Master Gardener

We took advantage of the lovely sunny day and the fact that for the first time, Denise and I are mobile in a little car. We went to our favorite vivero (nursery) in search of a plant that Denise needed and we would (for the first time) be able to bring it back easily.

Vivero Myosotis is right near the well known PachaMama's vivero. While PachaMama's excels in fruit trees and food bearing plants (as well as a few ornamentals), Myosotis specializes in landscaping plants. I have never seen a more complete display of such plants, here, before. The vivero is worth a visit, if not to buy plants, simply to wander through the parklike setting. What makes this place really unique, though, is the proprietor, Horst. Yes it is a German name and while he was born in Uruguay to German parents, he has lived here all his life.

Horst knows just about everything there is to know about plants. He is like a walking encyclopedia of plants, and loves to talk about them and explain their uses. Beyond that, however, he is quite the character. He speaks Spanish, German and English fluently and understands about 11 languages. During his working years, he worked for a German company that exported wool from Uruguay and travelled widely to service their international customers. So, besides speaking English and German, for example, he also can mimic the dialects. He does a great Brit, a tolerable New Yorker and a very funny Chinese guy speaking English- beside many of the German variations.

We only went for one plant, but came away with 1/2 dozen. Besides anything else, he is quite the salesman. It is a good thing he doesn't sell dogs- or we would be maxed out.