Portalucca

Portalucca is a wonderful ground cover plant that grows like a weed. The one pictured here has white flowers, but pink is also very common. 

This very delicate looking and low growing plant is hardy, and can survive well in drier conditions. Being that it is so low to the ground, wind does not seem to be much of a problem either. It might seem to die off a bit in the dry season, but as soon as rain comes, it will move into top gear and grow and flower. The flowers only last a day, but there are usually a lot, so many days of flowering is not uncommon.

Portalucca is one of those plants that butterflies and moths adore and you can see it growing wild around the island, particularly on the east and south-eastern coasts of Barbados.

Petrea

When I was a child, everybody had at least one Petrea shrub in their garden, just like the magnificent specimen shown in the photos, and also white, but the purple were more common - maybe easier to grow. Nowadays, they are few and far between, no longer fashionable.

Petrea is ideally suited to the climate of Barbados, they withstand the dry season well and thrive when there’s lots of rain too. They really don’t require much care other than the occasional trim so’s they don’t take over the entire property.

The leaves of the Petrea shrub are like thick paper covered in short stubble, like someone who hasn’t shaved for a day or two. Each flower stalk is covered in multiple tiny little flowers that will brighten up any garden.

The specimen shown in the photos is a very old plant, probably a good thirty to forty years old, and still looks spectacular. Talk about improving with age!

Panda Ficus

Panda ficus is not native to Barbados, but it has become very popular because of it’s hardy nature. As a member of the “ficus” group, Panda ficus does not lose it’s leaves, so it looks good year round though the shrub does become more lush during the rainy season. And it is very much a shrub.

Panda ficus thrives in both windy and salty conditions in either a pot or in the ground. During the dry season it will appear to have stopped growing, and one or two leaves might fall off, but the vast majority will stay on the plant. 

Propagation of the plant is also easy - cuttings can go straight into soil with a bit of water to get them started for the first few weeks. The leaves are fleshy and the branches thick and stocky.

I’m about to get my first Panda ficus plant, let’s see if it can survive me!

Pusley (Portulaca oleracea)

Pusley (also known as Puslane or Purslane) grows like a weed all over Barbados, and most people treat it like a weed, ie pull it up. However, there are those who like it for it’s medicinal and health qualities, and will make it into a tea, use it as a herb in cooking or eat it raw in salads.

As can be seen in the photo, Pusley grows just about anywhere, including on rocks. The stem and leaves are quite fleshy, and the plant seems to survive even in the harshest environment. When there is a little rain, these delightful and very dainty little yellow flowers appear that are very appealing to equally dainty moths and butterflies, which will rise in clouds as you walk through the plants.

I’ve never eaten Pusley, I think I shall give it a try.

Crabs

Barbados is home to a variety of both land and sea crabs, some of which are shown here. Only one land crab that I am aware of is edible, Swampy, and they tend to be found close to streams and swamps. Swampies hide in holes during the day and come out to feed at night, so small hunting parties will go out to catch these by hand. They can be very large, with a man’s wrist being easily encircled by a claw. They are also very quick and agile. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of swampies though I did go on a couple hunting expeditions in my youth.

Soldier Crabs change their shell as they grow, and the one shown here has moved into an empty shell from a Giant African Snail. Again, these tend to come out at night and will forage for any scraps (such as dog food) that may not have been finished off. They are land crabs but tend to live within a few hundred yards of the sea. The Soldier Crab in the photo was hiding from the heat of the day under a plant in a flower pot.

Red Crabs live on the land, but always in close proximity to the sea. They will have holes all over your lawn if given the chance, and which they will vacate at night to hunt or in the event of rain - it’s quite spectacular to see a lovely green lawn littered with bright red crabs after a heavy downpour. These too are very shy and will disappear into their hole at the slightest sound or movement.

Ghost Crabs live on the beach. They seem to disappear into the sand, move very quickly and have more permanent holes above the high water mark. As you can see in the photo, Ghost Crabs are the colour of the sand - very well camoflagued. You can just sit quietly on the beach and they will go about their business ignorning you, but the minute you move or try to get too close, they will be gone.

Last but not least is the Shagga Crab, so well camoflagued that you can barely make it out in the photograph. These live on rocks that get washed constantly by the sea, and they will sit still until a human gets too close or a bigger wave crashes on them. You can see them on craggy rocks at the waterline anywhere around Barbados

Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe is a rather delightful plant that grows easily just about anywhere. It puts out these wonderful bunches of lovely red flowers as shown in Photo 2. Being that it is a succulent, it’s easy to propagate by popping off a piece, putting it in some soil (ground or pot) and watering to get it started.

Kalanchoe will survive in a windy environment but definitely not thrive, so a little wind break will be helpful. Otherwise, sun, ideally some rain and it will become a healthy flowering plant in no time at all. Personally, I find Kalanchoe to be at it’s best in a pot, but the ground is fine too. 

In the bottom right hand corner of one photo, the flower buds and some newly opened flowers can be seen, and Photo 1 clearly shows the leaf shape and colour. As with succulents generally, the leaves are quite “meaty”, and the sap is clear and sticky.

This is a great plant for a rocky area too, and as a starter plant for someone trying their hand at gardening. I love them, so bright and lively.

Frangipani Hawkmoth Caterpillar (Pseudosphinx tetrio)

The Frangipani Hawkmoth Caterpillar (Pseudosphinx tetrio) is a very colourful and substantially sized caterpillar that is pretty difficult to miss with their vibrant orange stripes. They will easily grow to 3 or more inches in length before entering the pupal stage.

As the name suggests, these caterpillars feed on the milk of the Frangipani tree and its relatives. The milk of these trees is poisonous to humans and will actually blister one’s skin if not washed off properly, but it seems to provide these caterpillars with the nutrition they need, and protection from predators, as birds do not find them remotely interesting.

The Frangipani Hawkmoth Caterpillar has a voracious appetite, and a colony of them can clean a tree in 48 hours. They don’t seem to harm the tree, as the leaves all grow back and life continues, but the tree becomes quite unsightly with it’s ragged nakedness, a quite different nakedness from when the tree loses it’s leaves naturally prior to flowering.

The photographs give an indication of the number of caterpillars that may infest a tree all at the same time, and the level of damage done to each leaf, though the caterpillars in the photos are not full grown. The actual moth that later emerges is quite nondescript in appearance and blends beautifully with vegetation and tree bark. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of said moths.

The influx of the Frangipani Hawkmoth Caterpillar seems to be a more recent thing in Barbados. I do not remember seeing them as a child, and I would have said that they have made their appearance in a big way over the past 10 years or so, but then again, with so many varieties of the frangipani family of tree now in gardens around the island, there is a lot more for the caterpillars to eat.