[News Boquete] Finca Tangara: Nursery and Farm tours: Tuesday Novemer 18.

To: the Chiriqui Community

From: Peter Sterling, Finca Tangara.

November 13, 2014

 

Dear Neighbors:

We have returned to our farm in Palmira.  Many of the trees and shrubs started in our vivero last spring are now plantable, and this is a good time while the soil is still moist and we can expect some more rains before summer. So, we are now open for business daily. If you would like a tour of the farm, Tuesday November 18 is open house.  

 

    We don't have every plant in the list -- no citrus or avocado right now, but we do have many others. For example, lots of African flame, roble, mecano, mamecillo, poró, banana, plantain, sugar cane, marmalade bush, etc. (descriptions below).

      If you know what you want, I can check before you drive out here (6 km from San Francisco Plaza). My cell phone 6652-2763; psterlin@gmail.com.  

   

Directions from Boquete.  At San Francisco Plaza turn right. We are 6km down the road. Pass Boquete Country Club on left, then Ruiz coffee beneficio.  Pass thru Palmira Centro, leaving mini-super on your left. Continu, passing cow pasture of  Hacienda Esmeralda on right, eventually reach on left, a milking operation and garage for trucks and farm machinery. Then pass office and coffee beneficio of Esmeralda (on left) – somewhat hidden by trees. About 200m beyond that, the main road (paved) continues left at a fork. Immediately beyond that fork there is a small white bus stop/shelter on left. Our sign (Finca Tangara) is right there and a black wire gate. The vivero is about 20m down the driveway at the house of our employee Mariano Gallardo.  His cell phone is 6748 5332.    Our house is 100m down that drive.  

 

Re: a new vivero

We moved to Boquete nine years ago and began to plant local trees, shrubs, and flowers for landscaping, birds, fruit, wind-break, and reforestation.  Many varieties were hard to find, hard to start, and hard to grow in our particular micro-climate (Palmira Abajo).  By now we have accumulated sufficient experience with varieties that do well around Boquete – at different altitudes, degrees of moisture, etc, to offer advice (free) and some starters (for sale). Moreover, we have developed some success with grafting citrus and avocado, and will offer that service as well.    

If anyone would like a "tree and shrub walk" for an introduction to what's out there, I would be glad to lead one from our farm (6km down the Palmira road from Plaza San Francisco), including a lesson on recognizing the various dread forms of parasitic mistletoe, known locally as mata palo (tree killer).

The following list of trees and shrubs is rather long – though not compared to what's out there. We cannot plant everything, so please consider this message as a survey to assess what might plants might be of most interest. We await your inquiries or orders:

psterlin@gmail.com; 6652-2763

For photos google the scientific name (where given) or consult https://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/findinfo.php?specid=5833&leng=english. This Smithsonian atlas helps identify by local names, leaf patterns, seeds, etc.

 

Windbreak

Corpachí (Croton niveus; family, Euphorbaciae). Fast growing, bushy when pruned; unobtrusive flowers and fruit in dry season attract birds (e.g tanagers, parakeets).

Cipré. (cyprus). Handsome, dense foliage, easily topped to maintain density. Rapid growth.

Pine. Rapid growth, gets very tall; good shade and aroma, but not much for birds.

Eucalyptus pintado (Eucalyptus deglupta). Rainbow-colored bark, straight and tall trunk, branching high, grows fast.

 

Cover crop: velvet bean (Macuna pruriens) -- legume cover crop for restoring exhausted soil and protecting hillsides against erosion. Good forage for cattle and goats.  Seeds are available.  

 

Reforestation/landscaping/attract birds

Roble (Tabebuia rosea). Heart-stopping pink or white blooms that last a month or more Dec-May. Handsome arbor with heart-shaped leaves.  If topped when young, it grows like a candelabra.

Guayacan (Tabebuia ochracea). Beautiful form (similar to roble), brilliant yellow blooms March. (grows in Palmira ~ 1100m/3300ft). Lowland species (T. guayacan) is similar but probably wont bloom at Boquete altitudes.

Orchid tree (Bauhinia variagata). Legume. Smallish tree; white or purple-pink flowers remininscent of orchids. Flowers all through dry season into rains.

Macano (Diphysa americana). Legume Deeply furrowed, rough bark. Brilliant yellow, pea-like blossoms December-January. Hard wood. Legume, so good for soil. Used for living fence as well as reforestation.

 Palo machete (Erythrina lanceolata). Legume. Clusters of scarlet, machete-shaped flowers, heart-shaped leaves. Seed pods gnarled and twisted with red beans inside.  Used for living fences and as coffee shade and nitrogen fixer (legume).  Birds eat the flowers and pierce them for nectar.

Poró (Erythrina poeppigiana). Legume. Spectactular orange flowers  November-March.  Tanagers, orioles. Legume good for coffee shade; improve soil by fixing nitrogen. Large stands bloom in the hills above Boquete. Look upward! The Erythrinas not only fix nitrogen, but also produce a rich leaf litter and make great animal fodder.

African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata , flame of the forest, llama del bosque). gorgeous scarlet flowers year round, grows fast; soft wood. May be invasive along the Canal, but no evidence of spreading in Chiriqui.

Yellow trumpet flower (Tecoma stans). Beautiful blooms + fruit beloved by birds. Grows fast, can get fairly large, but can be controlled by pruning.

Macrocnemum roseum – bright pink flowers; trunk with interesting fluted growth pattern.

Corotú (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). Spectacular spreading branches (most beautiful specimens along the Interamerican), but grows well in Palmira. Beautiful dark green foliage; seed pods resembling human ears; legume.

Guabo (Inga).  Several species. Legume used for coffee shade and nitrogen fixing.  Flowers Jan-April. On our farm flowers attract orioles, honey creepers, humming birds, tanagers.  Attractive, spreading canopy and thick foliage.  Grows fast.

Nance (Byrsonima crassifolia). Gracefully branched with flat canopy (reminiscent of African savanna).  Orange-yellow flowers March-June. Does well in old pasture with poor soil. Fruit eaten locally.  

Cedro amargo (Cedrela odorata). Attractive, shiny foliage; fine wood used for cabinetry and furniture.  

Mameicillo (Quercus xx) . Grows huge from gigantic acorns. Flourishes at 1000m and above.  Some very old, magnificent specimens along Pipeline and Quetzal trails.

Black oak (Quercus yy) Smaller than mameicillo, grows well at 1000 meters and higher. 

Mata hombro (Cornus disciflora). Tall, handsome; dogwood family; quetzals eat the fruit. Flourishes at 1000m and above. Fast growing.   

Guyabito del monte (Eugenia coloradoensis). Myrtacea family, which incudes guava and eucalyptus). Medium sized tree, small fruit which attracts birds.

 

Lauracea (avocado and relatives)

Sigua (Nectandra cuspidata) – grows well around 1000+meters (Boquete and Palmira). clusters of pale flowers (late Jan-February); then small, avocado-like fruit beloved by numerous tanagers, parakeets, etc. 

Aguacatillo (Bielschmiedia pendula). Grows along the Pipeline Trail, Culebra Trail, and Quetzal Trail in Bajo Mono. Above 1500 meters.  favorite food of quetzals and other trogons.  Fruiting heavily at 1800meters in March. If you live high in Jaramillo, Palo Alto, Alto Quiel, it's a must. 

Bambito (xx) – same family, larger fruit. Cultivated at Quetzales Lodge and Cerro Punta, Jaramillo

 -----------------------

Guarumo (Cecropia obtusifolia). First to establish itself as second growth, does fine in poor soil.  Trunk ringed with leaf-scars, branching and leaving at top, with dangling, spaghetti-like flowers in canopy.  Feeds birds, sloths, howler monkeys. At first sight can be confused with papaya.  A signature "tropical" tree.  Grows fast, soft wood.

 

Guava (in Spanish, guayava).  Small tree, native to Central America. Fruit great for jelly and sauces if you pick it before larval infestation. Most appeal is for its shapely form and patterned bark. Often parasitized by mata palo, fatally so unless care is taken to remove.

Jamaican nettle (Trema micrantha). Fast growing, short-lived "pioneer" tree; good for birds. Grows well above 1000m. Good for reforestation of old pasture because grows fast, improves soil conditions, then gives way to longer lived trees interplanted.

Espavé (Anacardium excelsum). Tall tree with hard wood. Related to cashew and mango. distinctive white blooms in February. Good for reforesting.

Algarrobo (Hymenaea corbaril). Tall tree, extremely hard wood. Good for reforesting.

Neem (Azadiracha indica). Tree of many uses, including insecticidal sprays.  

Jobo, jobito, red mombin (Spondias purpurea). handsome fence post tree; shiny green olive-sized fruit turns red and becomes edible – sweet and tart, with olive sized pit. Fruit ripens April/May.

Gray teak (Gmelina arborea ).  stout trunk when mature; orchid-like flowers in March; ripe fruit in late April –early May. Fruit looks like green olive: fleshy with a pit.

Drum stick tree (Moringa oleifera). Numerous culinary and medicinal uses. Grows rapidly in poor soil and tolerates dry season, grows well at Boquete area altitudes.   

 

Decorative flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies

Butterfly weed (Asclepias curassavica). A tropical milkweed. Grows perennially and self-seeds, spreading but not aggressive. Attracts monarch butterflies whose handsome larvae feed on the leaves.

Lantana (Lantana camara). Flower nearly indistinguishable from milkweed, but plant has square stems. Blooms perennially. Butterflies and hummers.

Porterweed, verbena (Stachytarpheta franztsii). Perenial, blooms year round, attracts butterflies and hummers.

 

Decorative shrubs

Powderpuff (Calliandra haematocephala). Handsome shrub with ever-blooming bright red, puffy blossoms. Hummers.

Coral bush (Jatropha multifida). Handsome shrub with red blooms that take the form of coral.  Easily grown.

Marmalade bush, sombrero chino (Streptosolen jamesonii). Brilliant orange flowers for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Ever-blooming, grows all over Boquete.

Golden dew drop (Duranta erecta). Green leaves with purple flowers, green leaves with white flowers, varigated leaves with purple flowers - all with yellow berries.Hummingbirds like the flowers, other birds like the fruit.

Fire bush, zorillo real (Hamelia patens). Shrub to treelet (can be pruned back). Red-orange tubular flowers. Hummers like the flowers, tanagers,etc like the fruit.  In habits sunny forest gaps or disturbed ground; excellent for native-species landscaping.

 

Fruit

Citrus: seedling or graft to your existing tree

Navel orange (seedless, easily peeled for eating)

Valencia (juice orange)

Sour orange (naranja agria, Citrus aurantium) deep orange skin and flesh. Rich aroma, good in salad dressings and wherever lemon would be used in northern climates.  Makes sensational marmalade.

Grapefruit (toronja).

Persian lime (limón persa) This is the large, green lime (yellow when fully ripe).  pungent rind for Thai cooking; juice for drinks, guacamole.

Key lime (limón criollo)

Avocado ('mantequilla' variety; large, pear-shaped, buttery)

Uchuva (cape gooseberry). tart/sweet yellow fruit; looks like cherry tomato

Mora – small tree resembling mulberry. Handsome, symmetrical branching – like a willow. Large berries, black and sweet when ripe. Good eating and for jam. Beloved by birds.

 

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