Florida's Arbor Day

Hard-working native trees are also beautiful
and add value to your property.

While most of the country celebrates Arbor Day in April, both Florida and Louisiana celebrate on the third Friday in January. It’s a much better time to plant a tree because deciduous trees are dormant and others are less active, so they can withstand the shock of transplanting better. One thing to keep in mind is that January is right in the middle of Florida's 7-month dry season and extra irrigation will be needed at least until the wet season starts in June, and if the tree is large, it will require extra attention for even longer. I've covered the details of planting trees in my article Trees & Shrubs: the Bones of your Landscape.

Marjorie Shropshire drawing to illustrate transpiration for
an article I wrote in Palmetto.

A day with an artist

I spent Arbor Day Friday on the road and then talking to Marjorie Shropshire, illustrator for Organic Methods for Vegetable Gardening in Florida, about the drawings for my third book "The Art of Maintaining a Native Landscape." I'm quite excited about this project because I think it will help to manage people's expectations when they convert their landscapes to include more natives. Marjorie's drawings will help illustrate the topics I cover. Not only is Marjorie an excellent artist, but she also has an innate understanding of plants and animals. It was a fun and productive meeting.

Lake Worth's Festival of Trees

Lake Worth's Festival of Trees!

On Saturday, I went to the Festival of Trees in Lake Worth Florida. The town had organized a great celebration with educational booths, speakers, native trees to purchase, a kids activity table, and music. Wouldn't it be great if more communities were like Lake Worth, which took the initiative to increase its tree canopy with indigenous trees.

As I explained in my Arbor Day post over on the Florida Native Plant Society blog, trees provide services to communities that translate to actual dollars saved. They purify the air, they soak up water,and the cool the environment. 

"In 1991, Chicago's 51 million trees “removed an estimated 17 tons of carbon monoxide, 93 tons of sulfur dioxide, 98 tons of nitrogen dioxide, 210 tons of ozone, and 234 tons of particulate matter. They [also] sequestered about 155,000 tons of carbon.

"New York City's 592,000 street trees reduced stormwater runoff by nearly 900 million gallons each year, saving the city $35.6 million it would have had to spend to improve its stormwater systems. The average street tree intercepted 1,432 gallons, a service worth $61.

"In Sacramento, California a tree planted to the west of a house saved about three times more energy ($120 versus $39) in a year than the same kind of tree planted to the south.

Ideally, developers should leave a chunk of forest on every
lot, but if it's too late for that, as landscapers, we can begin to
recreate groves of native trees to help the birds & butterflies.

Read the details and see the resources in my post, Plant a Native Tree to Celebrate Florida's Arbor Day.

Celebrate with Trees!

It's not too late to plant a few hard-working native trees in your landscape to celebrate our Arbor Day.  In addtion to all the ecosystem services, mature trees will also increase the value of your home. So what are you waiting for?


Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt

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Cartagena market

Cartagena market scene

The produce/meat/fish market in Cartagena was far from the "old town."  It was a chaotic place (and definitely NOT on the normal tourist map either).

But, we're always interested in visiting traditional market places so we headed there in an ancient taxi, and were dropped off next to a garbage-strewn, but pelican-rich salt marsh across from the market.

An unusual Carribean mix of vegetables at a small vendor

Another unusual mix --peppers, yard-long beans, and winter squash - NOT the usual in Colombia

Fresh fish for breakfast was offered up by vendors - my gardening companion loved his.  I didn't want to risk it (being WAY too cautious).

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The amazing power of colonizing plants

 

 

Plants colonizing a tile roof in La Candelaria, Bogotá, Colombia

 It was remarkable to see plants colonizing a couple of (very old) tile roofs in the old colonial district of La Candelaria in Columbia's capital city. 

It meant that 1) enough organic matter had accumulated that seed germination and establishment had occurred, and 2) there was enough for these plants to actually flower (and probably fruit), too.

Amazing!

A closer look

Remarkable, actually

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Fun hiking... in the Valle de Cocora

Valle de Cocora hiking (Los Montanas)

We had a great day hiking over the "Los Montanas" pass and down, in the Cocora Valley -- a great place to hike.

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Yard-long beans in Cartagena

Colombia was not a trip for admiring vegetable gardens.  I didn't actually see anything resembling a vegetable garden (outside of a "modern" demonstration edible garden at the botanical garden in Bogota).

So not surprisingly, there aren't many vegetables to be seen in markets, either, aside from the "usual" corn, squash, onions, and tomatoes.

So I was glad to see these yard-long beans, offered up by a street vendor in Cartagena, a UNESCO-designated seaport (a centuries-old city founded in 1533).

Yard-long beans, eggplants, tomatoes, and shell beans (street vendor in Cartagena)

Yard-long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) have a long history.

Related to cowpeas, they've traveled the globe from their initial origin in Africa, moving to Asia, India, and South America, tweeked along the way in seed and pod color.

In Cartagena, they probably came along with enslaved Africans, and would have thrived in the humid and hot coastal climate.

Similarly, a vegetable vendor of Carribean extraction offered up some unusual (for Colombia) vegetables, too, in the large and sprawling Cartagena market.  She had okra, callalo, and hot peppers in addition to the usual mix.

Both were small-scale growers, I thought, just selling extra from what they grew for themselves.

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Views from Salento

Salento view down the main street

We totally enjoyed Salento, a "tourist" town locked in a time warp;  the colonial buildings are filled with shops, but still evoke the feeling of a Zona Cafeterra town from years ago. 

Salento fruit stand

 It may have been an accidental time to visit -- on the cusp of explosive development - but there are apparently some historical standards that have preserved the amazing look and feel of the town. 

We loved Salento -- and especially the views surrounding the town.

Sunset was magical.

We were amazed that there weren't droves of folks at our "regular" sunset spot at the head of the main street (simply labelled Restaurante). Hmm, there's no way I can post on TripAdvisor if you don't advertise a name!  We loved the spot.

It's just before the path steepens significantly, before the steps up to the mirador.

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Valle de Cocora

LW and decorated "Willy" jeep (a traditional form of tourist transport)

A primary "tourist" destination for Columbians and foreigners alike was the historic town of Salento and the nearby Valle de Cocora.

It made for some great hiking.

View from Los Montanas pass

Valley view

Looking down the valley

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