My driveway and front yard garden in Late August

My plant wall and citrus grove in my driveway is coming along nicely. It's amazing how many flowers the kumquat has been producing. This is the third flush this season! 

Mule palm getting a lot of size (trachycarpus latisectus on the left side)

Close up of my Tetrapanex & Mrs. Peters Geranium

My variegated kumquat doing well! 

Sago palm slowly trying to flush out.

Plenty of blooms on the kumquat & my Bronx Zoo Fig (Biagos Blush) is definitely ready to go in the ground next season. This is an air layer from my parents garden.

Peeping snow queen hibiscus above with the Sweet Potato Vines creeping downward. A cool effect!

You can see the Yucca aloifolia Magenta Magic on the bottom left side here 

Zinnia that I didn't plant (Thank you birds!)

Tibouchina urvella peeping in on the left side. This overwinters in the garage. My Hybrid Cycad (revoluta x panzhihuaensis) flushes so much more easily than the Sago 

Wider shot!

Another angle with my Pink Passion Cordyline australis

Encore Azaleas begin! Fall is here!

Madagascar palm (Pachypodium lamerei) grows SO slow here, but at least it looks pretty for now. Won't be long before it's inside for the winter. The Yucca rostrata will go in the ground in the spring. Also peeping on the left side is my Trachycarpus fortunei (aka my windmill palm!)

Thanks for looking! 

 

Some VERY weird TropicalHibiscus in my garden

I got a new hibiscus from San Diego. This is an Australian Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii) 

(August 10th)

Last year I bought a "Snow Queen" Hibiscus from a local college plant sale. It did better than all my other hibiscus inside the house and has grown to MASSIVE proportions this year. The branches hang downward  and the leaves get whiter and whiter the more it's exposed to sun. It's definitely not your ordinary hibiscus and that adds to the charm. 

August 11

My first Plumeria from Jim Little Plumerias on Oahu is in bloom!

I brought back three cuttings from my visit to Hawaii in April and one of them is flowering. JL Hawaiian Rose &  JL Juicy Juice are still working on building strong roots, but my Jim Little Metallica Plumeria is well on its way! I already needed to repot it and it has a very healthy inflorescence! 

Jim Little Metallica

August 6

August 8

August 10

August 11

August 15

Inca Gold

Jungle Music Melody 

August 8

Variegated Plumeria Maya

August 6

Have you ever seen THIS hardy hibiscus before?

 One of my favorite cold hardy hibiscus is also my tallest! It's called Hibiscus"Raspberry Rose" and gets surprisingly HUGE. It's is a dieback perennial (unlike the non-native Rose of Sharon which has a tree form), but seems to get more than 6 feet tall with ease! 

The flowers have really unusual divided petals that give it a different look than most hibiscus. Apparently it's a cross between the Texas Star Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) and something else, but your guess is as good as mine. It has MUCH larger leaves than a hibiscus coccineus, but the flowers do have a similar shape. 

The blooms start in August and keep on going until Frost so it's definitely a later bloomer, but worth it! 

Here's a timeline: 

Aug 8

Aug 10

August 13

My new plants from California!

I traveled to San Diego and stuffed a few fun and unusual plants in my suitcase to bring home! 

From left to right: 

Agave Ovatifolia, Plumeria Pink Jenny, Blue Australian Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii), Chamaedorea glaucifolia, Butia paraguayensis (Dwarf yatay palm), Hybrid Cycad (Cycas revoluta x debaoensis), Sabal rosei, Arenga engleri, Cycas debaoensis, Butia × Jubaea

Jungle Music Palms and Cycads was EPIC ... Phil and Rodrigo were so knowledgeable. I grew up visiting the website so visiting in person was just epic! 

A stop to Home Depot

Coffee with mom at Terra Bella Nursery