By Victoria Torley 

You know what it’s like. Your plan is to go out to the garden and see how the tomatoes are doing. That’s all. Just check the tomatoes. The plants are young so you aren’t going to harvest any, just see how they’re doing. Right?

Wow, they are doing really well. So well, in fact, that they need to be staked. Hmm, where did you put those bamboo stakes you cut?

Trudge back to the storage shed and rummage around for the stakes and some twine; don’t forget the scissors, you need to cut that twine. Back to the garden with the stakes, et al. and get to work. Good thing you prepped the soil well or it would take a hammer to get the stakes in the ground to a proper depth.

Thirty minutes later, you are satisfied; there are no more floppy tomatoes. Then you look around at the other veggies. Hmm. That cucumber is sprawling erratically all over the place. Time to move it – very gently – to that nice trellis you made for it. Silly cuke was supposed to find the fencing on its own but took off in the wrong direction. No worries, just lift it gently and tie it to the fencing. Out of ties! Used them all on the tomatoes! Back to the garden shed for more ties and a hoe. A hoe would be useful. You noticed some things that need to be weeded out or chopped up.

Back to the garden and tie the cuke onto the trellis then use the hoe on some of the larger weeds thinking, “How did I let them get so huge?” How? You forgot, for a day or so, that this is Costa Rica where a tiny weed, a weed too small to grab and pull out, can be six inches tall almost overnight. Right. Start pulling weeds.

Hmm. Soil seems a bit dry and so are you – thirsty that is. Over to the faucet, turn on the water and drink from the hose. Drink from the hose? Of course, none of that sissy nonsense for you, just let it run for a minute and slurp away. After all, you’ve been drinking from a hose since you were four! The perfect outdoor fountain. Ahh, refreshing. Good thing you keep the hose in the shade or the water would come out on the boil.

So, refreshed, you give the plants a good watering, check on the size of the zucchini, turn off the water and step back. Your 10 or 15 minutes of gardening has now taken over two hours. Sweaty, muddy, and completely satisfied, you head back to the house.

It’s been a good morning.

Plant for the week. This is the powder puff or pompóm, Calliandra haematocephala. It is a fast-growing shrub that can grow tall but also spreads wide. A large shrub or small tree can grow to five meters, about 16 feet. This specimen bloomed when the plant was under two feet tall, so it doesn’t tease, it produces. Red, of course, attracts hummingbirds and they can often be found around the powder puff. This large shrub can be grown indoors if trimmed and grown in a pot but it will be best if you can grow it outside in a warm climate. Plant in full sun and fertilize occasionally and don’t forget to share the seeds with your neighbors.

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For more information on this article or about gardening, Ms. Victoria Torley, a gardener columnist, can be reached at victoriatorley1@gmail.com