Boquete Gardens - October 1, 2022 - The Mystery Clump
After breakfast this morning, I went out into the gardens to the north of the hotel and I noticed a clump of greenery about 20 feet wide and perhaps 12 feet tall at its highest point. There were two predominant leaf types - a fern-frond style to the left and a more broad leaf style to the right. The Clump was dense enough that I couldn't see beyond it and couldn't see far into it. There was a bit of color, but I couldn't make out shapes. I know that there is a river back there - the bridge is about 50 yards and two properties further north, and you can hear the river, but you cannot see it from that garden point - the Mystery Clump is there!
To the right-front of the Clump is a separate bush with pink flowers - pretty, but not the mystery that was pulling me in...
Now, back to the Mystery Clump. The first color I saw to the right of the Clump was red. Well hidden in the emerald green broad leaves, heliconia of the stand-up, spikey type. If they hide in the greens so well, how will the world find out how cool they are? There were 15 - 20 that I could see blinking red eyes at me through the green - only one that I could see from outside the Clump.
As I moved to the right around the Clump, I came across a new gem, basking in the sun as her buds burst into yellow-interiored blooms that reminded me of snapdragons.
A Gardener saw me poking about the Clump taking photos and he called me around to the left of the Clump where he was going to cut a few flowers for the restaurant and wanted me to see where they were hidden. He pulled some of the fern-frond leaves aside and showed me thin, incredible flowers in three stages of growth:
With the covering fronds pulled aside, I could see fifty or more of these pink flowers hidden inside; I wonder how many hotel visitors realize they are even in the mystery Clump!
As the gardener went into the building with his flowers, he told me to keep moving to the left around the Clump, past the garden shed, and he nodded knowingly - I would find more treasures.
I moved to the left, squeezing a bit past the garden tools resting on a gravel path trying to keep the Clump at bay, and what did I discover but a small pond with lily pads, fed by a little stream;
A duck couple with an island home and a bench they might not appreciate sharing;
And looking back north to the trickling source of the stream and the pond (piped from the river, a few feet away).
That whole area cannot be seen from the northeast garden, blocked from view by the Clump.
The Mystery Clump had layers and layers more mystery than I would have guessed when I found it this morning!
Buenas tardes desde Panamá! Good afternoon from Panama!
MaryBea y Miguel
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