Evergreen Dogwood (Cornus capitata)

 Evergreen Dogwood (Cornus capitata) is a pretty reliable shrub here in New York. When we had a cold winter a few years ago, there was some dieback and total leaf drop, but it recovered beautifully. It blooms in June! 

Desert Blooms (& a few others too) in mid-June

 You might be surprised to see these desert-look alikes thriving in New York! 

This is the best bloom year I've ever seen for yuccas in my parents yard and in the area in general! 

Yucca filamentosa 

Yucca gloriosa var tristis

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It's a great season for southern Magnolia!

My sabal minor sets seed every year

Yucca gloriosa is native to coastal parts of the southeastern US, but do incredibly well in NY. I actually didn't plant any of these! It's the first time I've had blooms on these plants after watching them grow as little "weeds" 20 years ago! 

Who says you can't have color in the shade. Rex Begonia looking lovely along with abutilon and a really unusual shield leaf begonia.

Here are a few other blooms! 

My new Frostproof Gardenia 

My White Lava Elephant Ear

Thunbergia battiscombei peeking out

Interesting tropical hibiscus! Not sure how I feel about this variety

It's getting tropical looing!

The plumerias are slow to leaf out

Volunteer cleome

For under $30 it was a great deal!

Aloe Vera starting to bloom

Early June in my parent's yard in Staten Island NY

June is when the yard all starts to come together. I remember gardening as a kid and being so frustrated at how slow things seemed to grow in Spring (not sure what I expected out of tropical plants during a New York spring LOL) but I have learned to really enjoy the process over the years and now I love to see the empty spaces before all the plants take off. And it makes the plants that are in bloom that much more special. 

LOTS of new and unusual species this year. Here's a photo dump! 

Black knight ti plant with my adondila, bottle palm, and ginger. Usually the ti plants are by the entry to the backyard, but I think they look so much nicer by the pool! 

Plant purchases! I'm trying out this fun laceleaf hydrangea 

Pool view! Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus), European Fan Palm, and a few of the plumerias (Pretty Princess to the right, Jenny is hiding behind my American Wisteria)

LOVE these new Geraniums, Definitely some ivy breeding in this variety.

Flowering maple, aka Abutilon

Having some fun with Begonias this year. The one to the right is called Begonia Rex 

Baptisa don't bloom all summer, but they sure are cheery this time of year!

My Aloe is actually getting ready to bloom!

The Plumerias are slowly waking up

Lace-leaf hydrangea

Yucca Gigantea are leafing out and the fiddle leaf fig is looking good!

Diffenbachia looking ok!

I love these Flowering maple and the unusual begonia. Definitely will bring this inside during the winter. 

My first time growing Ixora in New York. This is Maui Yellow.

My Giant Plumeria Salsa starting to leaf out

The bottle palm is getting really big

Variegated Star Jasmine 

Ti Plant Pink Diamond. Lots of leaf burn on this, but it's coming back!

Frostproof Gardenia. Decided to leave this one in a container. 

I don't remember planting Penstemons but I'm glad I did. It's so pretty, we'll see if I can get another flush of blooms. 

Caladium

Strawberries are looking good!