This will be a large post after our return from the U.S. to bring everyone up to date on progress in the garden. Here's our tropical area beside the driveway.

These are all morning shots (about (9:00). The grass is Bermuda.

The celery, parsley, and Mexican cilantro are doing well in the herb garden.

Side gate to the back garden by the bodega.

Down the walkpath by the gazebo. The vines are covering the fencing very nicely.

Looking down to the rear garden below.

Ricardo's brother helps out one day a week. It's a big place to maintain and I have golfing obligations!

The paseflora (passion flowers) are starting to spread and bloom on the slope to the lower garden.

The field of day lilies is getting thicker all the time.

This small ravine is where the spring runs. It is thick with vegetation.

Geraniums on the bodega are doing very well.

Towards the rear of the lower garden. The hedge is the back side of my golf hole. The grass will start greening up even more now that the sun has returned.

The ironwork over the well is overgrown with flowers. That didn't take long!

These flowers form a row along the bottom walkpath and are now almost five feet high.

Another shot of the tropical garden by the driveway. Those plants are growing quickly and will be four, five, and six feet high.

More of the tropical garden.

These are alongside the road going past the house. They have an orange flower. The pots have pampas grass in them.

Left side of the driveway entrance. The vines are starting to cover the iron.

Left side of the entrance.

Looking up the road going past our house. We're on the left. Pretty quiet out here in the country!

This is our latest project. We built a path from the rear of the garden down to the stream at the very bottom of the property. It will stay very natural with coffee and whatever plants are growing there.

The coffee down below is about ready to harvest. Note the red berries. Most of the rest is still green. We're about a month away from harvesting. We plan to have our own coffee this year.

Here's a shot coming back up the new path at the rear of the garden.

Coming back up the path. The rains of October got everything super green.

Along the rear of the garden.

Banana plant is doing well.

Lots of vines coming down from this tree. You can swing like Tarzan.

The bridge area. We now have outlets throughout the garden for Christmas lights, etc.

The spring area from another angle. Hard to believe there were little sprigs of plants in there six months ago.

Impatiens at the base of the bridge. The iron has a dark green finish.

Another geranium shot. Note how rustic the walls of the buildings are.

Coming around the side of the house from the bodega to the carport area.

These windowboxes are under the office.

The cats are in their usual spot on the desk looking out at the hummingbird feeder.

These are pictures of some of our blooming plants.













I will take this shot every few weeks to show you how quickly the plants grow.

This fern hangs near the front gate. It has such a beautiful shade of green in the morning sunshine. The cement blocks in the background are for the lower terrace. Mike is extending it to accommodate a hot tub.

This is a plant that looks like prehistoric lettuce.

This vine will is really cool. It looks like it has plastic grapes growing on it.

Early morning light.

Side walkpath to the back of the bodega.

This orchid hangs on the bodega - it's common name is Lady Slipper.

I made a dish the other night that called for orange zest - I just went out to the garden and plucked a navel orange.

The vines are really going wild on the fence. When you look from the upper terrace the fence line is just covered with lavendar flowers.

Our well is over flowing - I need to find a wooden bucket.

Next week we are beginning another small project. We are clearning some of the land outside the garden. Then we will have Mingo put steps in to descend to the stream below.||

New window boxes - we painted the trim around the windows to match the trim color on the roof - it gave the house a little more charm.

The tropical garden by the gate has been planted - most of these plants will average between 2-8 feet with a wide variety of color.

This is my herb garden - we have a few more herbs to add - if you look closely you can see the white netting on the side of the house - this should be covered with morning glory vines in just a few weeks.

The little tropical garden next to the bodega is really growing.

It is a little difficult to see how these jasmine like vines have covered the fence - they have started to bloom and the scent is beautiful.

By December these plants will be between 5-6 feet in height.

We have a net surrounding the dish - hopefully this eyesore will disappear - Mike keeps threatening that if it starts interfering with his satellite reception it will have to go.

The tropical garden around the spring has really taken off.

When it rains the collection pool traps the excess water from the upper yard and transports it down the Rio Colorado - our name for the drainage channel.

Coconut fiber trail.

We had our official garden celebration with some of our garden workers - for some this was their first view of the garden from the terrace - they were visibly impressed with their work.

This is my kitchen window - it is great having a beautiful view when working.

More party pictures - we had a great weather day - the temperature was 75 degrees.

Ricardo our gardener really likes chips.



This morning glory is the first to bloom - it will cover a lot of our gate trellises

Our new trim paint really looks great.

This area has been cleared and will be planted this week - it is by the entrance gate

We now have all the iron fence and gates installed - most of the walkpath rock work is done

The bodega is nearly complete - we are waiting for three hundred more red roof tiles

We had to have the lower gate moved because we couldn't see it from the house - now it looks fine.

The fence vines are quickly covering the barbed wire

Just outside the kitchen window are gardenia plants - I just love the aroma - the crystal vase in the window holds my recent harvest of blooms - I can't resist picking them

This is a view from the car port looking at the tropical garden by the front gate - this area will be planted this week

Our kittens are fast becoming big cats - Noche is nearly as big as Sissy - Noche is also laying on Jag - she doesn't seem to mind

Two days ago I was sitting on the terrace enjoying my first morning coffee when Michael saw this bird in the tree behind me - It has a nut in it's bill

We had a hazy morning and low cloud cover - the mountain has disappeared