Mexican Flowers and Plants

Its spring back in Washington and more and more of my friends are posting pictures of flowers on their Facebook pages. It has been a particularly long, cold, wet winter so they are especially happy to see the cheer-y faces of the Daffodils and Crocus telling them that warmer weather is on the way.

Back in the “olden days”, when I had a cute little house in Washington, I was as anxious as anyone to see the flowers making their first tentative appearance in March or April. First on the scene was always the Crocus, followed closely by Daffodils, Tulips and Hyacinths (with their amazing ability to fill an entire house with sweet smell from just one flower). Of course, seeing the bulb flowers appear was the signal that soon to follow would be the weeks of weeding, mulching, pruning, planting, etc. to clear out all the winter mess and prepare the garden for summer blooms. It is really necessary to do the lion’s share of gardening in the spring because summer in the NW is all about mowing, mowing and mowing.

Sometimes I really miss the flowers of the Northwest but Mexico has been exceptionally generous with her beauty and provides a stunning array of blooming plants all winter long.

Everywhere we go the Bougainvillea is in bloom…all the time. I tried, unsuccessfully, to grow this when I lived in San Diego but here it is really more like a weed. It grows wild in vacant fields and is not only cultivated as a climber that decorates entire building walls but is often pruned into large trees and shrubs. The colors are spectacular. Brilliant reds and yellows, intense purples and subtle oranges and pinks.

The Mexican people must love flowering plants as everywhere you go, even in the most poverty stricken neighborhood; you will see houses surrounded by flowers. Grass is a bit trickier to cultivate but Bird of Paradise, Honeysuckle, Hibiscus (many, many colors and varieties) and all sorts of flowers I have yet to identify are everywhere. Based on the gorgeous landscaping present everywhere it is no surprise how popular the Mexican gardeners are in the U.S.

The Mexican Riviera (from Mazatlan south as far as Acapulco) is mostly a tropical climate which means the winters are like summer in the Northwest. The daytime temperatures tend to run between 80 and 90 degrees and the nights cool down to 60’s or 70’s. Summertime brings heat, humidity and rain, rain, rain. That means the plants that grow along this stretch are of the type you see in rain forests…and as houseplants back home. Those Philodendron and Spider plants you have in pots in your home or office are outdoor plants here and 100 times the size. It is not uncommon to see a Philodendron with leaves the size of an elephant’s ear that has climbed all the way to the top of a Coconut Palm. And speaking of Palm trees…what would a tropical paradise be without them? Before I came to Mexico I had no idea that there are over 2,000 different species of Palms and they come in all shapes and sizes. The ultra-tall Coconut Palm on a white sand beach represents my image of what Paradise is but I love Palm trees in general. One Palm that I have fallen totally in love with is the Sago Palm This is actually a low growing shrub with beautiful dark green foliage and it is a beautiful plant.

This year we discovered a tree we hadn’t seen before. In the early spring (March) the area around Banderas Bay (La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta, etc) was filled with trees covered in yellow or pink flowers. There were so many of the yellow trees in La Cruz the hillside literally glowed. Finally, one day on a taxi ride home from the grocery store, we asked the driver what they were and he said they are Primavera. He said there are too many of them but I disagree. Anything that beautiful can’t be overdone.

And at Christmas, some very special and unusual trees make their appearance: The well known Coca-Cola tree and the somewhat less frequently seen wine bottle tree. :-)