Its been a warm week so some plants have really been sent into growth mode! Right now it's 101.4F outside and the dew point has been in the 70s all day long. June did start out cool though and here's the data.

The month started off below average, but ended with 2 pretty big heat waves, one of which we are still in.

Precipitation was above avearge thanks to a few rainy days early in the month.

I got my Davis Vantage Vue last June so I now have an entire year's worth of data. Here's how the last year has been in my yard. Summer 2011 was warm and above average. October was the only cold month in the Fall with a lowest temperature well below normal. Spring 2012 averaged near to slightly below average which was a change from the past few months before that and June averaged right around average after being nearly 10F below average for the first half of the month.

Now here are some pics of the plants taken yesterday. Some (especially the bananas)have grown noticeably just in the last 24 hours!

THE PALMS

When you cut a tree down you can get an idea of how good or bad the seasons were by the size of the rings on the stump. Well with my unprotected trachy, you can tell how bad a winter was by looking at the 1st frond to open up each spring. I was surprised to see it damaged this past winter since we did have a mild one, but young trachys arent as cold tolerant as adult trachys so I'll forgive it. Here's a look at the rainbow-like damage from this past winter and then the damage from the winter before.

I tried out some Carl Pools palm fertlizer for the first time on most of my palms today. I hope the results are noticable. Most of the palms got about 1/2 to 1 cup of it.

The adondila is doing well. I had to cut a low hanging frond off because it was giving my coconut palms too much shade

My trachy and livistona are growing well. I think the trachy is growing it's 3rd frond now. Hopefully the Carl Pool's palm fertlizer will speed it up even more! My goal is for it to reach flowering age by Summer 2014.

The livistonia has completely recovered from the winter damage it had. It started growing in late March so it only took 3 months to look as nice (maybe nicer) than the hardier palms in the ground. And the purple hearts that survived the winter are bigger than last year already and bigger than the ones I got from the store this spring.

All the pool plants are growing fast in the heat. The banana opened up the newest leaf in the last 24 hours!

The cannas not only survived the winter, but are blooming right on time. Usually I get my first blooms around 4th of July, these started opening up at the end of June.

I love the way airplants change color when they are about to bloom. The red coloring on this tillandsia can be seen across the yard and the blooms are small but make for a nice pic!

Another angle of the pool plants. The Butterfly ginger should definitely be blooming earlier this year (they didnt bloom until early November last year, but at least they bloomed!)

Moon vine germinated about 6-7 weeks ago (Planted the seeds in mid May) and they are already about 5 feet tall not including the pot. The growth rate is incredible on these vines and it should cover the gazeboo in blooms in by August! I was worried that having to keep it in a pot would slow it down, but I dont think it has.

Geraniums taking the heat well with lots of waterings.

This is what you see when you walk outside. The yard is definitely filling out nicely and I cant wait to see it a month from now since some plants definitely have some more growing to do!

Spindle palm looking the same

Im just happy the potted geraniums stayed alive, but blooms are even better!

Good thing I like figs, looks like a lot of them this year and its only its second summer so its far from mature.

I never can remember the name of this plant. I think it's a kanchloe and I know I spelled that one wrong.

Zuni Crape Myrtle getting ready to bloom and Kopper King Hibiscus very close to blooming also.

Annuals doing well

A little disappointed that my Ensete hasnt grown noticably taller yet, but it looks good and that's all that matters right now.

Sprial ginger growing fast and making a pup. It should have 5 pups at least by fall.

I love gardenias and Im happy that frostproof gardenias do well in my area, at least so far. It has about 9 blooms currently opened and lots of buds too. Cant wait until it's a little bigger and makes 100s of blooms!

Gave the Med fan palm some Carl Pool Fertlizer so Im hoping that will speed up the growth a little, but it's been a pretty good grower and a very hardy plant so no complants. The oleander show's no signs of stopping it's blooms!

I thought the ensete might outgrow the saba, but now it looks like the Saba will be much taller than the Ensete. In heat like this, its a fast grower!

Musa Saba and some ginger

Ribbon Palm recovering from a rough winter indoors and elephant ear growing fast!

My Dicksonia antarctica was burned bad last october and I didnt think it would make it, but it's recovering. The fronds are smaller now, but I hope it gets back to its previous size by next year.

Schefflera is outgrowing it's spot (Im amazed at how much it has grown in 1 year since it was only about 1 1/2 feet tall when I got it last spring!). The Philodendron xandu is growing more wide than high.

The Madagascar palm took its time flushing this spring since it was hit by a light frost. Now it's doing well and I think it will have a lot of growth this year.

I planted my agave americana in the ground, I dont think its a great match for that spot so I may have to relocate it next year.

Table plants. We got these from someone and I didnt realize the orchid wasnt real until I touched the blooms. I dont promote the use of fake plants so it's not outside anymore! The basket of plants is real though so that is still outside.

This area filled out really nicely, I think it looks nicer than previous years and it's only July!

My confederate Jasmine bloomed like crazy indoors but it decided it also wanted to bloom again so it's blooming outdoors now,, about 2 months later than last year!

I still havent got this area the way I want it, but it's looking better than it did.

Now what should I do with my papaya. It grew really well last summer outdoors growing from 1 foot tall to over 6 feet in a single growing season. I dug it up out of the ground in the fall (destroying most of the roots) and brought it inside where it struggled but surprisingly grew. When I lifted it outside the pot was lighter than I expected so the trunk hit the wall and broke in half. I thought it was really a gonner this time, but it decided to grow back! Now it has 3 branches so Im trying to decide if I should keep all 3 or get rid of all but 1. Any advice?

And my favorite vine, my passiflora. Its a heavy bloomer and requires no care and best of all, survives the winter!

Thanks for looking!

-Alex