I forgot to mention we have 2 mature oak trees and 1 birch tree in front which get dappled sunlight throughout the day. On the backyard there is 2 mature red maple and 1 hickory shagbark. These past fall we got all the oak and maple trees raised the canopy significantly which hopefully in spring and summer we can see the difference in sunlight penetration. So establishing a lawn doing dormant seeding in the backyard which is almost from scratch is close to impossible? Thanks again.

Hi Heather, I just wanted to make a couple of comments. It seems most of your questions and concerns were addressed quite well already from other members, inlcuding tips about compost and mulch which I also really reccomend. About the mango. I can't tell you for sure because I live in the American Midwest, a completely different climate from yours! However, I love tropical plants,and especially mangoes as they are my favorite fruit, hence me being on this forum, so I've read as much as I can on them and have tried to grow tropicals in anyway possible, and I've visited Hawaii and South Florida often. Mangoes are grown all over India, and many parts of India are very hot and dry, with temperatures getting into the hundreds(farenheit). Supposedly they fruit better that way. I think the leaves should get used to the sun as it gets older. And as long as you are irrigating it and mulching it,and all of the other plants you plan to plant, I really think it should be ok. I would really try frangipanis again. Three of the four that I grow seem to be VERY drought tolerant and tough. It can get very droughty here in the summer and they are in pots, plus it's very windy too, so they dry out very quickly. I have a book on them and it mentions that frangipani trees grow wild in the Central American deserts, in rock crevices, among cacti. And I've noticed that they grow very well by the ocean. And they cast lots of shade. I would definitly try date palms. They are beautiful, love hot, dry weather, are salt tolerant, and produce delicious fruit. Antother palm that you could try is the pindo palm or jelly palm. They are supposedly very heat, cold, drought, and salt tolerant. And the fruit can be made into jelly. The sea grape is another option that might work. I believe that they are almost as salt-tolerant as coconut palms, and you can eat the fruit too. Autograph trees are also mildy salt tolerant. The sea almond mentioned above is a really good idea. Try a dragon tree, I think that would proabably thrive there. There are tree-like yuccas that you might want to consider. In fact I think a lot of succulents and cacti as well would be the way to go. Apparently Crinums are salt-tolerant too. There is also the sea lettuce. Bromeliads- I believe the species would be hoyas and puyas(I'm not a bromeliad expert). There are cycads that you could grow, and there is one in particular that thrives in hot, dry areas, unfortuneately I cant think of its name right now. Good luck with your gardens. I hope you can create a little paradise!

Cartegena can be a tough area, too. It's been almost 10 years since I was there, but there were tons of armed soldiers throughout the city. I don't think we would have felt comfortable going out on a tour of our own. We loved going partially through the canal - my brother-in-law; however, said it was like watching paint dry, but if he wasn't gambling, he wasn't happy anyway. My husband and I thought it was fascinating to watch our ship be boarded by the canal pilot and escorted to the eastern (but really westernmost) entrance of the canal. Did you know that the eastern entrance is more west than the western entrance? We also had the opportunity to visit the San Blas islands, home of the Cuna Indians - it was quite an eye-opener to see the sea-level islands. Helene

....Dont get trapped people..... Dotz, You are absolutely right and I really should have warned against attempting this! DON'T TRY IT! I am a professional at doing this and have been at it many years. The ONLY reason they don't use "high pressure" tactics any longer is because that got them in a lot of trouble with the Feds, but they are very smooth talkers and have about a 50% success rate at "hooking" the unsuspecting and unknowing. The truth is what they're trying to "sell" you is usually a 1/52th interest (1 week) in cheap condos for about $15,000-$20,000! What this actually means is they end up selling a condo worth maybe $150,000 for appox. $750,00 to over a million! So many people are trying to get out from under these, you can often pick them up for nothing more than the price of the annual maintenance fees and taxes alone! I always bring proof of this with me, along with extra handouts for my fellow attendees. But why buy one? We stay at timeshare properties all the time, taking advantage of their unused inventory that's been traded through the RCI system, available through skyauction and other internet sites. We usually pay no more than a $195 cleaning fee and $15 processing fee, total of $215 for the entire WEEK! The most we've ever paid was $400, but that was for 1 week in a luxury 2 bedroom oceanfront condo at "The Galleon" in Key West--which is a PREMIUM resort! To get people to waste at least 1 1/2 hours of their vacation time attending their timeshare presentation, they usually offer a fairly decent "incentive", but we NEVER accept their first offer! We hem and haw until the manager comes over to "sweeten the pot" and then we play him for a while, until he's thinks he's got really BIG fish on the hook and gives us his BEST offer. We average about $150 in "freebies" on each one, and get it in WRITING before we agree to attend the presentation. The longest they've ever kept us is about an hour, but usually get rid of us much sooner--before I've scared off too many of their potential "suckers". The law requires they make good on their promise so they hand us our "freebies" on our way out the door, as we go to their complimentary dinners, shows, attractions--all kinds of goodies! This is not recommended for most people, these slimeballs utilize all kinds of sneaky underhanded tactics! Turning the tables on them is also just part of my competitive nature--they're good, but I'm better!