What sort of plants should I cultivate?

Tanarimba is unique to me because of its undisturbed natural surroundings. It's not "man-made". To maintain its uniqueness, we ask ourselves - what sort of plants should I put into the ground in my home here in Tanarimba?.

To me, the headline answer is simple - plants that would fit right in with the natural setting of Tanarimba. Plants that would not disturb the natural balance in the ecology and biodiversity of the place and better still, plants that will add to the biodiversity. Conversely, I think we should try to avoid plants that would disturb that balance.

Such plants would be those that are introduced or those that are not indigenous (not occurring naturally in our rainforest), the so-called foreign species. Worst still are those foreign species that are invasive or have the propensity to takeover and push out the naturally occuring species.

Unfortunately, some of these plants are hugely popular because they are commonly found in nurseries and thus inadvertently assumed to be "local". Like the beautiful hellaconia, the ubiquitous bougainvillea and even the delicious mango tree. Some of these plants, like the hellaconia can spread quickly and will push out naturally occurring local species.

Yes, the earlier phase of Tanarimba already has foreign pine trees growing magnificently, giving the place a highland feel. So what's wrong with that?- you may ask. Well, what's done is done, but for the remaining area, don't you think it will be nicer to retain the existing tropical rainforest setting?