Zone Detour: The Tropics

The Cayman Islands, a British overseas colony, are a group of 3 small islands in the western Caribbean. They have a tropical marine climate. I visited Grand Cayman, an island of about 100 square miles. I was able to visit a private garden, observe naturalized plantings and visit the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, which not only has lovely flora on display but is home to a breeding and conservation effort for the native Cayman Blue Iguana - endangered and found only on the island of Grand Cayman.
 The creature is in fact blue, or brownish and blue depending on how long it may have been sitting in the sun; as it warms up, more of the blue colors emerge. The largest one we saw was about 2 1/2 feet long.
I do not have identifying information for many of the plants pictured here...my knowledge of tropical plants is very limited, and at the QEII park, there was only partial tagging. Beautiful none the less.

First, photos from the QEII Botanical Park (all photos, credit: Louise Zepp):