Just a Few Weeks of Summer

It's amazing how much the tropicals can grow in just a few weeks. In this blog post, the before photos were taken in Mid May. After photos were taken sometime in the past week. 

My plumerias have filled out a lot in a few weeks. My "Crazy" plumeria is about to open up it's first blooms of the season (it's in bloom a LOT more often than it is not!).  What's most impressive is the basil. I had little faith that it would even survive but now I'm cooking with basil every day and still struggling to keep up! 

Before

After

After

My potted elephant ears are filling out pretty well! Focus on the elephant ear in the black pot in the "before" photo below.

Before

After

I did some rearranging with the potted plants near my door (I will make another post about that process), but the result is a much fuller and more organized looking scene.

Before

 After

This clump of banana cannas has grown tremendously in the past few weeks. It's already taller than me and there are no signs of it stopping. So far I love these cannas! My mekong giant is in this same bed. Despite dying to the ground completely, it is already taller than my Musa Basjoo. I love the shape my fig has taken on this season. It will be easy to prune as a tree next season.

Before

 After

My oldest brugmansia took a major hit in the garage this past winter (it was 12 feet tall last season and is now 4 feet tall) but it's growing back very quickly and is already starting to bloom. The brugmansia to the left is growing much slower, but hopefully will bloom this season for the first time ever (I've had it for 2 years). My Colocasia "Nancy Revenge" has filled out really nicely.

 Before

After

 

I'm a little disappointed with some of my plants in the pool area. The elephant ears, banana canna, palms, and gardenias are all doing fantastic, but the banana plants are definitely having a slow start in terms of adding height. It's still early in the season though so we'll see what happens with the bananas in the weeks ahead! 

As always, thanks for looking! 

Happy First Full Day of Summer!

Today's the longest day of the year and the first day of summer. While the days will slowly be getting shorter form here on out, the days will only be getting warmer and warmer for the next few weeks and the tropicals will really start to explode with growth! 

Here's a few palmy shots. Livistona and bottle palms make a good pair.

This view never seems to change and that's ok with me!

My largest plumeria goes through a lot of trouble to go outside every spring. It's recovering nicely and should look great in a few weeks. I am thinking of mounting bromeliads and orchids over all the branches so stay tuned!

Southern Magnolia flowers are a sure sign of Summer! 

My Magnolia has lots of buds but unfortunately it's a bit bare in terms of foliage. It has been transplanted so many times which it did not respond well to. 

Eastern Prickly Pears are native and yet so exotic looking. They require no care and are so rewarding. My front steps are filled with yellow blooms for the whole month of June.

The plant has a bit of a creeping habit which makes it a perfect addition to my large brick planter bed by my stairs. 

Speaking of blooms my Plumeria "Jenny" is blooming really well right now. 

My Plumeria "Crazy" will have a ton of flowers in a few more weeks.

 I've noticed my plumerias seem to all bloom at the same time. Last year they were all blooming and this year only a few are. It will probably be a quiet year for plumerias but I'll sill have some blooms all summer long which is perfect for me!

It's been years since I have seen blooms on my "Color Guard" yucca. It's a nice addition to the yard!

My oleander is getting ready to bloom.

Hibiscus "Mandarin Wind"

Hyacinth Bean

Salvia "Black and Blue". It survived its first winter with flying colors and is spreading beautifully.

Cucuzza is the easiest edible I've ever grown. The vines are beautiful and the gourds are very tasty especially in sauce. This section of the yard is dedicated to Cucuzza and Basil both for tomato sauce!

Remember when I said these vines were beautiful? They are also VERY FAST growing! These were in 4 inch pots earlier this month. Now they are pushing 14 feet long and are setting fruit This one is growing in an "Earth Box" which - although expensive - really do keep plants healthy and happy. 

I also have some zucchini growing in an earth box and it's about 3 times the size of the same zucchini in the ground. Now all I need is some fruit. I also highly recommend stuffing zucchini flowers with basil and cheese, it tastes great!

My sabals are looking a bit better now that they've had some heat. They finished pushing out their first damaged leaf of the season and are working on their second fronds.

My Trachys are growing much faster already on their 3rd frond of the season and the fronds are pretty big!

In a shadier spot of the yard I get to mess around with different tropical foliage textures. There is still a lot more growing to do here!

You can see my needle palm in this shot!

My blood banana needs to pick up the pace. It's put out about 3 or 4 leaves this season which is pretty good but it hasn't gotten a lot of height yet. It should pick up in speed soon!

Passiflora Incarnata taking a break from blooming and setting fruit. I'll definitely be trying out these seeds.

Can't wait for my cannas to grow large enough to block the ugly machine in this part of the yard. Hopefully this will be looking much nicer in a month!

My Ensete is looking a little beat up from the wind this past spring but once the old leaves are cut off it's going to look AWESOME. Patience is key! 

I love these fuzzy blooms and the butterflies do too!

I'll end with this AWESOME home depot purchase from last week - a Frostproof Gardenia. I already have 1 frostproof gardenia but it died back severely during our bitter cold winter 2 years ago. I was in shock to see Home Depot selling hardy Gardenias. They also had Kleims Hardy Gardenia for sale but they only bloom in early summer so I figured Frostproof was a better purchase!

That's all I have for now but summer has just begun! Thanks for looking!

Rhododendron 'Garden Rainbow'

Rhododendron "Garden Rainbow" is a really cool plant. While it is a deciduous azalea (meaning it loses its leaves during the winter), it makes up for it with incredible blooms during the spring. The blooms start off yellow and change to orange and pink over the course of a few days. The result is an array of colors. While it looks tropical it's really cold hardy and probably would not do well without a nice and chilly winter to go dormant! Sometimes us northerners get to have beautiful plants that you can't have in warm climates!

A Year of Growing Musa xishuangbannaensis "Mekong Giant" in Zone 7

This photo was from when I first planted my Mekong Giant in late June 2015. I got this plant off Ebay and could not be happier with the size and health of the plant. As soon as it was planted in the ground it took right off which is rare from my experience with banana plants.

By September my Mekong Giant had more than doubled in height. The fence is 6 feet tall. Notice the reddish tint to the underside of the leaves. this is one characteristic that separates this species from Musa Basjoo, another very cold hardy banana. 

Mekong Giants seem to be slightly less tolerant of frosts than other bananas.

Here it is in mid November 2015 covered with burlap but still looking very green overall.

Over the winter I cooked my banana to death with christmas lights in an attempt to try and protect the whole stem. When I went to check on my plant in the middle of our winter cold, the stem was practically too hot to touch. The whole stem died back. I was not expecting to see my Mekong Giant ever again, but just a few weeks ago I saw this...

That banana pup was over a foot away from the dead mother plant. Another defining characteristic of Mekong Giants are their long rhizomes so their pups are often feet away from the mother plant. Here's how my Mekong Giant looks now in the middle of June 2016, almost a year from when it was first planted. It is now 2 smaller plants instead of one large plant. 

I think this year will be a great year for my Mekong Giant bananas because although it is smaller than this time last year, it's growing very quickly. It has grown nearly 4 leaves in just a month. I probably will not be giving these plants any heated protection this winter.

Thanks for looking!