I thought I'd start a thread to put some of the things I have growing here in my small city garden. I've got many terraces and a roof to grow things on as well. I used to have more sun in the back garden but the banyan tree on a neighbor's wall and some other trees in the yards around me have grown a lot and now... I have a lot less full sun. I still have areas that get half a day of sun and others that unfortunately get full sun only in the summer. That's something I have not really found a solution for, whether to plant shade loving plants that burn and look awful in the summer or sun loving plants that fade and eventually die in the winter. Having tried to keep the sun lovers alive through 3 winters and not having a lot of success, I'm now starting to plant shade lovers and trying to give them shade in the summer.
Some of the shade is my own doing, I planted some tall bamboo when we moved in to block the view of a hotel on the block behind us. It is almost 40' tall now, it does block the hotel view. I also put 3 fishtail palms in a bed near an old well that we now use for rain runoff. I think the roots have found the well as they have grown really fast and really tall. Here's a pic of that corner of the garden.
I'm pretty sure that the roots from the bamboo have filled the bed to the left of it and that is part of the reason the ginger and heliconia that was in there is so pitiful. Partly it is that they no longer get sun, but since I tried to dig a bit I've discovered that the whole bed is full of fine matted roots, must be the bamboo. I'm getting some young, strong backs in this coming week to dig out those beds, perhaps put some plastic between them and the bamboo and refill it with new dirt.
What is blooming now? The
Pata de Cabra (Bauhinia divaricata), native to this area, is covered in blooms. I dug this one up on my friend's land near Uxmal, I've pruned it so that it is a high arching open bush rather than a shrub. You can see the whole plant below and to the right of the bamboo in the pic above.
I spotted these blooms deep inside the heavy growth of the heliconia the other day.
Today we got in there and cut down most of the heliconia branches. It's something we have to do every year anyway and I like to do it when they are blooming so I can see the blooms. It made a huge pile of long leaves and took quite awhile. The cats all appeared while we were cutting up the pieces, they were a lot of help!
It's a lot more open now, I can see all the blooms.
Heliconia's hunt has started.
Now it is blooming, there are 2 long stalks of blooms, and it looks like a few more are growing.
I think their main occupation is finding new, wonderful and destructive places to sleep. Other than that, they while away some time just knocking over pots and digging in the dirt. I won't mention their bathroom habits no matter how many spotlessly clean litter boxes they have. It's a good thing they look so cute while doing all this and that they have me trained to think they are worth it.
We have to warn new neighbors to keep cats inside. Some don't listen and their cats go missing.
One mans food is another mans poison. You are most welcome to take all the feline creatures you want from here. 
leafcutter ants had returned. So, last night we went out with the flashlight and found them. They had also moved across the yard to a basket that was full of stuff I'd trimmed from the garden and they were cutting that up and hauling it away as well. That would be fine if they weren't also back to removing all the leaves from the jasmine. We put out bait and they eagerly started hauling that home too. It usually takes a few days and several additions of bait before they disappear. The bait poisons the fungus they grow in their nest for food, the colony dies when the fungus dies. This group were coming from an empty house that backs onto my garden. They can strip my entire garden in a few nights if I don't spot them soon enough. I've even had them go out into the pond on the lily pads and eat their way back to the edge. 
. We have ants but no leaf cutter ants that I know off, these ants carry their cows which they milk for nectar unto my plants to feed which reminds me that I should spray my roses and jasmines. They have even started a cattle farm on my vinca?
Ants,I normally ignore them accept when they shift house to my indoor pots or start farming. These ants carry their cows on their backs and soon there is a breakout in some part or the other at the same time they are natures scavengers. I normally use high pressure water to knock them off, once on the ground then they are eaten up by other insects. Maybe other ants also. We have quite a collection miniature, medium, large and jumbo. Black or red fire ants, take your pick but anyway once you knock aphids down they are fair game for other ants away from their protectors. No leaf cutters.
still clouds coming in from the West. We are also dependent on Monsoons rain for our rainy season crops, plus the underground aquifers, plus electricity generation, there are a lot of good pluses to a Good heavy Monsoons rain and for that, we need the heat. Extra rain in winters is Godsend if it is at the correct time. Leads to a bumper wheat crop with good fat grains while lack of moisture gives you grains which you can easily blow away. More chaff then meat. Maybe your Monsoons are also dependent on the Mexican land mass and much to the North of it heating up, creating a low pressure to suck in the clouds. Note what happens this year, maybe heavier then normal rains due to sudden onset of heat. 
