Time to wake up!

It's the moment of truth! Things are coming back to life and it's time to see just how well some of my plants did. 

This Musa Basjoo has been painful to watch over the past 2 years. It's been sitting in a pot. overwintering in the garage. The primary stem dies every year after a poor season of growth and weak pups try to take over.I think the underground root system is getting choked out by its pot so I decided to plant it in the ground. 

LAST SUMMER: On the far right, my musa basjoo  (sad I know!)

April 8, 2023 - in the ground and ready to go! 

I covered this Southern Jasmine with cloth, but it received no additional heat this winter. It suffered very little leaf drop and new growth is quickly sprouting. I'm so excited about this!

The fragrance is incredible! This variety is called "Madison" and is supposed to be more cold tolerant than the average star jasmine.

Cleome seedings in the yellow tray, and various cannas and elephant ears waking up. 

April 5 - Colocasia Mojito

April 5

My Owari Satstuma Mandarin did fantastic this winter in the garage! It experienced sub-freezing temperatures a few times throughout the winter. There was no leaf drop and new leaves and flower buds are emerging!

Closeup on the new citrus growth. This Owari Satsuma did significantly better than my Kumquat and Meyer Lemon

My Dahlias and Musa sikkimensis are planted for the season. You can barely see the Dahlia sprouts toward the left of the banana plant, but hopefully, that will change in a few weeks. I have Tahitian Sunrise in the front and a Cactus Flowered Dahlia variety in the back. 

Below, you'll see a few winter survivors. They did not receive any protection or additional mulch, but are planted close to the foundation of my house. This dark leaf canna musafolia was a surprise because I thought I dug up the clump. The second photo is of a Calla 'Swartberg Giant'. Our winter low was 3F, which is unusual cold. However, we had very few freezes this winter and I think that made all the difference.