Of Fish and Flowers


You never know when or where you’ll run into plant lovers. Later this week, we set off to the Treasure Coast of Florida to visit my Dad, who is celebrating his 80th birthday. While there, we’ll stay at the River Palm Cottages and Fish Camp http://www.riverpalmcottages.com/, a compound of small cottages along the Indian River in Jensen Beach.

While most of the visitors seem to go there for Captain Rufus’ fishing forays, we chose it because Melynda has planted their seven acres with more than 80 varieties of edible plants, fruits, and medicinal herbs, as well as tropical trees and flowers. While visitors are not allowed to pick the fruits, they can make a selection from baskets placed outside the office each morning. There are also fresh eggs when the hens are laying.

The owners have gardening books available for the curious, or garden writers like myself, who never truly feel on vacation unless they can be somewhere where there are interesting gardens to explore. It is also a good lesson to get away from our familiar gardening environments and discover how little we know about plants in other places.

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