page -- GERMAN IVY
Parrot
Plant Impatiens niamniamensis
From: Tropical East Africa
Photographed: On the left in the Botanical
Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala and
on the right in the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia,
in 2013.
Planting and Care: This is a low growing
half to full shade loving plant. It has lovely flowers
almost continuously if it also receives routine rainfall
or watering. Happily for some, the plant also likes an
acid soil.
Text and Photographs ©KO
2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
**Curly
Leaf Parsley Petroselinum crispum
Parsley is one of those garden essentials that can almost be taken for granted.
We use it in every way imaginable every day. It grows like a weed and seems to
have few garden enemies even in the Caribbean where that is rarely the case.
This is a perfect plant to grow organically.
Benefits: Used
fresh the curly variety is high in amino acids, aspartic and glutamine, and also
rich in vitamins and minerals. The Chinese believe that parsley, which is loaded
with luteolin, is a very beneficial in alleviating disorders of the eyes.
From: The central Mediterranean.
Photographed: In our garden at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: See below, flat leaf parsley
Variety I've Planted: "Forest Green" I
found this parsley to be especially wonderful in the highlands
of Guatemala. It grew like a weed. We used it in almost everything
we cooked and fresh in salad and in dozens of other ways.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Flat
Leaf Parsley , Italian Parsley, Chervil Herb Petroselinum
neapolitanum
First lost to the volcanic eruption in July of 2003,
we replanted this most essential herb many times, both
in the garden and in pots by the terrace.
Benefits: The
flat leaved Italian variety is more chic these days. Either one is
delicious and can be used liberally every day in every way!
Photographed: Below on the left are the little
plants I grew from seed that were ready to be planted in our herb
garden at our former home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: In a tropical environment,
plant parsley in moist well-drained soil and fertilize it regularly.
In the Caribbean, flat leaved Italian parsley and frilly leaved
parsley both seem to prefer semi-shade to full sun to thrive. Overall
the flat leaved variety wins my vote as it was always much healthier
than the curly variety in the Caribbean. On our terrace garden
in Taxco, Mexico, we were able to keep our potted frilly parsley
plant alive and thriving for at least four years. In Montserrat,
parsley plants are viable for no more than one year; more often
than not, six months is the limit. In the environment at Lake Atitlan
in Guatemala, our frilly parsley has been thriving for almost a
year. The plant is said to be a biennial so I have my fingers crossed.
Text
and Photographs ©Krika.com 2008 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Pawpaw See
Papaya Above
**Peace
Lily See The "S" Page
-- SPATHIPHYLLUM
**Peanuts,
Groundnuts Arachis hypogaea L.
A few years ago I planted some peanuts just to see what happened. As it turned
out peanuts are beautiful plants that produce tiny yellow orchid like flowers;
they would find a welcome place in any tropical flower garden especially used
as a border planting. There are two types of peanuts. The
erect type has upright stems which is what we have grown (remember the seeds
come from the supermarket). Prostrate peanut stems grow on the ground and have
the advantage of a higher yield with all peanuts ripening at the same time. This
is the one to plant if you are commercially minded about your peanut crop.
Benefits and Risks: Peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches were a staple children's food when I was growing
up and I never lost my taste for them. Sadly, it seems something has been done
to commercially grown peanuts in the States because I now have an allergic reaction
to US produced peanut butter. Maybe they've been genetically modified or maybe
it is something else, but it seems fewer and fewer people are able to eat peanut
butter so the health benefits of eating peanuts is meaningless. Thanks Monsanto,
I can no longer eat a food I have loved for 50 years.
From: Peanuts are native to Brazil.
Harvesting: About five months from the
date of planting, the leaves of the peanut plants will begin to
turn yellow -- this is the time to harvest. Dry the plants with
the peanuts still attached to the roots for two to three days before
shelling and eating the fresh peanuts. Ideally you should get about
forty peanuts per plant. We've never done that well, but then we
aren't Jimmy Carter!
Photographed: In
our upper garden at our former home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care:
1. First buy some unroasted organically
grown peanuts. If they are fresh
and taste
good, husk
them removing the papery seed covering. In your garden, plant
each peanut about two to four inches deep and about four to six
inches apart in the row with rows about three feet apart.
2. In a few weeks the plants will be up and you can thin them to about one foot
apart in the row (if you are determined to have lots of garden grown peanuts).
I leave them at four inches and still enjoy pulling up the plants and finding
-- PEANUTS! And, I especially enjoy having a row of such beautiful plants.
3. Peanuts prefer to grow in full sun, but will tolerate a little shade. They
like a fertile sandy or loose soil with a pH of about 6 if they can have it and
regular rainfall or watering. Boron is one of the very necessary components of
good peanut growing soil and we were fortunate in Montserrat to have the
active Soufriere Hills Volcano producing the boron so essential to peanut plants.
4. Your peanut bed should be moved after two years to somewhere new in your garden.
Text
and Photograph ©KO 2008 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Pear See
The "A" Page AVOCADO
Peas Pisum
sativum
This is one vegetable I had no luck growing in the Caribbean and it wasn't
for lack of effort.
Maybe
it
was just too hot. But, if you live in a northern cool climate, don't be dismayed.
In those conditions, I used fresh peas from the garden in salads and in too many
ways cooked that I can't even count. They are wonderful.
Text
©KO 2007 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Pecans
Benefits: Nuts
have over the years faded in and out of popularity among nutritionists, but one
has to admit nuts have been a staple in the human diet for thousands of years
and that can't be an accident. They taste wonderful and they are good for us.
Pecans are especially good for us because they are an excellent source of Vitamin
E.
Text
©KO 2007
**Pentas,
Egyptian Star, Star Cluster Pentas lanceolata
Our lavender pentas arrived in our deck garden on their
own and did well enough with no help that I thought I was dealing
with an attractive weed. As it turns out pentas are tough perennials.
They have long lasting blooming periods with
red, pink, or lavender flowers as you can see below.
Benefits: Pentas flowers attract bees, butterflies
and birds. In traditional medicine pentas roots, leaves,
and flowers have been used to treat fairly serious health
problems.
From: Tropical and southern Africa.
Photographed: In our deck garden at our
former home in Montserrat in the Caribbean and at Hotel San
Buenaventura in Panajachel, Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Pentas are said to prefer
a sunny location, but I have seen lovely ones growing happily
in semi-shade. Watering doesn't seem to be much of an issue
aside from reasonably regular rainfall.
Text
and Photographs ©KO 2010/2018
**Peony Paeonia
officinalis
This is just about my favorite flower in the whole world. Its
scent is heavenly. Be sure when you buy peonies for your garden to
get the old varieties as they are the ones with scent. I found myself
heartbroken when I saw a friend's elaborate garden in New Hampshire
planted with peonies that had no scent at all.
Benefits: It
has been said that the medicinal benefits of the peony have been in
use in Europe for over 2000 years.
From: France, Switzerland and Italy.
Photographed: In the Ortobotanico (Botanical Garden) in Naples,
Italy, in 2013.
Planting and Care: Peonies are shrubby plants that in my experience
reached a height of between 2 and 3 feet with a spread of about the same size.
They have soft leaf-bearing stems which thrive all summer long and more erect
tougher flower stems that begin to appear in May and last maybe a month and
a half. They are perennials that do well in cooler climates planted in full
sun in fertile, rich soil with a relatively neutral pH. Most important for
lots of beautiful flowers is to plant your peony in full sun away from any
competition. I planted mine in the middle of a 4 foot border garden with 2
feet on either side and surrounded them with ever blooming California poppies.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
Peppermint,
Candymint
Mint plants are hearty and once set in and thriving they will
spread underground. They
are
perennial
and
they
can
quickly
take
over
your
garden. This is a wonderful plant, but it might best be grown in a pot.
Benefits: I
have
personally
found
peppermint
tea
to
relieve digestive upsets. I pick several fresh leaves from my plants and
steep them in
boiling
water for 5 minutes or so.
From:
Photographed: In the Winter Garden in Auckland, New Zealand,
in
2013.
Planting and Care:
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013
**Pergrina
-- Please See
the "J" Page -- JATROPHA
Pericón,
Sweet Scented Marigold, Mexican Marigold, Mexican Mint Marigold,
Mexican Tarragon, Spanish Tarragon Tagetes
lucida Cav.
Benefits: Pericón's fresh
or dried leaves are used as a tarragon substitute, a medicinal
tea may be made from
its dried
leaves and flowers, and burning the dried leaves inside your
home will rid it of insects who may have settled in. We
used it routinely in Taxco, Mexico, to rid our home of tiny
spiders that lived in the very high ceilings. It was very effective
and not damaging to our health as would be any commercial chemical
insecticide spray.
From: Mexico and Latin America
Photographed: I thought I had taken a photograph,
but I can't seem to find it.
Planting and Care: This plant is a member of the
marigold family and there are few easier plants to grow. Just make
sure you find it a place that will give it the all day full sun
it requires.
Text ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Periwinkle Catharanthus
roseus
Our periwinkles in Montserrat were lost to the volcanic eruption of July 2003,
but not long after, tiny periwinkle plants began appearing all over our garden.
It is a friendly looking plant, not at all exotic, with small lilac, pink or
white flowers. It fills in all by itself here
and there around the yard.
Benefits: Aside
from being used as a treatment for high blood pressure, its leaves were a Carib
curative for diabetes. This unassuming plant also produces vinblastine, a component
of a drug used in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease and vincristine which has
proven beneficial in
the treatment
of leukemia.
From: Madagascar
Photographed: The two photographs on the left and right were
taken
in
brighter parts of our shady terrace garden at our former home in Montserrat,
in about 2008. We encountered it again on a visit to Viscaya in Miami and you'll
see that plant in a photograph
below.
Planting and Care: Periwinkles will grow just fine in the sun
or in the shade as long as they receive some very occasional rainfall or watering
and a once in a while dose of fertilizer.
Text
and Photographs ©KO 2008/2010 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2014/2018
Photographed: In
the garden at Viscaya in Miami, Florida, in
2014.
Photographed: In
the garden at the Sonesta Hotel in Osorno, Chile,
in 2019.
Purslane See
the "M" Page -- MEXICAN PURSLANE
Peruvian
Apple See the "CACTUS" Page
-- APPLE CACTUS
Peruvian
Lily, Lily of the Incas Alstroemeria
psittacina
These
are very popular brightly and delicately colored long lasting
cut flowers.
Benefits:
From: South America
Photographed: At
the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: These
lovely plants are perennial only in places where there
is not a hard winter. In cooler climates, dig them up in
the fall giving them a good cleaning and store in a dry
mix of soil and peat moss until they can be planted again
when summer approaches. Peruvian
lilies
in your garden should be given a good amount of
space which they will quickly occupy. When mature they
will be about
4 feet
high
and
half as
wide. Plant
your Peruvian lilies in rich well-draining soil in a place
in the garden that receives morning sun and, if you're
in a hot climate, do keep them in a spot where they will
not
have to suffer the hottest afternoon sun. Water
them frequently if it doesn't rain, but take care not to over water.
Text
and Photographs ©KO 2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
SAFE PESTICIDES
FOR ORGANIC GARDENING IN THE TROPICS AND ELSEWHERE
There
are a variety of natural organic pesticides available to gardeners
who do not wish to use more commercial and more dangerous insecticides.
This is not to say that because something is organic that its use
presents no risks. Below are listed a few of the organic materials
I have come across over the years.
Barbasco
Root Lonchocarpus nicou
This is a similar plant based poison to rotenone described below.
It is extracted from the root of the plant and used as a fish poison
by people living in jungle areas in South America. I have no personal
experience with its use.
Neem
Tree Products
The most potent pesticide to be retrieved from the neem tree is
found in its seeds, but these can be very difficult to harvest
on a non-commercial basis. If you have a neem tree in your yard
as we did, I would love to hear your ideas on how to collect the
seeds. That being said, we have had good luck simply soaking lots
of the tree's fresh green leaves in a large bucket of water for
a few days. We strain it and use the liquid in a commercial back
pack sprayer. It
doesn't smell wonderful, but it does work wonderfully.
Pyrethrum
This is a natural insecticide
made from the dried flower heads of Dalmatian Chrysanthemums Chrysanthemum
cinerariifolium and the Painted Daisy Chrysanthemum
coccineum . Be very careful not to confuse the name of this
'natural' insecticide with the highly poisonous commercial products
called pyrethrins .
Rotenone
From memory I regard this as a real helper in my New England gardens.
It was sold as a natural plant material based insecticide
and it
worked wonderfully on aphids and most other average vegetable garden
bugs with a very light application. It did not work on tomato
horn
worms and other such horrific creatures, but it did surely make
gardening a lot more rewarding than it might otherwise have
been.
Rotenone was used originally as a fish poison by people living
in South American jungle regions so it should be kept away
from or not used near running fresh water streams or in areas
where any rainfall will send it quickly into ponds, lakes or
the ocean.
Soap
1. Soap is a wonderful alternative to more dangerous chemicals.
To treat a variety of insects we use a professional insecticide
sprayer,
but ours is filled with soapy water which works just fine. Use
a light mix of a lemon scented powdered clothes detergent
(the simplest
you can find). A light mix might be about 1 teaspoon mixed into
one quart of water. Spray this on in the evening as sometimes
the
bright tropical sun can burn plants with a recent wet soapy residue.
2. Mix
1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid and 1 cup of vegetable oil and
use 1 tablespoon of the mixture in 1 cup of water.
Test one plant first to see if there are any negative effects. Apply as a spray
and check 24 hours later. I haven't used this mix, but if you do let me know
how it works for you please.
Insecticidal Soap:
Mix 5 tablespoons of pure
soap to 1 gallon of water.
Useful in treating aphids.
Pungent Smelling Greens
In my
continual attempts to fool the bugs, caterpillars, wasps and other
nasty critters, I came
across a very basic idea. Many of the nasty creatures find my
beautiful plants by smell so I fool them. I take whatever I have
lots
of that have strong smells (hot peppers, onions, or other traditional
non-attractants) and I mix them in the blender with a bit of water. I strain
the mixture, add more water if I can without diluting the smell too much
and then spray it on my most vulnerable flowering plants whether
ornamental or vegetable.
It works wonders, so who needs the stuff that gives kids cancer?
TREATING
PLANT DISEASES
Powdery
Mildew
This
is that ever enlarging area of white on your normally green
plants. It doesn't look too terrible until everything
is pretty dead, so best to stop its spread as soon as possible.
1. Mix and then shake the following ingredients well and spray
your plants top and bottom in the late afternoon.
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 gallon water
2 drops liquid detergent
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2. Mix
and then shake the following ingredients well and spray your
plants top and bottom in the late afternoon.
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 drops liquid detergent
1 quart water
3. Mix 1 part milk and 9 parts water and spray affected
plants
4.
Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 quart water and spray affected
plants
COMMERCIAL
PESTICIDES TO ESPECIALLY AVOID
Anything
produced by Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta or Dow, but especially
any and all commercial weed killers.
Malathion,
learn why at:
http://www.pesticide.org/get-the-facts/pesticide-factsheets/pesticide-factsheets#malathion
Also See The "L" Page:
LINKS
and REFERENCES FOR TROPICAL GARDENING
Philippine
Jade Vine , Emerald Vine or Turquoise
Jade Vine Strongylodon macrobotrys
If you have room in your garden, this is one of those vines
you just must have
because
it
is
so
extraordinary. You will be doing the world a favor as this plant is endangered
by loss of habitat.
Benefits: It is a stunning vine when in full flower.
From: The Philippines
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: This woody vine is best planted in a humid
environment with moist fertile
soil
in a semi shady area. It is not at all cold tolerant, in fact it doesn't even
like chilly weather, liking temperatures 60° F. and higher. You'll probably
be
happiest
with
your
plant if you can find a way for the pendant flower stalks to show off themselves
as
you
can
see
in
the photographs.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
Philippine
Orchid, Showy Medinilla, Rose Grape, Malaysian Orchid Medinilla
magnifica
I found what I thought to be two separate very appealing plants and only later
learned from a a visitor from Germany that they were one and the
same. Medinilla
magnifica is an epiphyte
most suited to hot humid tropical climates or to a life inside the comfort
of a well heated home in more northerly places. It normally grows in the crooks
of
large
trees
and
can
reach
the
enormous
size
of
nine
to ten feet.
Benefits:
From: The Philippines
Photographed: On the left below in
the Winter Garden in Auckland, New Zealand, 2013. On the
right below in the Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand,
2013.
Planting and Care: This extraordinary plant is an epiphyte
that will grow to be more than 10 feet in height. It is tropical in nature
requiring that sort of climate, though sometimes it is grown as a hot house
plant. It needs lots of moisture in the air and to find itself in a sunny place
that gives it freedom from the very hot afternoon sun. Its soil should be a
type that retains moisture, but does not remain wet.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
This
Flower Mystery was solved by
Ursula G. living in Southern Germany
** Phlox Phlox
paniculata
This is a very old, sweet smelling lovely flowering plant found in absolutely
every one of the best gardens in New England (at least when I was a child).
Benefits: Aside from their delightful appearance in the garden,
phlox
are said to have been used in traditional medicine for a variety of ailments.
From: Cooler climates in America.
Photographed: In the Botanic Garden in Wellington,
New Zealand, at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala and at the Thuya
Garden
on
Mt. Desert
Island in Maine.
Planting and Care: Phlox is a perennial liking sun and a reasonable
amount of rainfall or routine watering. It is best to keep water off the leaves
when
you
can because the downside to this plant is its susceptibility to downy mildew.
It is very winter hardy, but does not require a period of deep cold each year
as do some plants like rhubarb.
Text
and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018
Pigeon
Pea, Dhal, Red Gram Cajanus cajan syn. Cajanus
indicus
Pigeon peas are a hot climate agricultural alternative to
green peas which will not produce food in a hot climate.
Benefits: The mature seeds of the pigeon pea is
an ideal vegan food, supplying high levels of nutrients especially
protein. It will grow in the hot and dry conditions that
are becoming all too common and it seems resistant to many
potential insect predators and plant diseases. As well, many
cultures around the world use parts of these plants in traditional
medicinal curatives.
From: The pigeon pea is known to have been growing in the
Indian sub-continent 3500 years ago.
Photographed: To the left, a young plant
just below our deck garden at our former home in Montserrat.
Below I took a photograph of a mature plant and a detail
of the peas also in Montserrat in our upper terrace garden
Planting and Growth: This perennial plant
is ideally suited to the Caribbean summer environment -- hot
and
dry. It
is very adaptable to soil conditions growing well in acidic
or sweet soils. Plant it in full sun or with a little shade
and it will do just fine producing lots of pigeon pea pods to
keep you busy shucking peas while chatting with friends in the
evening. We spent many an evening this way with friends in Tobago
and with not a few rum and cokes.
Text
and Photographs ©krika.com 2009 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018.
Pigsqueak Bergenia
cordifolia
This is a lovely foliage plant especially since it will thrive in shady conditions.
Best of all it has very sweet blossoms in the spring. It will grow to be about
12 inches high and equally as wide.
Benefits: The Bergenia family of plants have several traditional
health
benefits.
From: Russia
Photographed: Below on the left at the Sonesta
Hotel in Osorno, Chile in 2019 and at
the
Hotel
Atitlan
on
Lake
Atitlan
in Guatemala in 2010.
Planting and Care: This plant prefers a semi shady or shady
place in the garden in an area that is usually moist and has woodsy soil. It
is easy to care for and once settled in, it is tolerant of some mistreatment
by nature or even by us.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Pineapple Ananas
comosus (L.)
We planted our first pineapple at our home in Taxco, Mexico. I cut off the leafy top
of a pineapple, let it dry in the sun for a few days and then planted it. It
made a great potted patio plant, immune to all of Taxco’s bugs. After
a couple of years, it bloomed and then came a tiny pineapple. It grew and finally
ripened and we had our own fresh pineapple juice with a touch of rum to celebrate.
It was the most delicious pineapple we’ve ever eaten. We also grew a few
the same way in Montserrat, but sold our home there before the harvest. You might
also benefit from knowing that the Hawaiian and Mexican varieties are relatively
friendly plants. The Caribbean variety we had on Montserrat will shred your
skin in a heartbeat.
Benefits:
Pineapples
are good sources of vitamins C, B1 and B2, and minerals
phosphorous, calcium and iron. Bromelain, its wonder ingredient
is an enzyme powerful in reducing the inflammation in arthritis
and even in inflamed gums. Apparently,
the core of pineapples which is routinely tossed is the area of
the fruit where you find
a high concentration of bromelain, so eat up. The fruit may also
have a beneficial effect on blood pressure. Raw
pineapple slices can be used to reduce the effects of insect stings
and sea urchin wounds.
From: Tropical
Central America and the West Indies
Photographed: In
the terrace garden of our apartment in Taxco, Mexico.
Planting and Care: Normally pineapples are planted using the sliced
off leafy tops of the pineapple fruit. Set the tops to dry in the sun for
a few days, then remove some of the lower leaves and set the plant in a pot
relative
to the size of the pineapple. Plant it shallowly in enough dirt to hold it
upright and not more. Give it very little water and set it in a bright, but
not sunny
area. Within a few days move it into the sun and give it a little more water
each day, remembering that pineapples are bromeliads and live with very little
moisture -- too much watering and they will rot very quickly. Pineapple plants
love to be in full sun or dappled shade planted in slightly acid soil. The
plants are not small, but will do just fine if living about one and one/half
feet from
each other.
It is also useful to know that using a sucker at the base of the fruit while
it is still growing on the plant will produce a bearing plant in one year, while
using the top leaves like we did will take two years more more to bear. Once
the plant has flowered, you can expect your fruit to be ripe within ten months.
Harvesting: Pineapples are ripe when tapping them
makes a dull sound.
Diseases and Insects: Nematodes and fungus are two
to watch for.
Link: http://www.centralcoastbroms.com/DisplayProduct.asp?ProdId=Bromeliad+pineapple+growing
This link will lead you to a page with excellent photographs for preparing a
pineapple for planting. I couldn't have done it better myself.
http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/growing-pineapples.html
This is another very good site. With these two you should be off and running.
Text & Photograph ©KO
2008 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Pine
Cone Ginger See
the "G" Page GINGERS -- Pine Cone Ginger
**Pink
Cassia Tree, Pink Shower Tree, Yellow Shower Tree Cassia
grandis L. if. or Cassia javanica (pink)
or Cassia fistula (yellow)
The pink cassia tree is beautiful with its lush covering of long lasting luscious
pink flowers.
Benefits: Its attractive long and round very dark brown seed
pods provide a pulp that is said to act as a laxative.
From: It is originally from Java
Photographed: The pink flowers to the right and
left were photographed in our garden at our former home in Montserrat.
The pink flowers and trees below were photographed in Tobago in
2018.
Planting and Care: The cassia usually grows to
about thirty feet tall and normally blooms in Montserrat in May.
Sadly, we had to cut ours down and have it removed because it had
been so ravaged by termites. The tree stump left was only about
a foot high, but branches soon began growing sideways from the
stump. It looked like a very bizarre bush as the branches extended
about ten to twelve feet from the two foot high stump. We had the
space for it and we had the guilt to deal with it so we let it
grow. But, we had planted a Mexican lime tree nearby and as the
Cassia grew it invaded the lime tree's space. Even when I cut branches
from the cassia that were touching the lime tree, within a few
days more cassia branches would be touching the lime tree. They
were definitely not friends. So....the cassia had to go as we were
desperate to have fresh limes on an island once known for it's
lime juice preventing scurvy in the British navy. What was especially
good news is that there was a small volunteer cassia
growing in
our
hedge
garden.
We transplanted it and it is off and running.
Text & Photographs
©KO 2008/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
To See Yellow Cassia Trees Please Click here
Pink
Trumpet Tree, Pink Poui, Pink Tecoma, Rosy Trumpet Tree,
Savannah Oak Tabebuia rosea
This is a tree I had read about when trying to learn
about our yellow poui trees in Montserrat. I never saw
one until we visited Sicily.
Benefits: It is believed
to have significant medicinal benefits for a variety
of illnesses.
From: Mexico to northern countries in South America.
Photographed: At Villa Giulia in Palermo, Sicily, in 2012.
Planting and Care: This is a warm climate tree that prefers
a place in full sun with a medium amount of rainfall or watering. In tropical
places it is often used to line residential streets because of its delightful
blossoms and ease of care. When mature it will reach a height of almost 100
feet with a trunk oftentimes 3 feet in diameter.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2014/2018
To
see the Yellow Poui Trees in our former garden in Montserrat,
please click here They were glorious!
My #4 Tree Mystery was solved by Glenn a visitor to my website who lives in Brisbane, Australia. Many thanks for your help.
**Pink
Powder Puff, Pompon De Marin, Surinam Powderpuff, Surinamese
Stickpea Calliandra
surinamensis
I looked at lots of photographs of this tree and
honestly couldn't tell the difference between it and
a mimosa tree called Albizia julibrissin . I
can see I still have a thing or two to learn about plants.
Years ago I gave up on Peterson's Guide to Birds because
I honestly couldn't tell one from another. Looks like
I may just have to rely on an expert!
Benefits: On my latest search (Fall of 2018)
I didn't find anything.
From: Suriname, in South America
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in
May of 2010.
Planting
and Care: This is a small tropical tree or large shrub which when
mature will reach a height of under 20 feet. It does though have wide reaching
branches
which carry the lovely lightly scented powder puff flowers that you can see
in my photographs. It prefers to live in full sun and it can handle a climate
that gets cool, but not one that has a true winter.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2010/2018
Tree
Mystery solved by Ursula G. living in Southern Germany
and by our friend Inge in Sweet Home, Oregon
Pink
Shower Tree -- See
The Pink Cassia Tree Above
**Pink
Trumpet Vine, Port Saint John's Creeper, Port Saint John's Klimop Podranea ricasoliana
This
is a very hardy vine with delightfully delicate pink flowers
seemingly all the time. It is not the most showy or extravagant
of flowering vines, but it surely has a place in any garden needing
a resilient non-clinging vine. As a vine, its advantage is that
it doesn't have clinging tendrils so it will grow where you put
it and depend on you for where to go from there.
Benefits: I didn't find any references
to its benefits except its appeal as an ornamental.
From: South Africa
Photographed: In our garden in Panajachel at Lake Atitlan
in
Guatemala.
Planting and Care: This is a warm climate plant that will live
in the most southern parts of the US as a perennial in your garden. It can be
planted in containers, but that doesn't seem to be the best home for Podranea
ricasoliana . It prefers to be set in rich soil that has a higher than normal
amount of sand to ensure that it is well aerated. Mine did fine in a mixture
of sharp sand and composted soil mixed about 50/50.
Find a place in your garden with an existing support for the vine that will give
you the most flowers when planted in full sun. It will need routine rainfall
or watering when the top inch or so of soil is dry.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
Pistachios Pistacia vera
The pistachio is one of those dream nuts that in Sicily where they
grow produce the worlds best pistachio ice cream -- my favorite.
There the ice cream is not bright green and tasting of almonds
as we know it in the States. It is a muted green filled with
nuts and a flavor I regularly dream of.
Benefits: Pistachios have now been added to
the green tea, kale bandwagon, and I ask only that you use
your brain and try to
conceive of one plant that is going to appreciably change your
life or health. That being said, my husband daily shucks about a quarter
of a cup for me and calls them "happy nuts."
Take a tour of Sicily where the best pistachio gelato in the world
is made. http://krika.com/STORIES%20ITALY/SSICILY1.html
Pithy
Thai Dragon See
the "H" Page -- HYLOCEREUS UNDATUS
Pitaya See
the "H" Page -- HYLOCEREUS UNDATUS
Plum
Rose See the "R" Page
-- ROSE APPLE
Poison
Arrow Plant, Bushmen's Poison, Dune Poison-Bush Acokanthera
oblongfolia Hochst.
Codd
This is an attractive flowering bush that when I took these photographs
had begun to fade from glory. I couldn't resist including it
here
with
so many
of
my favorites, but I do not recommend planting it.
Benefits: Parts of this plant have been used in traditional
medicine
in the treatment of poisonous snake and spider bites.
From: Africa
Photographed : In the Naples, Italy, Botanical Garden 2012.
Planting and Care: I do not recommend planting this
bush or small tree.
Warning: Acokanthera oblongfolia Hochst. Codd is
a deadly
poisonous plant "which can kill
within minutes when ingested or when sap
enters
into
the blood stream. All parts of this tree are toxic including the fruit, especially
when it is unripe."
Text & Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018
**Pok
Choy Vegetable Brassica
rapa
This is our favorite vegetable for stir fried
Chinese food and it grows wonderfully all over the
Caribbean, even in Montserrat as you can see from the
photographs below. These were young plants
growing in our herb garden as a temporary filler plant,
followed
by yet a few more square feet of basil.
Benefits: Pok Choy is one of the latest foods
to be deemed essential to human life and a cure for everything
that could ail you, especially something to do with your heart.
Pok Choy is loaded with vitamin A and is delicious. Surely it
can't hurt you, but I haven't noticed that it appreciably improved
our physical health.
From: China
Planting and Care: As with
most everything in a tropical setting, it is best to start
your plants in seed trays. When they start to grow, fertilize
them well with something like Miracle Grow, move them toward
a more sunny location everyday and keep them moist. When they
are about three inches high, transplant them to a sunny or semi
shady area of the garden where the soil has been loosened to
a depth of at least six inches. Fertilize them more than you
ever thought would be necessary with good compost if you have
it and give them lots of water. Watch out for hungry caterpillars
coming from white butterflies; we sprayed with soap every other
day or so for a pretty short period of time when we had our home
in Montserrat.
Text
and Photograph ©KO 2008/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2015/2018
Photographed: To
the left in our semi-shady herb garden at our former home in Montserrat.
On the right in our garden at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 2015.
Pokeweed,
'Ushgush ' Phytolacca
americana
This was a wild plant in my childhood, one we enjoyed arming ourselves with for
our hysterically funny child wars. During its ripening fruit season we regularly
arrived home almost unrecognizable with purple clothing and purple skin. It must
have driven our mothers mad, but the memory of this period of childhood remains
one of my fondest.
I have to confess on our recent visit to New England I spotted 'ushgush' one
day and confess it was only my adult 'restraint' that stopped me from starting
an ushgush war with my beloved and equally foolish husband.
Benefits: Children love it! And, Wikipedia
has this to say about it, "...some parts can be used as food, medicine,
or poison if properly prepared."
From: The eastern areas of North America
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden in Naples, Italy, in 2014.
Planting and Care: I wouldn't recommend it if there
are children in your area.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2015/2018
** Polka
Dot Plant, Freckle Face Plant Hypoestes phyllostachya
syn. Hypoestes sanguinolenta
This is a colorful addition to a bright shade garden
and the plants come in pink, white and red spots to suit
all tastes.
Benefits: On
a recent search (10/9/2018) I didn't find anything useful
on Google.
From: Madagascar
Photographed: At
the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 2010.
Planting and Care: These
low growing tropical shade plants are hearty, but do
require moist fertile well-drained composted soil and
humidity in the air to be at their best. Their color
will be enhanced
by
lower
light
which
is an unusual benefit to folks with shady gardens.
Text & Photographs ©KO 2010
and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
**Pomegranate
Tree Punica granatum
The pomegranate is a wonderfully exotic fruit that is
not only beautiful, but tastes good too. I had my first experience
with them when in college in Boston, Massachusetts. Back in those
days there was a fabulous food market just behind Beacon Hill
where you could buy whatever you desired from fruit and vegetables
to meat and fish. At Christmas time it was also a place to get
your tree and garlands of natural greens.
The fruit of the pomegranate tree is split open revealing seeds with a lovely
red crisp jelly like coating. Take a bite, enjoy the coating and spit out the
seeds.
Benefits: The pomegranate is said to improve circulation and to be not
only an especially powerful antioxidant, but a builder of red blood cells
too. Grenadine, at least the real thing, is made from pomegranates and helps
to make a truly
memorable tequila sunrise!
From: Southern Asia
Planting and Growth: Plant your pomegranate tree in
full sun in a warm climate in an area that is naturally a little dry. It is a
lovely tree and apart from giving us its glorious fruits it has very appealing
red flowers.
Text
and Photographs ©Krika.com 2008/2010 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2015/2018
Photographed: On
the left at a neighbor's home in Montserrat. On the right in
the (Ortobotanico ) Botanical Garden in Naples, Italy,
in 2014.
Ponytail
Palm -- See the Palms and Sagos Page
POPPIES
Breadseed
Poppy, Opium Poppy Papaver Somniferum
This beautiful flower seemed to be an escapee or a volunteer in the sunny woodsy
area in the Palermo Botanical Garden (Ortobotanico). Its lavender flowers and
gray green foliage seemed almost too perfect.
Benefits: Poppies of all kinds seem especially delightful
to me, and this one is said to have beneficial health effects in traditional
medicine. It is also an attractant for birds, butterflies and bees so what
could be better? Most importantly these days is the role it plays in the production
of illegal opium and heroin and pharmaceutical opioides.
From: The eastern Mediterranean
Photographed: In the Palermo Botanical Garden in Sicily, Italy.
Planting and Care: Papaver somniferum is an annual, but its
prolific seed production leads it to be considered a perennial. The plant will
grow to be about 2 feet tall with its attractive gray/green foliage and 2 to
4 inch blossoms making it a showpiece in any garden.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018
**California
Poppy, Golden Poppy, Flame Flower, Cup of
Gold Eschscholzia californica
This is one of the smaller continuously blooming poppy varieties and it is one
of my favorites. In Montserrat I tried several times to get it past the young,
just germinated, phase and it never made it. I read that
they
will
grow
in "poor,
but well drained soil" which we had plenty of, but I didn't find it to be
so. I am tried again at our home at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where I
have
also had no luck.
Benefits: California
Poppies are edible and an appealing way to enliven salads or decorate dinners
and
desserts.
From: Mexico and the United States
Photographed: In the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay
Maine,
in 2013.
Planting and Care: Eschscholzia californica is a pretty hardy
perennial plant which I first encountered as a young woman in the garden of my
home
by
the
sea
in southern
New England. It grew in a wide garden bed with mature peony bushes and irises
decorating the whole bed when the larger plants had passed their flowering period.
I loved it then and still do. It has buttercup like flowers on feathery gray/green
foliage and it proved to be very resilient and easy to care for. Sow your seeds
in a garden area with full sun with rich, sandy, well-drained soil. Rainfall
should take care of water requirements, but do water
the
plants when the soil dries out.
Text and photograph ©KO 2008 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018
**Mexican
Poppy, Yellow Thistle, Yellow Poppy, Mexican Thistle, Goatweed Argeemone
mexicana
This plant
was a gift of the winds as it simply appeared one day in our deck garden. I left
it to grow as I always do with anything I don't know and was very happy when
it matured. It is said to be an annual that will
flower in the spring and summer and that seemed accurate.
Benefits: As with many traditional herbal remedies,
this plant has both healing and toxifying qualities. It was used
extensively
by the Sonoran Indians of Mexico.
From: Mexico and the Caribbean
Photographed: In our deck garden at our former home
in Montserrat.
Planting and growth: I'd have to say
this is one of those survivor plants that are lovely to have
in any large garden or for those who do not have a green thumb. It
is tolerant of a wide range of soil types and levels of moisture,
but it does seem to prefer a sunny spot in the garden.
Warning: This plant may be considered toxic.
Text and Photograph ©Krika.com
2009/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Mexican
Tulip Poppy 'Sunlight', Mexican Sun Poppy, Mexican Prickly Poppy Hunnemannia
fumariifolia
This is a perennial poppy which adjusts well to rocky relatively inhospitable
places. Its flowers are bountiful and very appealing with foliage closely resembling
that of the California poppy.
Benefits: Nothing I found mentioned benefits aside from just
how lovely
it is.
From: The Mexican highlands at about a mile high in the Chihuahuan
Desert from northern Mexico into southern Arizona
and
Texas.
Photographed: In the Thuya Garden, Mt. Desert Island, Maine,
2013.
Planting and Care: Plant this little beauty in full sun in one
of the drier areas of your garden. It is used to living in difficult circumstances
and will happily do so once it is established. With little or no care it will
reach
a
mature height
of about 2 feet.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**Yellow
Poppy -- See above "Mexican Poppy"
Yellow
Horn Poppy, Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea-Poppy, Horned-Poppy, Rhodes
Poppy Glaucium
flavum
This is a seaside plant pretty much exclusively living
by the water.
Benefits: As with other
poppies this has been used extensively in traditional medicine
even
though it is very toxic.
From: Just about everywhere from
Europe and North Africa all the way to western Asia in temperate
climate seaside environments.
Photographed: In the Ortobotanico in Naples,
Italy, 2012
Planting and Care: This poppy has gray/green
leaves that are relatively thick and almost leathery. When mature
it will reach a height of about 3 feet with flowers that are
about 3 inches in diameter so it is one of the showier poppies.
Glaucium flavum, once established, grows with little or nothing
but a
view of the sea. Just about everywhere I looked I found references
to what requirements these plants have, but nothing on getting
them started as seeds. Apparently it will grow in almost any
soil, with any pH, as long as it is in full sun and is never
over watered as its view of the sea seems to be enough sustenance.
Warning: All parts of this plant are considered
poisonous.
Photograph and
Text ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2012/2018
**Portia
Tree, Indian Tulip Tree, Pacific Rosewood, Seaside Mahoe Thespesia
papulnea
This is a relatively small tree with deep green heart
shaped leaves, interesting yellow flowers and visually appealing
fruits, although I can't imagine making a pie with them.
Growing only to about forty feet, it won its place
in our Montserrat garden. When we bought our property this
tree had been butchered with a machete or what is known in
the
Caribbean
as a cutlass. Its main stem had been cut and its side shoots
had become solid four inch thick upward reaching stems. In
truth, the first time I saw the tree it looked like a very
tall bush. I had committed to leaving in place anything that
I couldn't identify until I learned more and this tree was
one of the garden's survivors.
Benefits: If you were to get very hungry,
its new leaves, flowers and golf ball sized bright green
fruits are all edible. Probably more appealingly, it
is prized for the lovely colors of its wood. And, if that
is not enough, portia's bark, fruit and
roots are all said to have medicinal benefits.
From: Tropical coastal places around the
world.
Photographed: On the side end of our
property in Montserrat and in the Botanical Garden at the Hotel
Atitlan
on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting
and Care: Although the portia is said to be
native to mangrove swamps and should require lots of water, in
Montserrat
ours lived just fine on the dry end of our garden in full
sun.
It
prefers
a pH of from 5.5 to 6.5. One peculiar feature it has is that
it attracts a relative of the cotton stainer bugs that feed on
a similar type of tree, the sea hibiscus. The portia's bugs are
red and black and seem always to be mating, reminding us of the
'love bugs' in the New Orleans area woods where we camped for
a week or two.
Links: http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/portia.htm
Text
and Photographs ©Krika 2008/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
PORTULACA
Portulaca,
Moss Rose Purslane, Ten O'Clock, Mexican Rose, Vietnam Rose,
Sun Rose, Rock Rose Portulaca
grandiflora
This is a delightful, tough, ground-hugging flowering
plant with pine needle like leaves. It can handle full sun
and comes
with flowers in a range of bright Mexican colors.
Benefits: Portulaca grandiflora is a plant with a
multitude of medicinal applications when taken both internally and externally.
Unlike many other medicinal plants it is considered edible -- leaves,
roots and seeds.
From: Southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern
Argentina
Photographed: Below on
the left by the roadside on Mt. Desert Island in Maine in 2013
and on the right by the shore of Lake Atitlan
in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Planted in poor soil in bright
sun, with regular ground level watering these annual plants will
be looking good and in full flower. They are also drought tolerant
which is a real plus.
Text and Photographs ©KO 2010
and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
Portulaca,
Common Purslane, Verdolaga, Red Root, Pursley Portulaca
oleracea
This is another delightful, tough, ground-hugging, fleshy,
round-leaved, flowering, succulent ground cover. It can handle
full sun and comes with flowers in a range of bright Mexican
colors.
Benefits: All parts of the above ground
plant are edible raw in salads or cooked. For
other plants Portulaca oleracea is a dream companion as it
is able
to send its roots deep into hard soils that other plants
would forsake. For your health, this is a dream plant for
everyone except those with kidney disease.
From : This is a plant that almost defies the definition
of being 'native to.' It has been recorded in history predating
Christianity by 1000's of years.
Photographed: On the shore of
Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Planted in poor soil
in bright sun, with regular ground level watering these plants
will be looking good and in full flower. They are also drought
tolerant which is a real plus.
Text and Photographs ©KO
2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
Potassium
This is one of those absolutely necessary components in your food
and gratefully it's plentiful in fresh foods. It is not something
to worry about unless you dine frequently at fast food restaurants.
If you do,
I wish
you
well because you have a lot of serious issues.
** Potato Solanum
tuberosum
Ahhh....the potato, food of the Gods. Given to the
world by the Incan Indians of Peru, the Catholic Irish survived on
them until the 19th century potato famine when thousands starved to
death
while
the British exported food from Ireland. I tried growing chunks of
a sprouting potato when living on the Caribbean island
of
Montserrat
and had
great luck with the plants coming up. However, they didn't last
long
as something
killed
them;
I know not what. I tried again as I have had good luck even
growing the
plants in large buckets on our terrace in Taxco, Mexico, but I had
no luck once again. I found out later that the Montserrat Department
of Agriculture had
permitted
diseased seed potatoes to enter the country. Within a short period
of time, this precluded growing potatoes on the island.
Benefits: Potatoes
are loaded with potassium and for some people a potato makes
a good muscle cramping cure. For me, they work in an opposite
way. If I eat a lot of potatoes, which I'm inclined to do, I wake
in the night with cramping legs. Always
avoid potatoes which have ben exposed to sunlight or other strong
light. They turn green and consuming them is not healthy.
From: Peru
Photographed: I don't yet have one, but they
are pretty plants.
Planting and Care: Find a type of potato that
you like and keep it in a dark, dry, cool place until it begins
to sprout.
Once it has sprouted, cut the potato in pieces that each have a
green sprout. Let them air dry in a cool place for a few days then
head out to the garden. Plant your sprouting potato pieces an inch
or two deep in rich well-draining organic soil separating them
by about 15 inches in a wide raised garden row. Water them lightly
if the soil dries out and wait. Deep green leaves will appear and
grow into a a plant about a foot and a half tall. Once it has flowered,
dig carefully at the outer edges of each plant to find the potatoes
you'll want to eat that day. At the end of your growing season
carefully dig deeply around each plant to collect your potatoes
both large and small. Leave them to dry on top of the soil for
a day then gather them up for your cool, dark and dry root cellar.
WARNING: Potatoes
in Mexico, the US and now some varieties in the EU are GMO tainted.
I don't recommend eating them. Please, for your good
health, buy only organic potatoes.
Text ©KO 2007 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
** Pothos,
Devil's Ivy, Silver Vine, Golden Pothos, Ceylon Creeper,
Money Plant, Solomon Islands Ivy, Taro Vine Epipremnum
aureum
This is the popular hanging plant with green and white leaves that so many of
us have had in our shady windows up north. It is similar to a philodendron, but
more
attractive and just as easy to care for. In Montserrat pothos appears just
as it does in New England until it finds something to grow on. Then it becomes
an entirely different animal. The leaves grow to more than 12 inches wide and
the
vine
that supports the leaves will be an inch or more thick.
Benefits: This is plant that will help to clean your indoor
environment
of
of chemicals such as formaldehyde, trichloroethene, toluene, xylene, and
benzene.
From: S.E. Asia and Moorea
Photographed: At the back our our property in Montserrat.
Planting and
Care: Epipremnum aureum is extremely hardy and, though it prefers
morning sun, it will
grow in low light as well. When mature in a tropical setting it will reach a
length of 1300 feet. In your home it will thrive with little or no care if planted
in a good quality potting soil, watered when dry and hung in a pot in a bright
light window.
Warning: Despite its benefits in cleaning your indoor environment of toxic chemicals,
pothos itself is considered toxic to both animals and humans.
Text and Photographs ©Krika.com 2008/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
**Poui
Tree See The "Y" Page
-- YELLOW POUI TREE
**Prayer
Plant Maranta
This is a very common easy to care for cold climate
indoor plant. In warm climates it is a wonderful, easy
to grow, shady garden, ground cover.
Benefits:
From: Tropical
areas of Central and South America and the West Indies
Photographed: To the left at the Winter Garden in Auckland,
New Zealand, in 2013 and below at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia,
in 2013.
Planting and Care: Prayer plants prefer
to have just a little of everything -- decent soil, some bright
light
and
a
bit of water. It does also prefer a humid environment.
Text
and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2014/2018
**Pride
of Barbados, Barbados Flower Fence, Dwarf
Poinciana, Peacock Flower Caesalpinia
pulcherrima
This spiny, bush-like tree flowers almost the year round with bright yellow or
combinations of pink and white or red and yellow petals. The stems have very
sharp spines.
Benefits: The leaves and flowers of Caesalpinia
pulcherrima have long been used in traditional medicines.
From: The West Indies or Central America
Photographed: In our garden at our former home
in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Our property received a fair
share of rain for a place in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the
average tropical soil does not absorb or hold moisture well so
I'd have to give a round of applause to this plant that will even
grow in Barbados, an island much to our south and very dry in comparison
to ours. My advice is to plant them anywhere there is full sun
to semi shade and then sit back and enjoy. Pruning is a good idea
and the plants do seem to do especially well when it is done.
Warning: Mature seeds of this plant are poisonous.
Text & Photographs ©KO
2004/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Pride
of India Please
See the "Q" Page -- QUEENS
FLOWER TREE
Pride
of Madiera Echium fastuosum syn. Echium candicans
Benefits: Aside from being a stunning flowering plant, it
attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.
From: The Portuguese island of Madeira.
Photographed: In the Ortobotanico (Botanical Garden)
in Naples,
Italy, in 2014.
Planting and Care: This plant is not tropical, but will need
protection if winters in your garden area will be below 40° for an extended
period of time. Once settled in, Echium fastuosum is resistant to drought
and will live happily in a coastal area. When mature it will be about 5 feet
in height and will reach about 6 feet in width. It will bloom for an extended
period from May through August making it almost ideal in any garden. Plant it
in full sun and keep it on the dry side. This is a biennial plant that is tolerant
of most soil types. In its first year it will produce foliage and in the second
foliage with spikes of beautiful flowers. In most places it will self seed.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2014/2018
PRIMROSE
Big
Fruit Evening Primrose Oenothera macrocarpa
I found the poppy like quality of this flower especially appealing. It is low
growing and seems almost a wildflower.
Benefits:
From: Central through to southeast USA
Photographed: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Maine,
2013.
Planting and Care:
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013
Primrose Primula
vulgaris
Primroses are low growing springtime blooming wildflowers that
come in colors to please everyone.
Benefits:
From: England
Photographed: In the Sonesta Hotel garden in Osorno, Chile,
in
2019.
Planting and Care: Since they grow wild in humus-rich woodland
sites, primulas will do well in bright shade with a good composted moist soil.
Some
of the members of this large family of plants prefer drier soils and some even
bloom in the fall. Being wild in nature, they are relatively easy to care for
and reward you with lovely blossoms.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2019
**Pumpkin Cucurbita
maxima
Pumpkin in the Caribbean is eaten as what we in New England call winter squash.
It is a vine like squash plant, but it is virulent and tough. Instead of the
gardener having to pile up dirt around a growth point, this plant will send down
roots of its own along its growth path. It will grow in every direction and here
and there it will grow a pumpkin which will become at least 20" in length
and probably more in girth.
Benefits:
Eaten in their natural state, pumpkin seeds are said to rid your intestines
of parasites. The seeds are also great sources of zinc, vitamin E and sulfur.
The high levels of zinc in pumpkin
seeds may help in slowing hair loss.
From: South America
Photographed: In our banana
garden at our former home in Montserrat.
Planting
and Care: Start plants in small containers and then
set out in the garden spacing them about one yard apart. Work
over
the soil well adding lots of composted manure. When the flowers
begin to bloom, take a look to see which are male and which
are female. The latter have a tiny fruit just below the bloom.
Take
one of the male flowers and pollinate the female by doing what
seems natural. This will greatly increase your yield if you
have the same problem we had on Montserrat -- no pollinators.
Our plants grew beautifully each producing huge pumpkins, which
were then spotted by the wild agoutis which you can see on
the "W" Page. They are charming little fellows that are easy
to fool. As our pumpkins were maturing we piled leaves on top
hiding them from the agoutis and it worked perfectly.
Recipe:
Carefully wash the exterior of the squash. Cut it
in half and clean out the seeds and membranes. Put the halves
cut
side up in a large baking pan in the oven at 350° F. When
you can stick a fork in any part of the halves, they're done.
Remove
them from the oven and scoop the squash out of the skins with
a good strong spoon. Mash the squash and cook it with lots
of butter
and brown sugar for a great treat.
Text & Photographs ©KO
2008/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
Purple
Angelica, Korean Angelica, Giant Angelica, Purple Parsnip Angelica
gigas
This perennial plant growing up to six feet in height could easily serve as a
focal point in a garden bed. I found it striking and you may too. It blooms in
the latter part of summer.
Benefits:
This
plant
is
known
to
have
been
used
in
traditional
Chinese medicine.
From: Korea, China and Japan
Photographed: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Maine,
2013.
Planting and Care: This plant will do well in full sun or semi
shade as long as it has moist soil.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
**
Purple False Eranthemum Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum
This is an unremarkable small bush with mottled grayish
green and subdued purple leaves. We had it growing in the
shade
in what we call one of our plant parking lots, a shady place
to put plants that we aren't yet ready to plant permanently
elsewhere in the garden. This plant was proudly given to
us by a garden assistant a few years ago and might have earned
a better place had I known that the bush flowers, though
it did not do so in the shade.
Benefits: This is a butterfly attractant.
From: The
Pacific Islands
Photographed: In our shady terrace garden at our
former home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Said to grow well in full sun
to semi shade, I would have to say full sun did not seem a happy
placement for this plant even after it had time to adjust to its
move from a shady place. I think perhaps bright light would be
best. It is happy with just a moderate amount of water and has
in fact survived droughts when we were away for months at a time.
Text
and Photograph ©Krika.com 2009/2010 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2018
**Purple
Horn of Plenty See
the "Devil's Trumpets" Page -- DEVILS TRUMPET TREE
**Purple
Passion Plant, Velvet Plant, Purple Velvet
Vine Gynura aurantiaca
I found this furry purple plant in Panajachel growing
outside and recalled having one as a houseplant when I
was in college in Boston. I loved it then and still do.
Benefits: I haven't found any
medicinal benefits as of now.
From: Southeast Asia and Java
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on
Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: As a houseplant in New England Gynura
aurantiaca does
very
well
hung in a sunny window and watered when dry. It is not at all fussy. Outside
in a
warm climate, I would plant it in a morning sun spot in the garden and make sure
that it receives
rainfall or watering on a regular basis. Try to be careful about getting
the leaves wet when watering as they can become unattractively spotted.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com
2013/2018
Purple
Sky Flower, Golden Dew Drop, Pigeon Berry, Skyflower Duranta
erecta 'Purple'
Duranta erecta is a tall and wide growing somewhat undisciplined shrub that may
reach a height of 20 feet with a spread also of about that size. Mature plants
develop thorns that are absent on younger plants.
Benefits: Butterflies
and hummingbirds like these somewhat scruffy shrubs as much as we do.
From: Mexico, South America and the Caribbean
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the
Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: This is one of those flexible
plants able to live well in full sun or partial shade and equally
able to put its roots into sweet, acidic or neutral soils. Do remember
that it is tropical in origin so it will not survive a freezing
winter. Nor will I for that matter.
Text & Photographs ©KO 2010
and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018
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