What's Blooming Now: July

Happy hot hot days of summer everyone!

It should cool down a bit after this lovely rainy day we are having.. hopefully!

It has been a scorched, so I'm sure the plants are very happy about this rain.

We've been snapping some photos around town to share with everyone what's blooming now:

We spotted this tall Rudbeckia laciniata towering over the sidewalk in Carrol Gardens. It's a member of the sunflower family and is an annual like it's cousins.

I found this beautiful Delphinium elatum 'guardian blue', at Crest in Williamsburg. Ooo I love it so much!

Bee Balm, Monarda, is easy to grow and will attract pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden.

Milkweed! Asclepias syriaca spotted in BedStuy and Asclepias tuberosa spotted at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  This milkshake brings all the Monarchs to the yard. lol Sorry, I had to. But for real, milkweed is the Monarch butterfly's only host plant.

This Pale Purple Coneflower, Echinacea pallida, was spotted at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. <3

Check out these other varieties at Gowanus Nursery! 

Double Scoop Cranberry Coneflower, Echinacea x 'Balscanery' (omg sooooo awesome!) and Cheyenne Spirit Coneflower, Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ 

Butterfly bush, Buddleia x 'Podaras, with a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail spotted at Kings County Nursery

This lavender is going strong in one of our gardens in Williamsburg.

Sunflowers! are going strong all over Brooklyn! The left is in Carrol Gardens and the right was spotted near my house in BedStuy. I love those clusters of them.

(All photos by Dana Boyd)

What's Blooming Now: August

Happy summer, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying it as much as we are. 

Our Staghorn moto-gang has zipped around Brooklyn to get some photos of plants in bloom now. Here are some we have spotted around town:

Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, peeking over a fence in Bushwick

Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora', bursting out in Prospect Heights

The Pagoda trees, Styphnolobium japonicum, are covering sidewalks all over with their little yellow petals

Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia, in Park Slope

We stopped into the 6/15 Green community garden in Park Slope to check out all their blooming flowers. It was so beautiful in there under their giant weeping willow tree <3

Sunflowers!

Echinacea

Some more Rose of Sharon (under the beautiful weeping willow <3 )

Dahlia, Sunflower with some bees! and a couple sunflowers hanging out with the morning glories

Beautiful Anemones

The community garden was quite beautiful. I'd recommend checking it out!

Get out there and enjoy these beauties before summer is all gone! 

All photos by Colin and Dana.

What's Blooming Now- Mid Spring Edition

Happy spring, everyone! Last weekend was oh so lovely. Hopefully the warm weather picks up again soon and we can all get out and enjoy the sunshine. 

Our plant friends are finally all waking up and bursting into action.

This is our first installment of 'What's Blooming Now'. I've gotten to wander around our lovely city and here are some of the beautiful plants I've caught blooming into action! 

Cherry Tree, Prunus spp. - Kensington, Brooklyn

Forsythia, Forsythia x intermedia - Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn

Hellebores, helleborus spp. - Prospect Heights Community Farm, Brooklyn

Saucer Magnolia Tree, Magnolia × soulangeana - Park Slope, Brooklyn

Tulips and Daffodils, Tulipa spp. and Narcissus spp. - Bryant Park, Manhattan

Weeping Cherry Tree, Prunus subhirtella - Park Slope, Brooklyn

Star Magnolia, Magnolia stellata - Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

These are some of the awesome plants in action right now. 

A few that are also in bloom right now that I didn't catch are:

Crocus, Crocus spp.

Flowering Pear Tree, Pyrus calleryana

Hawthorn, Crataegus spp.

Pansy, Viola spp.

Witchhazel, Hamamelis virginiana

Keep your eyes peeled for some Redbuds, Cercis canadensis  and Flowering Dogwoods, Cornus florida. They will be bursting into action soon along with many more!

Get outside and enjoy those beautiful flowers while they are here! Soon enough leaves! glorious leaves! will be back. (: