Before we even moved here, we planted, among other things, a tamarind tree. Probably in 2008. It settled in was growing pretty well when we finally moved here in 2012. When we added the new part to our cabana, we designed its footprint to leave space for the tamarind and its neighbor, the cashew, because we didn't want to try to move them from a spot they seemed to like. Since then, both trees have thrived and grown quite robust.
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| Tamarind tree in the foreground with the cashew behind it to the right. And, yes, the cabana is lurking there behind all foliage! |
The top of the tamarind was at the same height as the back veranda of the addition when we built it in 2015, so easy to reach out and pick the fruit. Now, 7 years later, the tree is level with the upper veranda, making the tree about 30 feet tall in 12 years.
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| View from the upper veranda - we used to be able to see the Maya Mountains in the distance! |
My favorite thing about the tamarind is not its fruit, which are delicious, or its flowers, which are delicately beautiful, but that it is home to many epiphytic plants.
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| You can hardly see the bark for all the plants growing on it. (That is Barnie's old dog house/mansion which she used during the year or so before we had her fleas under control. No fleas now that both dogs are treated monthly with a chewable tablet called NexGuard.) |
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| Climbing fig was the first to grow on the tree and covers the most territory by far. |
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| Mixed in with the climbing fig is resurrection fern, seen here in its un-resurrected state. |
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| And here it has been resurrected after some rain last night. Shiny and fresh, good as new. |
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| Lots going on in this shot - the climbing fig, a dog-tail cactus, and what really got my attention - a small bear's paw fern (Polypodium aureum)! |
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| You can see its fuzzy little golden paw in the center near the top of the photo |
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| I think this one grew from spores on a fern I had growing on the veranda just above. There are also lots of mosses on the tree, too. I think the rough nature of the bark encourages the epiphytes to take root. |
If this little fern is from spores on the plant I brought down here to Belize and which has since died, then it is a continuation of a fern that I have had since about 1980. And that makes me happy.
