Tucked into the folds of Trinidad’s Central Range, where the roads narrow and at points seem nonexistent, is Gran Couva. The name was derived from both Spanish for great, older or established, and from the indigenous Arawakan language for “place of the silk cotton tree” the words being coa or cubao. The nearby town of Couva being newly established.

Gran Couva was previously “cocao country” until the downturn in the industry and the destruction of the crop by Witch’s Broom in the early 20^th century. This awesome locale was the venue for the July meeting of the Garden Club of Trinidad, a walking tour of part of the La Vega Estate.

La Vega Estate was established in 1983 by Bertrand Manhin. Prior to his ownership it was an abandoned cocao estate. Bert, as his friends call him, transformed this 250-acre estate into a beautiful plant shop, nursery, and nature park.

The plant shop/nursery is one of the largest and most beautiful in the island. Bert has always been a collector of exotic plants and with his extensive traveling he acquired an enormous number of beautiful botanicals.

Our tour was led by two knowledgeable and personable young men, namely Gerard and Wes. We were firstly educated on the wide variety of citrus and mango plants available in Trinidad and their respective histories. Our next stop, a short walk away, was the Grafting Shed. This is no mere potting bench; it is a veritable surgical suite, complete with rows of newly bandaged wounds of the plant patients. We were enlightened on how to graft and on how to air-layer. One gets a feeling of excited anticipation seeing all the newly grafted specimens starting to thrive under their plastic coverings; bandages soon to be removed.

The Greenhouse was our next stop. This structure seemed to breathe with the landscape. Unlike the Grafting Shed, this was a controlled world of translucent sheeting, trapped moisture, and dappled light. The air inside was thick with moisture, and very warm! The scent was not of the damp of moldy houses but of mosses and chlorophyll. That magical scent of nature we inherently yearn for. Benches supported trays of seedlings so small that many had just two embryological leaves know as cotyledons. There were shade-loving anthuriums and delicate ferns, uncurling from tight spirals. There were many impressive philodendrons along with hundreds of other plants requiring a little TLC.

Thereafter we were escorted  past as area full of double Chaconia plants, many bearing the national flower of Trinidad and Tobago, then past a field of vividly coloured crotons and up a slight slope to Lake George, a man-made lake which doubles as a source of  water for irrigation and as a fishing pond. Bert was lucky in that the geology of the land allowed for water collection in this manner as this lake was never plastic lined.

Our tour ended here with the sharing of local homemade pies and a slice of cake along with a soft drink. We all felt thoroughly enthused and encouraged to continue gardening with heart and soul and the Club wishes to extend thanks to Bert Manhin and his staff for a wonderful time at La Vega.