MIRACLE ON BOURET STREET

DOWNHERE there is another blog I visit once in a while. It is rare, since  it is from the other side of the tracks, the country one.  The other day Enid, wrote about some insect, pain in the ass, eating her Musa and eggplant leaves.  

The same brown beetle has been munching on my Hibiscus rosa sinensis and Coccoloba uvifera.  Our approach is different since she picks them up bare handed and relocate them.  I execute them with my secret pest formula, picking them up with gloves. However, let the record show that I have saved them from drowning twice.

Last night the numbers were 9, plus 2 today. They are not hard to catch since they seem to be in a trance while eating. Their damage does not kill the plant but the appearance is rather ugly. Check the pictures.  Contrary to snails, slugs, caterpillars they chew mostly on the edges of leaves.  The botanical name of the culprit? Phillophaga portorricensis*.

The sidewalks on my street are being repaired after 70 years!  The sand below hollered: Free at last!  Imagine if you had been covered with concrete for that long, without fresh air, light and water.

What is the big deal may wonder the uninitiated.  Well, look at the picture at right, that sand covers most of Santurce, including the most important garden in the Caribbean.  With very little clay, in other areas, the amount of it is significant enough to turn its color to orange/red.  You would probably have seen it that kind of clay somewhere, at one time.

Other aspect of sand is that many people think of it as sterile or useless, except for construction.  Never the less, if you check the desertedge.blogspot.com, most of his posts deal with vegetation in desert and desert like, climate, and scenes. The wide spectrum of flora and fauna and fertility,  considering the extreme weather conditions and scarce precipitation is incredible.

Now in terms of my collection I had to consider this before the selection in most cases.  In other situations, I took the risk, particularly with some plants that prefer some humidity and no sand. I know that if I pass away between ten/twenty percent of me garden wil acompany me...

What is the miracle? In your country, perhaps it is not, will be not. However, with six decades of age, it is the first time I see whole neighborhoods getting its sidewalks repaired.  About the quality of the work, that is another story.  

that is that

*lavidaenmipatio.blogspot.com