Ladybug Nursery: Scoring a GORGEOUS Orchid at a Crazy Sale

Serendipity:  the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way

There is a ton of room for serendipity in my life on Ambergris Caye.  Things rarely go as planned.  My morning errand list can include:  cash a check (this can take 10 minutes or 45 minutes at the bank – I have given up trying to predict good times to go) and fruit and veggie shopping (best to leave that vague – you never know if cauliflower is SCARCE or in abundance, if there are gems like Mexican avocados available) or, like yesterday, something seemingly easy like buy some terracotta flower pots can lead to happy and beneficial things.  Even though I got no terracotta flower pots.

Like a gorgeous new VERY REASONABLE priced orchid!  And re-connecting with one of my very first friends in Belize.  Serendipity for sure.

We headed just south of town to Ladybug Nursery to look for pots.  I  have driven past this super cute sign 1000x but never stopped in…

But this time there was an additional sign.  Sale…hurray!

They are moving locations at the end of the week.  Friday is the last day of the sale…AND if you are looking for plants, this is a GREAT WAY TO GO.  I was told that they want to move as little as possible to the new location in San Pablo (by Caye Coffee and the Brooklyn Brothers Bagel Shop)…

Here’s what I walked in to see…

Crotons and hibiscus.  Yellow and purple allamanda.  Perwinkle, oleander, ixana and many many more that I don’t know the names of.

The stock has been diminishing over the last few months to ready for the move.  There were only a handful of pots — too big for us but I found THIS!  ORCHIDS!

And not just any orchid – the NATIONAL FLOWER OF BELIZE BLOOMING!  The amazing Black Orchid.  Growing in a half coconut and ONLY 10 DOLLARS BZD!

I  bought it immediately.  There are a few left – not blooming yet but gorgeous plants.

My old friend Josimar showed us around.  I first met him in 2006 on my very first trip to San Pedro.  He was 15 years old at that point…

He had just saved this iguana from peril and was showing him off before releasing.

One year later, when I had moved permanently to the island, he showed me a kitten that had been left behind in the trash shed by the stray mother cat.  I took him in…and fed him with a bottle…and he became my favorite cat ever.

Pupusa, a few weeks old.

This is Josimar now – working at Ladybug.  He’s such a good kid!  Hardworking and smart, willing to learn and a good sense of humor.

Man!  He’s 26 now with a wife and child.

SO great to see you Josimar!  Plus…he knows TONS about plants.

Stop by Ladybug this week for plants and flowers that grow in sand or soil.  But please, leave me a few things for when I stop by Friday.  I have my eye on some crotons for the camp.

For more information on the local plants – especially the ones that grow well on this island, let me recommend The Plants of Caye Caulker.  It should cost about $10-15USD and I’m finding it SO valuable as I attempt gardening here.

So valuable that I have two copies.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to have my very own black orchid.  I have seen them in the wild…

Here at the Lamanai Maya Site in Orange Walk district.

Stunning.

And at Hidden Valley Resort – HOLY MOLY and Kaana Resort…

So shocking that these beauties grow in the wild.  All over Belize.