A few August Blooms in my yard

The plumeria are finally in bloom. Here's Plumeria Jackie!

 

Plumeria Melody is a reliable bloomer.

 

I love this Desert Rose

My Tropical Water Lily "Key Largo" is peeping in the corner

Medinilla myriantha is an easy houseplant and beautiful summer bloomer. I've had it since 2018! 

Variegated Petunia is a surprising stunner. The flowers are fragrant too!

It's Brugmansia season! 

I got the Bismarkia on discount! 

Hedychium Daniel Weeks in bloom

Hedychium gingers are such fun plants. They have a similar cold tolerance to cannas, but bring a really unique tropical vibe to the yard because of their incredibly fragrant blooms. Unfortunately, most of my gingers (like my Butterfly Ginger aka Hedychium coronarium) don't start blooming until September. That's where "Daniel Weeks" comes in. 

Daniel Weeks survived its first winter here on Long Island without mulch or protection. It wasn't even planted close to the house! The flowers are such a pretty yellow, and the blooms start opening up in mid-August. This variety stays a bit smaller than my others and seems to have a more upright structure. Overall I'm really happy with these! 

Late August Banana plant update!

 Musa Viente Cohol has come such a long way. It's hard to believe ... it's taller than me! 

Musa Siam Ruby is such a vibrant, deep red. The banana behind it is Musa Sikkimensis which has red splotches early in the season but has changed over to all green. 

Ensete Maurelli is by far the easiest of the colorful banana plants available. They can handle cool temperatures and survive winter freezes without dieback. It goes into the garage here. 

The Tibouchina is kind of stealing the show though!

Hibiscus tiliaceus Update

Here's an update on my Hibiscus Tillaceus as of mid-April. Take a look back at the post I made just 3 weeks ago... it's grown so much! 

Bonus photo! My Pagoda Tipped Plumeria "Jackie" just started blooming. It has 3 inflorescences! 

*** Update: I wanted to return to this post 3 weeks later (august 30th) so you can see how much it's grown since August 6th. The stems are a brilliant red. Just a fantastic plant! 

**Last update of 2023! Here's a look at this gorgeous tropical plant in October. The days are short and the shadows are long, but this plant continues to look great. I'm quite surprised considering how much heat it required to get started this spring. 

A look back at April 2023. This hibiscus came from Logees last January. 

August Long Island Palm Tree Update

Here's an update on a few of the palms growing my garden. Many of these are tropical, but some are not! 

My flamethrower palm is about to open up a new frond. It's been 10 months in the making! Gaussia princeps is looking fabulous too!

My Chamadorea microspadix is in recovery mode after sunburn earlier this year. I got a deep discount on the Queen palm. It'll overwinter in the garage! 

Things are getting crowded by my needle palm. If you look closely to the right, you'll see my Trachycarpus latisectus 

Better view of the Trachycarpus latisectus 

I thought I lost this Trachycarpus fortunei after it's protection blew off during a very windy 3F night. It survived and so did the Daniel Weeks Hedychium! 

The Sabal minor is looking great! Totally flawless after last winter.

My largest Trachycarpus palm in my Long Island garden is growing well after its first winter. As of writing this, it has 3 new fronds with a 4th on the way.

My Rhapis palm was planted in the ground in my yard in Florida 6 years ago. It survived temperatures down to 20F and it's exposed to at least some freezing weather every winter to this day. The Adondila palm stil looks rough. It's a rescue from the clearance section last November

Variegated Rhapis

My Old Man Palm (Coccothrinax crinita) hasn't grown at all. I am a little worried about it! (photo from July 21)

This Bismarkia was also a clearance rescue, but it looked pretty good when I got it from the nursery. 

I've struggled with my Arenga engleri since the first day I bought it. It looks like it might be getting it's footing though after 6 years! 

I'm not impressed with the Cycas panzhioluta I purchased from Plant Delights. It was a healthy plant, but I was just hoping this hybrid would be a better performer. I got it a year ago and it's only flushed out 2 new fronds (and unfortunately those new fronds look terrible). 

My Panama Hat palm is alive, but not well just yet. I'm hoping for at least one new frond before the weather cools down.