Gardening in Fuerteventura

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

from wiki:


Canna (or canna lily, although not a true  lily) is a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the Zingiberaceae (gingers), Musaceae (bananas), Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae, etc.
Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. The APG II system of 2003 assigns it to the clade commelinids, in the monocots.
Plants have large foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered garden plant. It is also used in agriculture as a rich source of starch for human and animal consumption.
Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.
The name Canna originates from the Latin word for a cane or reed.


Cannas just love Fuerte! They need very little water and lots of sun and will reward you with very showy flowers and leaves. They do tend to die back in the 'winter' so not ideal as showpieces in permanent pots, but a few in pots that can be moved to a prominent position in the summer are ideal. Otherwise plant them in amongst other stuff in a general border for great splashes of colour. Some have very interesting variegated leaves as well as flashy flowers. There are some great examples outside the Atlantico centre in Caleta (a good source of seed from the dried fuzzy pods!). It takes a little while to get flowering plants from seed as rhizomes need to develop first so you may want to opt for a bought plant.

Available in reds, oranges, yellows and variations of.

  

  

seeds nearly ready for collecting:

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Flamboyant

from wiki:
Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers. In many tropical parts of the world it is grown as an ornamental tree and in English it is given the name royal poinciana, flamboyant, flame of the forest, or "flame tree" (one of several species given this name).

The flowers of Delonix regia are large, with four spreading scarlet or orange-red petals up to 8 cm long, and a fifth upright petal called the standard, which is slightly larger and spotted with yellow and white. They appear in corymbs along and at the ends of branches. The naturally occurring variety flavida (Bengali: Radhachura) has yellow flowers.[2] The pods are green and flaccid when young and turn dark-brown and woody. They can be up to 60 cm long and 5 cm wide. The seeds are small, weighing around 0.4 g on average. The compound (doubly pinnate) leaves have a feathery appearance and are a characteristic light, bright green. Each leaf is 30–50 cm long with 20 to 40 pairs of primary leaflets or pinnae, each divided into 10–20 pairs of secondary leaflets or pinnules. Pollen grains are elongated, approximately 52 microns in size.

You will see this tree everywhere on Fuerteventura at the moment, some have started blooming, others will follow shortly depending on prevailing wind which seems to affect the development of the flowers. A mature tree in full bloom is an amazing sight - often you only notice the tree when it's in flower. I've seen some lovely specimens in Puerto and Caleta so far this year but the ones in Tindaya have yet to start forming flower buds. 

 

and a couple of pics from Corralejo on Monday 24th June. 1 tree, 3 different angles, only just starting into bloom:

  

[windermeregolfer]

Pictures below are of 2 plants that appear to have grown from seed in the wind or in the soil I used in pots for a hibiscus in one and starting 3 yucas in the other.


Can anyone say what they are and if I carefully remove them will they form good ground cover if I transplant them? 

         

Thanks in anticipation

[Archer]

John, in my garden we call them weeds!! 
But then again, who is to say what is a plant and what is a weed? Isn't a plant just a cultivated weed, anyway? 

[Gone Fishing]

Can anyone say what they are and if I carefully remove them will they form good ground cover if  I transplant them? 

Hi John

They look like mesembryanthemum crystallinum (note the sugar crystal-like coating on the plant) and are native to the Canaries & North Africa and are especially tolerant of dry, desert conditions.
It is also very tolerant of salty environments such as coastal sand dunes. 

It has a neat trick of absorbing and retaining salt within bladder-like structures and when the plant dies the salt is released into the sand/soil which kills plants which are less salt tolerant, enabling its own seedlings to flourish without competition from other plants.

This may make it a weed (depends on your outlook) when grown in close proximity with other plants - it could kill them.

They make good ground cover, but each plant dies back in less than a year, but they are free seeding so would be replaced by seedlings and keep other weeds at bay because of its salty habits.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

That's useful to know about the salt GF - if I've found any in my garden I've added it to the compost bin, not any more! Thank you 

[Gone Fishing]

Probably not the best thing to put on the compost heap Tamara.

However, the leaves of  mesembryanthemum crystillinum (aka Ice Plant)  are edible and you can make a basic form of soap by crushing the leaves too, so a couple of alternative uses rather than composting.

If you're into herbal medicine, because of the plant's diuretic qualities, it's used to treat kidney and liver ailments and urinary infections.

[windermeregolfer]

Thanks for the info GF, I taken them out and gone to the green waste skip, the hibiscus and yucas look quite healthy will keep an eye on them.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Probably not the best thing to put on the compost heap Tamara.

However, the leaves of  mesembryanthemum crystillinum (aka Ice Plant)  are edible and you can make a basic form of soap by crushing the leaves too, so a couple of alternative uses rather than composting.

If you're into herbal medicine, because of the plant's diuretic qualities, it's used to treat kidney and liver ailments and urinary infections.

You're a veritable fount of knowledge GF! I'll try chomping a little bit tomorrow in the interest of research for this forum (been nice knowing you all……….!). If I survive that I'll try the soap. 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Hylocereus

from wiki:
Hylocereus is a genus of cacti, often referred to as night-blooming cactus (though the term is also used for many other cacti). Several species have large edible fruits, which are known as pitahayas or dragonfruits.

Hylocereus undatus, the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a fruit crop - the pitahaya or dragon fruit. The native origin of the species has never been resolved.

I planted a small segment of this cactus against a wall about 3 years ago. In addition to ground roots it sends out multiple aerial roots that anchor it to walls, fences etc. It has grown about 8' high and wide, in amongst some bougainvillea, and has just bloomed for the second year running. It needs absolutely no attention, no water, no feeding, ideal if you want a low maintenance plant. All I have done is chop some back when it got a bit unruly. Watch out for little clumps of prickles on the edges, by the way there are three edges to each segment! I had 2 blooms last year and 2 again last week, today I noticed another bud. The flowers only last for 24 hours so be on the lookout at all times! Unfortunately the dead flowers have fallen off before the fruit developed so the pic I'm including of fruit is taken from wiki. 




today's new bud

 


  the flowers are enormous! I'd guess at 30cm long.

I understand there is a specimen in Villaverde that covers a whole wall and gets covered in bloom. If anyone can catch it and get a pic please post it on here.