The dry season still seems to be producing a little rain but mainly during the night. Everything seems to be growing at a rate of knots, and I still have what you might call an irrational fear of trees suddenly shedding large branches without a lot of warning. It matters not where you are on this planet they are all capable of behaving in the same way, and doing terrible damage to property and life. The trees in Main Street have this alarming tendency but they are not alone, and it seems that when they fall in Georgetown they always manage to take down telephone and power lines.
The eucalyptus I planted some years ago has grown enormously in the last few years. When I planted it, it was still growing in a 3′ 2″ pot. Now it is approaching fifty feet in height. There is another tree I suppose about a hundred feet away. It is a Saman tree, and has been pruned mercilessly for the past twenty years. Its twin of about the same dimensions passed away a couple of years ago. The survivor is host to a magnificent Golden Shower orchid and a little family of a small creatures looking a lot like racoons, or at least a member of that family. I am afraid that these trees are examples of what not to plant in a modestly sized garden. The motto is not to overstretch your garden space too much. They will become giant trees as some stage of their life but in their early life are really great. Inevitably they outgrow their space and prevent you having many more plants of merit in your garden.
However, if you have a garden of considerable size Saman trees are well worth having. They have a lovely show of flowers in March and April, and it is a lovely shade tree. It is only bare of leaves for a short time in the year, and the new flush of bright green leaves is a marvellous sight. In the evenings and during the night the leaflets of Saman trees close together as if in prayer. Saman trees can and do reach enormous proportions. Probably the largest specimens I have even seen have been in the grounds of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. It is native to Central America, and belongs to the great family the Leguminosae.
In England I tried my hand at rooting leaf stalk cuttings of African Violets. It is surprisingly easy to carry out this operation, and the method can be used here at home in Guyana just as easily, providing you do it all in the shade. I used a mixture of peat and sand (here it will have to be fine compost and clean sand). If you use peat-based compost then you will have to use equal parts of compost and sand, and a moderately shallow pot with good drainage. In Guyana if you have grown your African Violets in the shade they will have produced healthy looking leaves on long stalks. You will use these leaves for propagation. Each leaf you use will be inserted into the compost/sand mixture to the point where it is just resting on the mixture. Several leaves can be inserted in one pot. After this they are watered in to settle the compost round the base of the leaf cutting and kept in a warm place.
It is quite possible to root leaf cutting in jars of water. Place a piece of cling film over the jar and then insert the cutting or cuttings through the cling film and into the water. In all cases you must avoid putting the cuttings in the direct sun and keep a strict eye on their progress. When roots start appearing is the most dangerous time for cuttings rooted in water. I think I favour putting them into compost (very gently) when they have not formed many roots so they are not damaged when you are doing it.
There is too much risk when planting rooted cuttings from water when they have formed a mass of roots. The risk of damage is too great. In any event take the greatest care and may your God go with you whatever you may call him and keep you and your plants safe and well.
