A few September Blooms

While Meteorological Fall is here, my summer is still fully in summer mode. Here are some photos!

A rouge landscaper ripped out my awesome morning glory vines in the front yard just before they were getting ready to bloom. Fortunately I had a few in the backyard that, while a bit lankier, are finally blooming.

The yellow potted cannas have bloomed all summer long. They look great in the rain with the morning glories. 

These orchids have been blooming nearly non-stop since January. I'm really impressed with them! 

Plumeria "Divine" is a beautiful dwarf plumeria you'll never outgrow! 

My Plumeria Maya may not be a big bloomer (it's never bloomed in the 7 years I've had it), but it's got beautiful variegated foliage). 

Plumeria Melody is a fantastic bloomer. Unfortuantely the timing isn't great with it already being September.

Plumeria "Crazy" has bloomed non-stop all summer!

Brugmansia Ember Yellow is a favorite of mine. It's the only Brugmansia I've ever gotten to bloom. Even after dying to the roots last winter in the garage it has come back with lots of vigor! 

Hibiscus, Heliconia, and Cannas!

I really love heliconias. The blooms are beautiful! 

Brugmansia with a hyacinth bean vine. 

Purple Hearts have beautiful foliage and blooms. They are pretty hardy too! 

These fuzzy blue flowers look unbelievable close up. The butterflies love them! 

I never go a season without begonias. They are so easy to grow and never stop blooming from the day I plant them to frost. 

The vine underneath the begonias is "Creeping Jenny". It overwinters in the pot. Very invasive though so be careful planting them in the ground.

These hardy ice plants were supposed to only bloom in early summer but they've had blooms all season. I hope they survive their first winter in a planter! 

Thanks for looking! Hopefully Tropical Storm Hermine brings some needed rain! 

A quick look at the backyard

Here's the pool area. My brugmansia still has at least one more nice flush of blooms left in it! The ginger is definitely going to try and steal the show while all the foliage plants like my Colocasia, Alocasias, and Cannas are also looking there best now. 

My plumeria is looking nice and full. I love the curves on it's trunk, definitely not a look that most plumerias can achieve in my climate. 

Nothing like the late afternoon sun to highlight the spanish moss on the tree. 

I saw this moon flower open up right before my eyes. It was so incredible, it made a noise like when you are turning the page of a book. You can also get a peek of my Philodendron Xandu in this pic. 

An attempt to take a picture of my buried palms. 

A cool looking bloom head on my Butterfly Hedychium Ginger. 

Wide angle pool view

A different perspective on the Plumeria

The pool area plants from the gazebo 

My favorite palm tree of all time. It's definitely a commonly sold one here so it's not too special in that sense, but this is the 3rd year I've had it and while most of my tropicals start to look a little tired after being potted up for that long, this palm tree looks better than it did when I got it!

Another beautiful palm and one I like just as much as my Adondila is my Bottle palm. It's been around for 2 summers now and it's definitely a favorite of mine. It's doing well despite the change in seasons becoming more noticeable now! 

I really like this area also. Much better than it's been in past years. I finally found a nice combination of plants to bring color to one of the shadier spots in my yard (but it still gets intense late afternoon sun during the summertime)

Here's what you see when you first walk into the backyard! That path you see eventually leads into the front yard. 

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed!

Summer 2013 Summary

I've been working hard over the past few days to prepare everything for summer. In the front yard I am working on having more planting space than ever before. Last year I redid the bed in the side of my front yard by the driveway, this year I'm making a new planting bed right near the walkway that leads into my backyard.
The pool area in the backyard has been neglected so far, but I'm hoping to fill that area up with a lot of nice plants this weekend.
Here's a summary of last summer in my yard to inspire me to keep up the effort!