We started the wall project a couple of years ago, but never imagined it would do so well. It has now been two years and the growth has been mind blowing. Anthuriums, peperomias, and ferns are the proven winners. Philodendrons need just the right spot, however. Some of the plants are actually growing so large that it is difficult to stand far enough away to get the whole plant in the picture.
Initially I put some dorstenias, elatastema and other assorted seed spitters on the wall thinking they would fill in the bare spots, they seem to be spitting seeds on the ground in front of the wall and way across to the growing benches…bastards.
The top of the wall makes a handy place for the spiders to build webs. That way they can catch my face every time I stand on the blocks to check out a particularly beautiful
new leaf at the top. The other spiders think this is hysterical. I suspect it is some sort of initiation the new spiders have to go through when they move tothe wall. I only let them stay because they seem to catch little moths before they lay eggs that become anthurium eating caterpillars, so I guess it’s a tradeoff. Either situation makes me want to scream.
Neptune fish and seaweed emulsion has been my fertilizer of choice. It stiiiinks for a few days and it almost assures me someone will want to stop by and look at plants when the place smells like a cat food factory, (just realized why the cats have has been hanging out in the shadehouse…weird). This stuff doesn’t kill the living fish in the catchment pond and the results are nothing short of amazing! By the time the ”stank” leaves the shadehouse, the plants are four shades greener.
While some things die off and others take over, the evolution of the wall is interesting. You really never know what is going to do well, or spontaneously combust when it touches the wall.
Next:
The New Greenhouse