Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: March 2009

This is my first time participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I've known about it a long time and follow what others have blooming, but I'm such a terrible gardener that I don't typically have much blooming. But, this month is different!

I planted a Japanese Magnolia two years ago. The student club had a big plant sale and it was a great deal. It was one of the first plants that I planted in our new landscape. It had one or two blooms last year, but this year it just took off!


I know this makes Tom really mad. He is a great gardener (well, he is the Florida Master Gardener Coordinator!) and he has six or eight of these trees. But, the squirrels eat his buds off every year! He never gets any flowers and this makes him very, very mad at the squirrels.




I just LOVE these flowers! I think they're beautiful and I'm always sad to see them stop blooming.

Blueberries! And other garden related news

More than a year ago, a friend of mine gave me small blueberry plants for free! Free being the key word. One of the local ag teachers had been growing them and needed the space and my friend just happened to be his neighbor. So, I was lucky enough to get 10 rabbiteye (I think). I hope I got two different varieties of rabbiteye so that they produce berries, but I'm just not sure. Anyways, the poor blueberry plants sat in pots for the last year occasionally getting watered. Over the winter, they stayed in their pots and it got really cold. I thought for sure that I had killed them. But, lo and behold, they started leafing out! So, since I'm home with a sick kid today with nothing better to do, I FINALLY planted the little plants. Yeah!! I haven't taken any pictures yet, but will do so soon!

Earlier this year, I emailed the UF blueberry expert because Will's kindergarten class is planting blueberry plants as part of their Ag in the Classroom project. He suggested rabbiteye (we're north of Ocala) and the two varieties he recommended are Powderblue and Brightwell. I don't think these are either of my varieties, but I might try to get some of them in the near future. The blueberry expert says they do pretty well in this area. If you're interested in growing blueberries as part of your edible landscape, the Blueberry Gardener's Guide is an excellent resource.

In other gardening news, Sarah and I decided to try vegetable gardening together this year. She's going to come to my house and we're going to do it together. Kind of like a workout buddy. Hopefully, this keeps us both more disciplined. She came over last weekend and we cleaned up the raised beds and planted seeds of zucchini, sunflowers, and okra in the beds and zinnias, basil, heirloom tomatoes, hot peppers, and marigolds in transplant trays. Everything seems to have emerged so far. I took pictures of all of this, but of course, they are on my work computer and I'm home with a sick kid.

Finally returning to gardening

After an unusually cold winter (which probably isn't done yet), we're finally ready to start gardening again. Will has been involved with a great school garden project and he's really taken an interest in it. We're starting this year with our Earth Box. We love them and think they're great - although my last couple crops have been terrible out of them (probably the gardeners fault, not the plants).

This year, I bought two tomato plants to go in it - a Big Boy and an Early Girl. I specifically bought them so it would be a boy for the boy and a girl for the girl.

Here is the empty Earth Box. It has a new PVC pipe because Tebow ate the last one.


The kids with their plants.


Will planting his little tomato. He really just wants to water it every day with the pvc pipe, but I forgot to take a picture of him doing that.


And, the finished project. We put it right on the porch so that we have to walk by it every time we come out the door. That should help the gardener (me) out some.


And, yes, that is a big fertilizer buggy in the background in case you were wondering. It's in the midst of repair for the farm, but should soon be headed back to the barn. I think it's a little big for my garden.

Woo Hoo! Florida Master Gardener Program is 30 Years Old!

Congratulations to the Florida Master Gardener Program! 2009 marks the 30th anniversary for the program. In three decades, Master Gardeners have made a huge difference in Florida. Since 1979, Master Gardeners have donated more than 5.4 million hours, which is worth some $83 million!

Noteworthy statistics:
- more than 80 percent of counties adopted the program within its first two decades
- fifty-eight of Florida's sixty-seven counties have active Master Gardener programs
- the average lifespan of county programs is twelve years
- each county has an average of seventy-three trained volunteers
- more than 82 percent of counties train one new class of Master Gardeners each year

Read more about the program's success here.

Could we lose our Avocado industry?

A recently published IFAS story details how Florida's avocado industry could be in danger from a fungus that's transmitted by a beetle.

"Florida’s avocado industry, the nation’s second-largest, could lose millions of dollars if a new disease reaches the state’s southern tip, according to University of Florida experts.

Laurel wilt disease, caused by a fungus transmitted by the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle, kills avocado and several native trees including redbay, said Jonathan Crane, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and co-author of a paper estimating the disease’s financial impact. The paper is expected to be published later this year."

I don't eat avocados, but it's sad to see another of Florida's iconic agriculture industries in jeopardy. Hopefully, they find a solution soon. Good luck researchers!

Florida 2009 Plants of the Year

Every year, the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscapers Association names the top 10 plants of the year. This year includes a highlight of some of the best plants from the last decade. Here are the winners:

Acca sellowiana/Pineapple Guava
Arachis glabrata/Perennial Peanut
Bismarckia nobilis (silver form)/Bismarck Palm
Dryopteris erythrosora/Autumn Fern
Hamelia patens/Firebush
Serenoa repens (silver form)/Silver Saw Palmetto
Torenia fournieri ‘Summer Wave ’®/Wishbone Pansy
Ulmus alata/Winged Elm
Viburnum obovatum (compact forms)/Compact Walter’s Viburnum
Zamioculcas zamiifolia/ZZ

More info and pictures on each of these can be found on the FNGLA site.

My favorite from this list is probably the Firebush. I don't have one in my landscape (yet), but we do have several outside the building at work. Unfortunately, they got zapped by the freeze and are currently in a very smelly state.

A New Caladium to Try

Be on the lookout for a great new caladium variety from the University of Florida - 'Cranberry Star'. This new variety is ideal for use as a potted plant or accent or border plant in shady landscapes 'Cranberry Star' has bright white leaves with green veins, similar to the leaves of 'Candidum'. But, it also has numerous bright purple spots on its leaves. I think it's very pretty.


'Cranberry Star' is not available yet, but keep checking with your local nurseries and caladium suppliers. I look forward to trying it soon!

More info available at UF/IFAS.

Happy Florida Arbor Day!

Today is Florida's Arbor Day. So to honor it, here is another one of my favorite trees/shrubs. I took this picture on the farm either summer 2007 or 2008. The crapemyrtle comes in a variety of colors and shapes, but I think this is my favorite color of it. I don't know what variety it is, just a really old one. They've been on the farm for a really long time. Crapemyrtles are also great because they're very, very hardy. Which automatically puts them in my favorite category. So, here's to Arbor Day! Find a favorite tree of yours and plant it today.

I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees

Arbor Day and Kids

My 4-H club celebrated Arbor Day Tuesday night. One of our parents owns a tree farm and had donated a tree for us to plant. Unfortunately, it was raining and very cold, so that will have to wait till next time. I did, however, use my new Project Learning Tree curriculum. We read Dr. Suess' The Lorax and watched a short cartoon on planting trees. My 5-7 year old members soaked up both activities. And, during question and answer time they were able to give the important points back - roots need air, trees shouldn't be pruned to have "lion's tails", and trees should only have one trunk. After reading The Lorax, they also told me that no trees means no air. Good points all around. I made sure to remind them that no trees means no tree climbing either. So, remember, when you cut a tree down, plant another in its place!


PS - Just found a great site to go along with The Lorax! I'll be sending it to my 4-H kids today.

Arbor Day and a few of my favorite trees

Florida celebrates Arbor Day the third Friday of January. In celebration of it, I've got a few posts planned about trees.

Arbor Day is a great way to recognize the importance of trees and the benefits they provide. Planting a tree doesn't just make your landscape more attractive, it also helps reduce air pollution and conserves energy. If you do plant a tree, consider a native, such as the State tree of Florida, the sabal palm.

My Favorite Trees

Eastern Redbud - Eastern Redbuds grow well in some shade in Florida. Best growth occurs in a light, rich, moist soil but Eastern Redbud adapts well to a variety of soil including sandy or alkaline.

Trees look better when they receive some irrigation in summer dry spells. Its native habitat ranges from stream bank to dry ridge, demonstrating its adaptability.

Trees are sold as single or multistemmed. Young trees are easiest to transplant and survive best when planted in the spring or fall. Containerized trees can be planted anytime.

The beans provide food for some birds. Trees are short-lived but provide a wonderful show in the spring and fall.



Oak Trees (specifically Live Oaks) - Oaks are large trees that provide shade in the summer and fuel for fires in the winter. The nineteen species of oaks native to Florida include many of our most common and attractive trees, like Shumard and live oaks.

These trees provide valuable wildlife habitat and food, and some offer showy autumn foliage. Oaks are typically strong and durable and have a long lifespan.

When pruned properly, many of the different varieties of oaks are fairly hurricane-resistant. Oaks grow relatively quickly and can provide shade for your home.

Many oaks are deciduous, meaning that they drop their leaves during the winter. Live oak is evergreen, as it gets its new leaves about the same time that it drops its old leaves.



Magnolia - Magnolias come in all shapes and sizes, but perhaps the most well-known magnolia in Florida is the Southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora.

These stately trees can grow up to 90 feet tall, depending on the cultivar, and have lustrous, evergreen foliage that makes a great backdrop for other garden plants. In the spring and summer, Southern magnolias produce creamy white flowers that have a lemony smell and can be as large across as dinner plates.

Southern magnolias are often planted as specimen trees, but a row of magnolias can also make a great screen for blocking unsightly views or establishing a boundary between adjoining properties. Some Southern magnolias can even be trained as an espalier plant if you’re willing to invest the time!

This is a great picture of a Saucer Magnolia flower instead of a Southern Magnolia. But, I think it's really pretty and has great color.



Don’t wait another day--plant a tree today!

"Honey is made from bee throw up"

We recently went to a UF/CALS Alumni event where each of the department's had displays. Will's favorite display was the honey bees. He spent most of the two hours we were there in front of it. Dr. Ellis (the bee guy) gave Will quite a bit of attention and explained to him the process of how honey is made. If you ask Will, he now tells you it's made from bee throw up. Yuck. Kaity also really liked them (especially the queen bee).

Maybe Will is a Master Bee Keeper in the making! I think the Master Bee Keeper program is one of the coolest that IFAS has to offer. We've been talking about getting bees in the next couple of years and this would be a great place to learn more. During squash season, I really appreciate the bees and other pollinators because when they're there I don't have to hand pollinate. They've also got a 4-H division where youth write 4-H Honey Bee Essay Contest. 2009's topic is "the dance language of bees." I've got some really creative young writers in my 4-H club, so this could be a really interesting project for them.








PS - I'm sorry for being absent. It's been a crazy fall and it's about to be an even crazier holiday season! But, I do have some Christmas cactus photos to share with you.

State Botanical Gardens of Georgia

Yesterday, I attended a regional Garden Writers meeting in Athens, Georgia. The meeting was held at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia. I'm not sure why we don't have something so fancy. The meeting was really interesting and I learned some new things. We got to tour the garden also, but unfortunately it was a dreary, rainy day. Much of the garden is in transition from summer to fall, but it's going to be beautiful next spring. They added a new flower garden that has a lot of potential. I only got a few pictures in before the camera battery died. I was too lazy to go back to the car to get the extra.

This was the prettiest thing in the garden at the moment. It's a Confederate Rose in the Heirloom Garden. The Heirloom Garden only has plants in it that were popular before 1900. Lots of plantation garden plantings and so on.


They've got a serious deer problem in the garden as well. They've just planted some fall vegetable crops and are covering them to prevent the deer from getting to them.


I liked the way this looked with the flowers cascading down behind the bench.


Felder Rushing was one of the speakers. He's pretty famous in the south as a garden writer. He usually talks and writes about how gardening is really easy and anybody can do it. As an example, he plants a garden in the bed of his truck and drives around with it. He figures if he can garden at 70 mph, then anybody can garden. His truck garden is seasonally decorated at the moment, too.

"Froggy" Payne's Prairie

The last couple morning have been really "froggy" as it's known in my house. The fog's been so thick that I can barely see the car in front of me on the way to work.

This morning, Kaity and I took Will to school and were coming into Gainesville a different way - across Payne's Prairie on 441. We live on the prairie, just a different side of it, so it looks pretty similar to my normal drive to work. Lots and lots of fog. Since I wasn't in any hurry to get to work and Kaity doesn't get to do many special things by herself, we stopped at the boardwalk overlook for a few minutes.

Here's what it looked like as we started walking down the boardwalk. You can barely see the end of it.


The fog was masking the sun rise.


A different direction. The prairie is so interesting to me. There's trees all around and the all of a sudden this open space.


We've had a lot of crows at our house lately. I think there were 50 or 60 in our tree last night. I'm guessing that the prairie has just as many (or maybe it's the same flock.) Kaity was hoping to see a gator, but this was all the wildlife we saw.


Kaity really enjoyed the quick 5-minute stop. It was quite the treat and out of the ordinary for a school day.


She also requested a take a picture of the dead "pine" tree, so here it is. We're going to start working on tree id soon.

Fall is (sorta) here...time for the veggie garden!

Fall has finally arrived in Florida (kinda). Temps have been in the high to mid 80s all week. And, the humidity is still brutal...but I've never known a day in Florida when the humidity hasn't been brutal.

Anyway, we finally got around to putting the fall vegetable garden in the ground. I'm a little late in getting started this year, so we planted mostly store-grown seedlings and not as many seeds as we have in the past. It's actually helped me a lot. In the past, I have a tendency to "overplant" my seeds (and not by just a little) and then I have trouble thinning them. Having seedlings really limited what I put in the ground. And because I didn't grow my own, I didn't have 10 million seedlings of any one thing.

My garden helpers were out in force with us.

Run Tebow, Run! Throw a jump pass! ... Wait are we watching Florida football or the lab puppy? I forget - they both barrel ahead at full force.


Will directing Kaity in the fine art of turning up soil.


And, actually helped himself. We turned everything up first and then added a couple bags of new potting soil to refresh and fill in the beds.


Will's really getting into this vegetable gardening thing. But, it's only cause he can use tools like shovels. What a boy.


Kaity planting the pepper seedling. She's trying to clip off the plastic part of the pot like I was doing and is a little frustrated that I keep interrupting her to take pictures.


Any guesses on the next garden task? How about irrigation? Until then, John will water by hand. He's a better farmer than I am and actually remembers to water. Oh, and here are the finished beds. Vegetable gardens look so much better with flowers in them, don't you agree?


This bed has a straight neck squash plant which I'm going to try to trellis, lettuce, collards, and mums. The rows behind the bed have more collards and broccoli (I ran out of room in the beds. Remember what I was telling you about overplanting?)


This bed has three varieties of tomatoes, two varieties of peppers, a few lettuce and some mum. John's watering in the squash (butternut and acorn) and pole bean seeds which are planted behind this bed.


Until we're able to put up a real fence around the garden, we had to make do with an invisible fence for the dogs. They love the garden, upturned soil, and easy claim to veggies. I'm not having any of that this year.

Squirrel Antics

While I was in Portland last week, we visited the amazing International Rose Test Garden. They had a nice little snack stand, so I purchased some peanut M&Ms to hold me over until dinner. About that time, along comes the most obese squirrel I've ever seen!


Photo courtesy of Natural Gardening who was also at the conference.

He, of course, spotted my treat and lumbered over to see what he could coax out of of me. Now, I was raised not to feed the animals and especially squirrels (rabies, anyone?), so as he got closer and closer, I realized he wasn't going to stop. I had visions of squirrels at Historic Bok Tower (I'm going to add that this is also the highest point in Florida) where the squirrels are actually so aggressive that they jump on your leg. I also had a flashback to elementary school when a squirrel attacked my best friend and she had to get a rabies shot. So, of course, I'm backing up and weaving in and out of people to get away from him. He would get distracted for a few minutes, but ultimately would find me in the crowd and come my way. Someone finally fed him some crackers and he left me alone. Everyone then thought he was really cute and continued taking pictures of him. I wasn't going to get close enough to get a picture, so I had to borrow one. After we got on the bus, I actually had one old lady say to me "was that you the squirrel was chasing? That was so cute!" I didn't think it was cute. And, fat squirrels like this sure don't endear the species to me.

Northwestern Nurseries

I love visiting nurseries, but being as plant illiterate as I am, it's really hard to do that anywhere. But, especially 3,000 miles out of your home range. Yesterday, we visited two fantastic nurseries here in the northwest. I followed my plant nerd friends around for most of the day so I knew what things were. Iseli Nursery is know for conifers and Japanese maples and Terra Nova Nursery specializes in plant tissue culture and actually some tropicals, too. Portland is actually in Zone 7b-8a, so it should be very similar in plant material to us, but it's not. They lack our humidity and fall comes much earlier and stays cooler much more consistently. I did take some pictures of my own yesterday with Kim's point and shoot which was nice of her. We attended a session yesterday on making magic with point and shoot digital cameras, so I was inspired to try. I'm not sure I really have a photographer's eye, but maybe practice will help.

This is a Picea abies - which to me just means a conifer we can't grow. But, I thought the cones were pretty.



I liked the contrast of this one between the brown and green. The texture in the tree bark is also cool.



Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. We can grow them, but they take more care than I usually give. Mine keep petering out from lack of water.



This is a new Coreopsis. I love coreopsis. Not only are they Florida's state wildflower, but they do awesome in my yard.



Echinacea is one that I would like to try in my yard. We saw many new beatiful cultivars and I actually caught one with a friend in it.



I'll finish this post with a very gatorish canna.



Today, we visit the Portland Rose Garden (it's supposed to be the best in the world), the Portland Chinese Garden, and the Portland Japanese Garden. We finish the day up at the Portland Zoo for an awards ceremony. Gardening in a Minute is up for a gold award for on-air talent. It should be a great day.

Gardens, Books, and More, Oh My!

I'm here in Portland, Oregon attending the 60th annual Garden Writers Symposium. I love that my job lets me do things like this. It's an awesome conference with great people. One of my favorite parts of the conference is the garden tours. Yesterday afternoon, we spent touring private gardens and a retail nursery. While I didn't get to see as many as I would have liked. (Kim took all of these pictures. She's in charge of the camera while we're here since she's the better photographer.)

My favorite private garden was Bloomtown. It was a great little house that was jam packed with different garden settings. She'd also turned her driveway into a kitchen garden with raised beds. It was really cool.



This garden gate was an old window door. I fell in love with it and made Kim take a picture of it.



My other favorite stop was Garden Fever. It's an urban specialty retail garden center and it was so cool! It had a great gift shop area and the nursery plants were displayed really nicely. It's right in the middle of a neighborhood. I wish we had something similar in Florida. Kim took a picture of me in the garden center. Obviously, I was cold.


Last night, we did a little exploring of Portland. We ate at a local Brewery, hit REI, and then stopped at Powell's bookstore which Portland is famous for. One thing that really impresses me about Portland is there public transportation. It's amazing how well it runs. Luckily, Kim and Erin kept track of where we were at because I was really tired and I can't read maps. I hope to post more pictures later today or tomorrow morning, so be on the lookout.