My favorite things that happened this winter

Who says winter in New York has to be a time of rest for the garden? Okay ... outside the garden is definitely in major hibernation mode. The yard is covered in an impermeable sheet of icy snow that is going to take a massive effort on Mother Nature's part to melt. But it will eventually (probably March).

Inside the house, there has been so much life and so really joyful plant milestones! 

My first year with a Vireya Rhododendron - These tropical blooms are so cheery. It's an easy plant that gives so much more than it takes

My Passiflora edulis bloomed inside the house & the fruit from the summer ripened. It tasted delicious!

My tree fern almost died ... but it's back! Tree ferns make me nervous. My Australian Tree Fern lost every leaf in November, but flushed back beautifully in December and January when I started to water more frequently (and top water).

The YELLOW Bird of Paradise finally bloomed. I bought this plant in 2018 and honestly didn't know for sure if it would be truly yellow or just a plain orange that's mislabeled. But to my surprise it was indeed yellow! (Peep the Queen's Tears Bromeliad)

In this first photo the yellow bird of paradise bloom is the last 2. The orange flowers look less orange under florescent lights.

The Flamethrower Palm is growing faster. My Flamethrower palm threw a gorgeous red leaf in January. It was the first time it ever did that inside the house. What was once an annual event has become semi-annual. How fun! 

I wonder what will happen next? 

Moving hundreds of plants from South Carolina to New York!

Start spreading the news - I'm back in New York full-time! When I started this blog 10 years ago, I was just finishing high school and entering college. I went away to school (less than an hour away), so it was easy to keep up with my quirky garden hobby at my parents' house and share my ramblings on this page. You all have helped inspire me to keep gardening even when I moved south after college to start my career in Meteorology in Florida and later, South Carolina. I had a ton of fun gardening down there for 6 years (pics below!)

Florida 2019

Florida 2019

Florida 2019

South Carolina 2021

It was tough to go back and forth to New York to bring the tropical plants inside the house over the winter and cover up the outdoor palms. I still managed as you can see with all the blog posts after 2017. But now things are going to get a lot busier in the NY garden! This summer I started a new job as a meteorologist on Long Island. Now you'll be able to see two of my tropical yards, one on Long Island and one on Staten Island!

How to move with your plants

This was the trailer that carried all my plants. It was 10 feet wide and 20 feet long and PACKED with plants

Before I show you what I've been up to this summer in the garden, let me give you a little look back at the move. In South Carolina, I had a 4th-floor apartment and a balcony filled with hundreds of tropical plants. You can imagine it was tough bringing those plants down the stairs, in a trailer, and halfway across the east coast. Here are a few photos of what it looked like! 

Also, a heads up: certain plants cannot be moved between certain state lines to reduce the spread of diseases (like citrus for Florida). When I left Florida, I had a certificate from the Florida Department of Agriculture to go with my plants to prove they were pest free and that I wasn't carrying any plants illegally. 

A few years ago, I was able to get a moving company to bring my plants to my new place, but this go around none of the moving companies were willing to move plants on their trucks. This means the best option right now is to rent a truck and drive it yourself. Most truck rentals are not climate-controlled in the storage section, so you'll ideally want to drive your plants at night during the summer months and through above-freezing temperatures in the wintertime.

The plumeria were beginning to bloom so I had to protect them with paper towels and tape.

All the plants survived the move! And as you can see below they were a lot of plants! They made a mess though because nearly every single glass pot broke along the way. A leaf blower was a good investment!