GARDENING

December 1998 Table of Contents - Current Issue of The Abaco Journal - Abaco Bahamas' Home Page

GARDENING
by Jack Hardy

By December, the home gardener should be reaping the first crops of tomatoes and peppers and any 50+ day crops such as spinach and leaf lettuce. If you haven't done it by now, put in garden peas and the lettuce of your choice. Leaf lettuce such as Simpson Elite gives the fastest and tastiest returns. We're in the middle of the growing season, so plant whatever you wish in the way of vegetables.

The dead of winter is the ideal time to set down bulbs of all sorts. Although they may seem an expensive outlay, they are really an investment. For years to come, they will come back to remind you of your wise decision. And multiply. Buy tropical varieties from Pine Wood Nursery. Zephyranthes, for instance, will bloom in September or October next year if you set them down now. And they'll multiply and bloom for years to come.

While you are buying bulbs, don't forget gingers if you have a shady garden. A full grown ginger plant may cost you over $50 but a ginger root (tuber) will become the same plant within a year. Only one ginger is considered edible and it is rather diminutive when it comes to flowering. The flowering gingers give year-round greenery and exotic flowering in their own season. Gingers are great - consider them. For low-lying plants along borders and in front of bare walls, plant caladiums. They like a lot of water but are (almost literally) palettes of colour. White, greens and reds are the main options with caladiums.

If your soursop tree has no fruit on it, prune it back quite substantially. Fruit only grows on new growth. You may find several other summer fruiting trees that can be pruned for shape at this dormant stage of the year. Be careful about mangoes, however, as they are liable to flower very soon.

It's a bit late to sow cool weather bedding plants (buy sets) but not too early to establish warm weather annuals.

For winter resident property owners, let me say once again: the fruit tree you need is carambola. It puts out its heaviest crop at Christmas and will be there for you when come down to enjoy an Abaco Christmas. It also bears fruit in midsummer.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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