Just a Few Weeks of Summer

It's amazing how much the tropicals can grow in just a few weeks. In this blog post, the before photos were taken in Mid May. After photos were taken sometime in the past week. 

My plumerias have filled out a lot in a few weeks. My "Crazy" plumeria is about to open up it's first blooms of the season (it's in bloom a LOT more often than it is not!).  What's most impressive is the basil. I had little faith that it would even survive but now I'm cooking with basil every day and still struggling to keep up! 

Before

After

After

My potted elephant ears are filling out pretty well! Focus on the elephant ear in the black pot in the "before" photo below.

Before

After

I did some rearranging with the potted plants near my door (I will make another post about that process), but the result is a much fuller and more organized looking scene.

Before

 After

This clump of banana cannas has grown tremendously in the past few weeks. It's already taller than me and there are no signs of it stopping. So far I love these cannas! My mekong giant is in this same bed. Despite dying to the ground completely, it is already taller than my Musa Basjoo. I love the shape my fig has taken on this season. It will be easy to prune as a tree next season.

Before

 After

My oldest brugmansia took a major hit in the garage this past winter (it was 12 feet tall last season and is now 4 feet tall) but it's growing back very quickly and is already starting to bloom. The brugmansia to the left is growing much slower, but hopefully will bloom this season for the first time ever (I've had it for 2 years). My Colocasia "Nancy Revenge" has filled out really nicely.

 Before

After

 

I'm a little disappointed with some of my plants in the pool area. The elephant ears, banana canna, palms, and gardenias are all doing fantastic, but the banana plants are definitely having a slow start in terms of adding height. It's still early in the season though so we'll see what happens with the bananas in the weeks ahead! 

As always, thanks for looking! 

Rutgers Gardens Plant Sale Haul

Last week I went to Rutgers Garden's annual plant sale. If you live in the NYC metro area and love plants, this plant sale (which happens in the first weekend of May every year) is the place to be. Great prices and a great variety of plants for sale. I am almost finished planting all of these plants out and will make a post soon showing where all the plants ended up! Here are a few of my favorite purchases!

Colocasia illustris, Colocasia Tea Cup, and a variety of Begonias


Passiflora incarnata and Fatsherdra (tree ivy) are both hardy to zone 7. I'm looking for a warm microclimate in the yard for both so a cold winter will not knock them out!



Passiflora incarnata


A colorful variety of coleus


I've been looking for Banana cannas for years and they had beautiful clumps for sale at the plant sale. I am so excited to have these growing in the yard this season.



These hardy delosperma ice plants will look great in a sunny spot. I'm also really excited to have these in the yard.



Tibouchina grandifolia is one of my favorite annuals. I really fell in love with these plants in Florida, the fuzzy leaves are hard to miss and the bluish flowers are just another great plus.



These tassel ferns should stay green year round in my gardening climate. The foliage is really beautiful and I have the perfect spot for them so I am very excited to get these in the ground!



I've been looking for Musa zebrina for a long time now as well and finally found one. Bananas grow so much in a single season that this plant will be unrecognizable in a few weeks if all goes well!





I went to Rare Find Nursery a few weeks ago and while I found some great plants I was disappointed that they were sold out of Magnolia ashei. Rutgers Gardens had them for sale though! This magnolia is not evergreen, but the massive foliage, huge, fragrant blooms, and low growing habit makes it perfect for bringing the tropics to a small yard. I am so excited to finally have one!



Another really cool purchase were these Farfugiums! These plants are so weird and beautiful and also are documented to have decent cold tolerance. They are way too rare for me to attempt them in my zone 7 yard outdoors so I'll be keeping them in pots and bringing them into the garage over the winter for now.



Farfugium japonicum 'Gigantea' has massive foliage


Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum' has yellow specks on the leaves making it great for adding a bit of color to a shady spot.


Another exciting purchase was this Musa Basjoo. This is definitely the largest basjoo I've ever seen offered for sale (nearly the size of my garage door!). The price was very fair. I'll be putting it as the centerpiece of my front yard. If all goes well this could become the tallest banana I've ever grown in a few more months! The fact I won't have to dig it up in the fall is such a nice plus!



This cabbage tree is not cold hardy but it sure looks cool. I had to get one!



I'll end with these hardy ground orchids (Bletilla striata). I think only plant nuts like me can really get excited about the idea of having an orchid survive the winter outdoors, but everyone can appreciate the beautiful foliage and modest blooms of this species.  Native to Japan and one of the easiest orchid species to grow, they should get more beautiful with age! they will breeze through NYC winters.


I hope you approve of my plant purchases. Get excited because the growing season is here!!

Flowers around the yard

Some pics of what has been in bloom! 

Digiplexis

The cannas have been blooming like CRAZY! 

 Not sure of the name of the annual to the left, but the lantanas in the planter to the right is growing quickly and blooming reliably! 

Rosa Rugosa is supposed to be a spring bloomer and although I'm sure that's when the main show is, it has been sporadically blooming all summer.

 Portulacas 

Begonias and Ornamental Potato Vine

 

Begonias and lantana. Lantana is growing in full sun and the begonias just next to it is growing in filtered shade all day.

I really look forward to brugmansia blooms every summer. My Ember Yellow in the back has made a few blooms and has LOTS of buds, but my double pink in the front is still all leaves for now. We'll see what daily soakings and lots of fertilizer does for it over the next month.

Last year I grew Verbanas in this spot (it seems like a few may have survived the winter!) but overall, Lantanas are much more consistent performers for me. They haven't slowed down since the day I bought them and the Colocasias and Caladiums are filling up nicely behind them. 

Mexican Sunflower

I had red ones last year, this is the first year I am also growing yellow ones. The red seem a bit more vigorous  in terms of growth but that may just be coincidental. Both are equally as vigorous in terms of blooms.

Roses are great and even better when there palm trees involved!

 First year growing Salvias and I really like them. This one is called Black and Blue and it's so amazing. I love the color combination! Crossing my fingers it is truly zone 7 hardy. 

Mandevilla is always a reliable bloomer in the yard.