While the house is occupying most of our time and headspace at the moment, there is also the matter of the plants. At current there are somewhere upwards of 300 fruit trees/shrubs/vines in our backyard here, waiting to be transported to the new property and planted out. Unfortunately the planting out will mainly have to wait until we have moved in, so that watering can be kept up while they establish in situ (summer will be far too dry to leave them there on their own). For now we're taking a car or truckload down each weekend when we visit the house sit, and storing them in an area rigged up with shadecloth and timed irrigation.
Under the balcony we keep a number of more shade tolerant plants. Pictured are Schefflera, Nepenthes, Day lilies, Nasturtium, Kava, Canna lilies, Naranjilla, four species of palm, and several zygocacti.
Past the balcony is the small walk-in plastichouse used mainly for propagation and overwintering tropical Papaya, Vanilla orchid, and other frost tender fruits. Past that the concrete is mostly filled with plants, with just a path leading to the backyard.
Pictured above are Jiaogulan ("Immortality herb"), Loquat, Kiwiberries, Maqui berry, Soapnut, Jakfruit, Orangeberry, Davidson Plum, Kaffir Plum, Japanese Wineberry, Black raspberry, White Raspberry, Feijoa, Redcurrant, three tropical Guava varieties, Mandarin, Stauntonia, Banana, Mountain Pawpaw, several
Vasconcella hybrids, Fig, Casimiroa, Cherry, Black Sapote,
Rollinia deliciosa, and lots more I can't make out in the photo or recall off the top of my head.
Another view of the 'jungle path'.
Looking back towards the jungle path from the backyard. To the right are the blueberries in a barrel. Against the north face of the glasshouse are an espaliered pear, a dwarf pear, and a chinese quince, among other things.
To the right of the blueberries are the dwarf peach and nectarine, dragonfruit, garlic/shallots/and elephant garlic, bulb pots, succulents and cacti, and feijoa.
In the polycarbonate house out in the back yard are numerous seedlings. Two pineapple varieties in the back corners, lychee, Rose apple, curry leaf, Brasilian cherry, Jaboticaba, Oak-leaved Papaya, Cherimoya, Guavas, Rocoto peppers, Gloriosa lillies, Mayhaw, Muscadines, Gamboge, White Malay Apple, Lemonade Berry, Ice Cream Bean, Guajilote, Otaheite gooseberry, etc.
In the back yard itself is the 10m/30ft berry patch, consisting of red, white, and black raspberries, boysenberries, thornless hybridberries, and an orangeberry groundcover. Since a sprinkler waters the area several times a week, a multitude of pots have slowly crept in to share the water.
Several ornamental shrubs (Nandina and others), are pictured, along with wild Pineapple, Yacon, pear, lemon, peach, Kei apple, Wine palm, and Tamarillo.
The central section of the berry patch includes a Japanese Raisin Tree, Inga bean, three varieties of
Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise), Casimiroa, Cherimoya, Buddha's Hand Citron, Limequat, Orangequat, Blue Berried Honeysuckle, Shahtoot Mulberries,
Dovyalis tropical apricot, etc.
The eastern side of the glasshouse has a variety of loquats, Maqui berries, North American Persimmons, North American Paw Paw, Mandarinquat, Redcurrant, Macadamia, Tamarillo, Cherry of the Rio Grande, Pear, Neem tree, Pomegranate, Cherry guavas, etc.
Southeastern side of the glasshouse has Green Sapote, Lucuma, Weeping Mulberries, and a benchtop of assorted carnivorous plants, primarily
Sarracenia varieties.
Inside the glasshoue, to the right are several shelves of Sundews, pitcher plants, and venus fly traps, fronted by and Ombu tree,
Vasconcella monoica and
goudotiana, voodoo lily, gloriosa lily, etc.
To the left (and in the path) are a Coral tree (
Erythrina crista-galli), Brazilian fern tree, Cinnamon tree, Sapodilla, and Chocolate Gardenia.
The left-hand shelf contains mostly seedlings: Jakfruit, Yellow Jaboticaba, Dwarf Myrtle, Black Sapote, Carob, Chestnut, Brazilian cherry, Sundrop, Araca Boi, Tamarind, African Walnut, Miracle Fruit, Elephant Apple, Blackberry Jam Fruit, Cacao, Red Passionfruit, etc.
So that's the nascent orchard, the raw beginnings of Fruitful Endeavours. And quite a bit to have to transport! Not to mention figuring out how, where, and when to get them all into the ground!
On the upside, even in their pots some have begun to be quite productive. Below is a small handful picked this afternoon while having a walk around the backyard. Wild strawberries, redcurrant, blue berried honeysuckle, red raspberries, white raspberries, mulberries, and maqui berries.
