The Importance of Knowing the Origins of Your Plants
by Donna Porter
Knowing the origins of a plant is not only fascinating information to obtain, but it also very helpful and useful in understanding how to cultivate it. Plants are truly amazing. They have managed to traverse the globe without the use of any movable appendages or abilities to navigate machinery (at least not that I am aware of). They also have managed to be discovered, uplifted and then transported, as far as half-way around the world by plant explorers of past and present centuries.
I am continuously amused at how many people think that the plants found in our local landscapes are “native” to Costa Rica. Their mouths drop open in awe when I tell them that at least 75% (a conservative estimate) of the plants that you see in the gardens and landscapes are “exotics”, meaning that they have originated in other parts of the tropical world and have, one way or another, found their way here to Costa Rica. Some of the exotics that were introduced during times of new world explorations have “naturalized” in the forests and along roadsides, but are not, technically, considered native/indigenous species. (more…)
Pruning a plant has been defined as a cross between an art and a science. Understanding the physiological aspects of the plant makes it the science while having an eye for balance and a sense of design and beauty makes it the art.
