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? 

A few tropical plants that are LOVING the shade on my patio

Most of my favorite tropical plants (like my bananas) love getting as much heat and sunshine as possible, but these have been thriving with just a bit of afternoon sunshine. They really seem to thrive indoors as houseplants over the winter too.

Here are how they look in September! 

My flamethrower palm, Chambeyronia macrocarpa only produces a single frond a year, but the leaf is huge and red. It's such an exciting plant!

An orchid flower peeking out between Coleus and Variegated Alocasia wentii “vintage silver”

Dicksonia antarctica

I've had my Medinilla myriantha since 2017 and it's bloomed every single year. A fantastic houseplant and an even better patio plant!

I mean check out those blooms! I'm in love.

Classic Anthurium that i've also had since 2017. It bloom all summer long. 

My Panama Hat Palm, Carludovica palmata, looked completely dead after it suffered transplant shock. It's not a real palm tree though (It's more closely related to elephant ears!) It looks like it'd make a promising houseplant so I'm excited to see how it performs inside during it's first winter.

A few of my ferns

Ferns are one of the most versatile plants in the world. Where there is water there are bound to be ferns somewhere! Some grow in trees in the tropics and subtropics, others grow as trees providing a beautiful canopy in exotic forests and beautiful gardens, and the rest grow close to the ground. Here are some photos of my ferns. I have a few species of ferns not included in this post because they are young and not as photogenic. I'll make a separate post for those soon!

Here is my Staghorn fern. It's an epiphyte which means it gets its nutrients from the air and does not grow in soil. Because of this you can do lots of cool things with them like mount them on a piece of driftwood, hang them from a tree (or mount them to trees like they grow in the wild if you live in a warm climate). I have mine is growing in a tiny glass pot which makes it look really interesting. It grew FAST this summer and the plant is now swallowing the pot. I'll be repotting it in the spring for sure if I can keep it happy inside my house this summer. I have no idea how I will manage to repot it so stay tuned in the spring for that!

I just brought my Staghorn Fern inside today. It's going to spend the winter in my bathroom where it should be happy. It's got a skylight so there is plenty of natural light and it is of course pretty humid in there. We will see how it holds up! 

This next fern is the most common fern growing in yards around here. In cooler climates they can handle some full sun but in my yard they definitely are lovers of the shade. They can actually get pretty large. Unfortunately they do lose their leaves in the winter. Ostrich Ferns are their name if you want to get your own. I warn you that they are a little weedy but they are native! I have them growing in a confined bed so it doesn't act up. The light green fronds are called sterile fronds and make up the majority of the plant. The funky looking fronds in the center of the plant are called fertile fronds and that is how this fern species releases its spores to reproduce. Ferns have been around for a VERY long time so they are sometimes a bit weird and primitive which makes them all the more interesting to grow.

Here's my newest fern planted this past spring. It's called a Tassel Fern (Polystichum polyblepharum) and it is reported to be evergreen in my climate. There are not a lot of evergreen fern options for my area so I think this will be a really valuable addition to my landscape. It'll definitely add some tropical vibes to the winter garden. 

I am very surprised that it is growing this time of the year. I wonder if the new, tender growth will survive a hard freeze.

The "trunk" reminds me a lot of a young tree fern. The fronds do too actually. This is a very tropical looking fern. Not sure if it will prove to be evergreen but it is reportedly hardy down to -20F so it will definitely survive the winter if that is true. Looking forward to finding out!

1st Post Ever, small sample of what I grow.

Hi! I've been growing tropical plants here in NYC for several years now and every year the collection gets bigger and bigger and the plants in the collection have also gotten a lot bigger too! This post is just a "small" summary of last season. 

Some of the plants you see in these pics are Buttefly ginger, Spiral ginger, Musa Saba, Musa Blue Java (Ice Cream Banana), mediterranean fan palm, mandevilla, peace lilies, dicksonia antarctica tree fern, Sky Glory Vine, Passion Vine, Elephant ears, Plumeria Divine (among other plumerias as well), Brugmansia "Ember Glow",  Frostproof Gardenia, oleanders, Sabal minor, Crape Myrtle "Zuni", Desert Rose, Hibiscus, papaya, and some others. Not included are most of my cold hardy palms (which I will post soon) and about half of my other tropicals.

I hope you enjoy this blog! I will try to update as regularly as I can.