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! 

The banana plants are crawling back to life!

 

The Ensete in the front yard is growing the fastest. There's still a little work to do here.

Musa Basjoo having a good year so far. I've killed these plants so many times. The mother plant died to the ground but it's growing back from the pseudostem and there is a pup. 

Musa sikkimensis Bengal Tiger from Plant Delights. It was a just a small tissue culture in August 2022.

Next to it is my Viente Cohol (at least that's what it was labeled). It gets a lot more sun and much hotter. Half the stem broke off when I moved it outside, but it's sprouting back nicely!

Also really loving the shade garden this year!

Tradescantia sillamontana - a surprisingly cold hardy tropical annual

Tradescantia sillamontana is so much more cold tolerant than I expected. I figured it would only survive in a mild spot in the garden, but these are popping up right next to my lawn which is very cold and wet all winter. Although they’re sold

as annuals, they can definitely take some cold  

Oct 2020

These photos from my parents yard shows what T. Sillamontana looks like as a trailing container plant.

Oct 2 2021

My home depot peony roots are blooming!

 This variety is called Bartzella. It's an itoh peony which is an intersectional peony (a cross between a tree peony and herbaceous peony). A huge benefit is they don't flop over! 
I got this as a root in Mid-March 2023 and it actually produced a bloom that same year. This year I got 2 blooms. Whoa baby! 

First Pool Day of 2024!

 And what a beautiful pool day it was at my parents house on Staten Island! 

I moved my giant Black Knight Ti plants from the entrance to my parents backyard toward the pool and I am LOVING the pop of color. I also added a few ti plants near the Trachycarpus palms for a little extra tropical flare. 

Both Trachycarpus are blooming this year along with my Florida Anise illicium

The Wisteria and gardenia are looking nice!

A little burn on the Adondila palm from the sun, but not bad overall! 

The Gold Struck Rose has been in this container for a few years. When I got it from the nursery the trunk was BURIED in soil and I left it that way, but I decided it was time to repot it to properly align the soil with its root line. It was so happy it made its biggest flower ever!

My favorite bloom in my parents yard right now! Bletilla striata aka Hardy Ground Orchid blooms in May!

I'm loving this begonia!

I got this Ensete for 40 dollars because the leaves were broken. I felt that was more reasonable than the $90 original price. It will grow back quickly!

My Rhododendron is in full bloom!

I love my tropical plants, but when my rhododendron is in bloom, it absolutely steals the show! It's a classic springtime shrub on Long Island, but it's bloom time is so short that it really is incredibly special.

 

Although these temperate rhododendron don't have the same climate requirements as much tropicals, they do look great together! 

Old Man Palm and Bismarkia couldn't be prettier! I'm really happy that they haven't had any sunburn this season after their winter inside the house. 

My ponderosa lemon living it's best life

Thanks for looking!