The Tree Guy

Before 

After 

We're naked. For years, well-meaning visitors have been telling us that we`d have a better view of the bay if we cut back the three beautiful poinciana trees that rise up from the little green area below our terrace that sits between us and the beach. But we love our poincianas (known here as flamboyants) and, when we did cut them back last week, it was absolutely not done on a selfish whim, merely to improve our view. We cut them back because these normally gorgeous trees didn't flower well last year or this year. They were getting sick. We thought that a careful but drastic pruning would give them a new lease on life. We thought it would help them grow better.

After

Before

Angelo, the tree guy

I don`t know about tree surgery anywhere else in the world, but if you just merrily lop off branches here in Brazil you make yourself liable to some heavy fines. Lucky for us, then, that poinciana trees are not native to Brazil. In the authorization our muscular, good-looking tree surgeon Angelo got from city hall, they are identified as an "exotic" foreign species and we were at liberty to do with them whatever we wanted to, as long as we promised to do it safely. No site inspection by the environmental people. Nothing. At 8:45 in the morning, Angelo climbed up into the branches with his motor saw. By three in the afternoon, we had that open, cleaner view that so many people had wished on us. But now we were totally exposed. There was no more shade on the terrace. There were no more birds flitting from branch to branch. We hadn't made things more beautiful. We had made things ugly, awful. But we had no choice. We had to do it.

In a way it was amazing that Angelo was willing to prune our trees just a day before the start of carnaval weekend, because Angelo had other things on his mind. Angelo beats the huge surdo drum in the bateria (percussion section) of a neighborhood carnaval group, Cocotas de Tucuns, based in Tucuns, a beach on the Búzios periphery. Easy to figure out where he got all those muscles. Anyway, as he sliced and diced our trees, he spoke so passionately about his carnaval group, he was so eager to have us come to their pre-carnaval rehearsal, that it was hard for us not to accept the invitation. I didn't really think it was how I wanted to spend last Friday night, but off we went to Tucuns and — even though it was really late for me (their first downbeat started around midnight), and even though traffic was pretty bad, and even though I'm famous for not liking crowds — Mark and I haven't had that good a time in ages! This was carnaval at its best and at its roots, all locals and families and children coming out to enjoy the festivities. And though it was loud and driving and the beats reverberated in our bodies, and I had to take aspirin when I got home, I'm up for a repeat visit next year. Angelo says our trees will have grown some new, beautiful, flowering branches by then.

Flora

"Blow....tropic wind....sing a song....through the trees....
Poinciana, your branches speak to me of love...."

I never gave much thought to the Royal Poinciana tree, made famous in the song "Poinciana (Song of the Tree)," and recorded over the years by the usual suspects (Sinatra, Crosby, Nat King Cole, Mathis...). Now I own five of these striking beauties. Three of our flamboyants, as they're called in South America, burst into flaming red-orange flowers in November and December, and the other two wait until January and February. No one planned it that way, but it gives us an entire season of flowering trees.

I always thought the most beautiful bougainvillea I ever saw was in Sidi Bou Saïd, Tunisia. But years later I passed through Savannah, Georgia and was struck dumb by what I saw there. After that came a jaunt through southern Spain where the bougainvillea were even more gorgeous. I daydreamed about what it would be like to live amongst such beautiful plants. Now I know.

The ubiquitous hibiscus seems to be second only to bougainvillea in popularity around here. Unfortunately for us, the many hibiscus bushes on our property are all about 20 years old, which means they're just about at the end of their life cycle. Time to do some serious replanting.

         

When I saw my first pine tree growing right next to cactus I was astonished. But over time I learned that Brazil sprawls over three climate areas, from tropical to equatorial to temperate. Everything grows here, all in a jumble. Here is a neighbor's temperate zone pine tree towering over his tropical zone flamboyants.

I knew next to nothing about cacti before moving to Brazil. I certainly never knew any of them flowered. I never knew how beautiful and varied they were. I never knew how painful some of them could be should you be so unlucky as to back into one. I never thought I'd ever own any, and certainly not any as unusual as this first one pictured, which we call our broccoli monster.

We received this stunning Christmas cactus plant as a gift years ago. To my surprise and delight, it flowers about three to four times a year, unusual for this once-a-year bloomer.

Nearly everyone we know attaches orchids to their trees. The plants wrap their roots around the trunk, insinuate themselves into the bark and bloom and propagate and bloom again. Ours flower nearly year-round. 

I have a thing about bromelias. They're stunningly beautiful, but as soon as I learned that the dengue mosquito thrives in the water that collects in their leaves, I decided against having them in or around the house. Maybe I've cut off my nose to spite my face, but no one in our house has yet suffered from dengue. This very unusual bromelia grows in the garden of a friend of ours. 

We have a huge lily plant by our front door which flowers throughout the year in dramatic spurts. As you can see, it's in a spurt right now.

I love this almond tree, which grows across the street from us. Here we've caught it just beginning a new budding cycle. 

I haven't the faintest idea what any of these plants or flowers are called. I just think they're beautiful. Can anyone help identify?