Coming back to life!

May is a tough time of the year for a tropical gardener in New York. It just isn't very warm! But there is a lot of beauty from our northern plants to tide me over & even the tiniest things in the tropical garden get me incredibly excited! 

The snow load was tough on my palms, but the milder winter was very nice. I'm planting a Musa Velutina next to my needle palm. 

The bananas are doing wonderful things! Unfortunately my musa (sold as viente cohol but probably not) broke in half, but a new leaf is emerging!

It had a large pup that I decided to separate to try in a container in the front garden. 

That pup also snapped in half but is growing back! 

The citrus did excellent this year! Owari and Meyer are in this photo. Also looking like a good year for my grape vine! 

Musa Sikkimensis is going in the pond garden this year. I also have a Mekong Giant and my Alphina Ginger.

My Musa Ae Ae was an october purchase. This is it's first summer!

Musa Siam Ruby has seen better days, but it's alive and that's the most I can ask for!

Musa Basjoo coming back for it's second summer. I actually did have it for a few years in a container.

Alocasia stingray with a sprouting Dahlia I overwintered in the garage

Hedychium Vanilla Ice. Usually I keep them in the garage, but this year I wanted to keep some greenery on them so they could get larger.

My new Pink China Colocasia from Brian Botanicals. Hopefully it will prove cold hardy!

Magnolia Ashei. I hope it blooms! This is year 2.

My Star Jasmine survived its second winrter. It was a mild winter, but still exciting!

My tropical hibiscus and plumeria are getting maximum sunlight against the house ... except in this photo. But trust me, it gets hot!

Begonia Luxurians looking good. I think it's set to get big this year!

Fatsia Japonica overwintered with ease

All my Hedychium ginger are coming back from the ground. This is my Butterfly ginger by the deck. 

Hedychium Daniel Weeks 

Calla and canna coming back beautifully. The calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica Swartberg Giant) was a Plant Delights purchase in 2020 and was originally in my work garden in South Carolina. 

Crown of thorns hanging in alongside my desert rose which are breaking dormancy

A good year for figs! This is Lil Fig in it's second year now. I had it next to my needle palm initially, but it was getting too big. 

A few Spring Blooms

My latest garden obsession are daffodils

There are more than 26 THOUSAND types of them, my favorites this year are the doubles.

Replete has this awesome salmon colored center and the cut flowers are very fragrant in my kitchen. The blooms last a lot longer than my typical yellow ones too.

One of the most fragrant daffodils in the world is Sir Winston Churchill. I’m growing it in a container so I can enjoy the scent up close. It’s a short grower that pairs really well with the larger and tropical colors from “Tahiti”.

My Camellias are also doing great! This is Ashton's High Rise and RL Wheeler

Even spring bulbs aren't spared from my appetite for unusual plants. There are thousands of different types of daffodils. This my first year growing "Replete". I love the double flowers with orange inside 

Daffodil Replete new this year

New Plants from Florida!

Everytime I visit Florida I try to bring some fun plants back & this might be my biggest haul I've ever carried on a plane! 

Going Bananas

I purchased three new banana plants from an incredible local banana plant grower. The Musa Thai Black was field dug and is already large & showing some gorgeous dark coloration. I'm also trying Musa Sumatrana X Gran Nain, and what I thought was Musa Velutina.... but could be Musa Viente Cohol. We'll have to see.

Here they are when I picked them up...

Unfortunately the Musa Sumatrana X Gran Nain banana had damage so I decided it would be healthier to cut it off right from the bottom of the damage. It's already growing back. 

Mounts Botanical Garden - Palm & Cycad Sale

I had a blast talking with the palm tree hobbyist at this sale! They showed me pictures of their gardens that truly had me drooling. Unfortunately, a lot of vendors couldnt make it to the sale because of the weather, but I still managed to bring home some cool plants like Chamadorea ernestii angusta & Dypsis maroantsetra. 

Dypsis maroantsetra develops red new fronds. I'm so excited for that! 

Tropical Plants outside ... IN MARCH!

March is usually cold, cloudy and generally miserable here on Long Island ... but we got a VERY nice reprieve this week. Temperatures soared into the 70s for 2 days straight in my garden & we had a string of 60s too. So I took out the tropical plants for some fresh air and sunshine! 

Queen Palm, Singapore Twist, and Camellia

Lady palm, Sasanqua camellia (it's been blooming on and off all winter), and to the left, a variegated kumquat.

A closeup! 

I'm playing around with some color combinations and really like the way the variegated ti plant looks  with the chinese fan palm

 

To the far right you see a poinsetta is still filled with color! 

Flamethrower palm living its best life with the Staghorn Fern and Ti Plant

I repotted my Orange and Yellow Bird of Paradise. It took me over a half hour to pry the roots off and unfortunately I did damage a few of the roots.

A very exciting purchase - a Monstera Thai Consellation! 

Bismarkia Palm looking good!