Like many Florida gardeners, I’ve spent the last few days assessing the damage to my gardens. We all know this cold snap was devastating to professional and amateur gardeners alike, and a casual observer might look at the brown and wilted world and assume nothing survived. But as we start to clear away the botanical rubble, [...]
If you’re the optimistic or ambitious type, no doubt you’ve been making some 2010 New Year’s Resolutions. If you’ve still got a little room on that list, why not add a few resolutions to help out your gardens this year, too? Here are some great Florida-Friendly resolutions to get you started: Add More Native Plants. Florida’s [...]
It ain't exactly as thrilling as a roller coaster ride, but there are lots of people doing great things to help lead us to a more sustainable (and profitable) existence. In our bay area schools, no less.
Local government is putting the squeeze on our favorite programs. Which ones worry you the most?
Let me start by warning you – butterfly gardening can easily become an obsession. It starts simply enough, when you notice some monarchs on your milkweed. Then the zebra longwings and gulf fritillaries start to haunt your passionvine, sending you out to look at the growing caterpillars daily. When the swallowtails start to visit, impossibly [...]
In the spirit of Independence Day, today I pose the question: Which plants give you gardening independence? Which plants mostly take care of themselves, allowing you more time for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Which plants survive the heat, the drought, the wet, and even the occasional frost? Which plants bloom or grow reliably [...]
Gardening for butterflies is one of the easiest ways to bring nature right into your own backyard. Any good butterfly garden must provide both nectar plants for the adult butterflies, as well as host plants for the larval caterpillars. The great thing about milkweed is that it takes care of both of these needs, all [...]
This article is sponsored by Tampa Fence. June 1 is, of course, the official start of the hurricane season (not that Tropical Depression 1 seems to have noticed). Forecasters are predicting an “average season”, but as they say, it only takes one. Tampa may have had good luck in recent years (ok, three years) when it [...]
Any gardener knows the value of mulch in a garden. Mulch helps retain valuable moisture in the soil and prevents weed growth, among other benefits. New gardeners might be amazed at the variety of mulch types available, and in my next post, I’ll take a look at some of the best options for a Florida-Friendly [...]
