Olives, first grown in Florida centuries ago by the Spanish, are becoming an attractive commercial enterprise for citrus growers bludgeoned by deadly insect-borne greening disease. The University of Florida is working with the Florida Olive Council to develop a low-chill cultivar. So far the Arbequina olive is most successful. Quite a few trees are growing here. Pam Dunn has an Arbequina and there’s a big one at Skewers. They don’t produce much but the silvery foliage and at

Wrong Plant Wrong Place - Whoever orders plants for our local Home Depot is under the false impression that tulips, daffodils, and bearded iris will grow here. Last week I saw close to a hundred little containers with four tiny sprouting bulbs in each on sale for a dollar. I bought a pot of iris. I don’t have much hope but for a dollar I thought I’d try and coax them to grow and bloom. I’ll keep you posted. But it’s such a waste. They’ll end up being discarded, like so much i

Tickle it with a hoe and it will laugh into a harvest English Proverb

What to Do Be Prepared – A frost is still possible Until the recent spate of cold, windy, rainy days we have enjoyed a very mild winter. The prolific early blooming of area mango trees testifies to how warm it has been. However, February is usually our coldest month so it might be wise to be prepared and have a frost blanket or two handy in case of a severe cold snap. The weather is far less predictable than it used to be. Consider that the thermometer at Miami International

Bleeding Heart Vine- Clerodendrum thomsoniae – I grew from cutting of Denise Bozeman’s Sharing is the best!

If apples were pears, And peaches were plums, And the rose had a different name, If Tigers were bears, And fingers were thumbs, I'd love you just the same. Be my Valentine! Unknown Author

In January Linda Paige and I began auditing the 2020 Master Gardener Class, which Sue Neville and Jeri Ronaldson are enrolled in. Linda and I signed up because there has been a seismic shift in how we ought to interact with our natural surroundings since we were trained There is a revolutionary global movement taking shape in agriculture. The 20th century was all about chemical agriculture. Since WWII more than 80,000 new chemical compounds have gone on the market; many of wh

Start seeds in pots for March planting. When planting anything add a little product designed to aid in development of primary and secondary roots and that contains beneficial microbes. Fox Farm’s Bush Doctor Kangaroots is one such product containing a complex blend of bacteria and mycorrhizae. Annuals/Bedding plants: Good performers in mild winter weather include impatiens, verbena, dianthus, strawflower, and lobelia. Flowers that can take a chill include dianthus, pansy, vio

With what stillness at last you appear in the valley your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips of a few high leaves that do not stir as though they had not noticed and did not know you at all then the voice of a dove calls from far away in itself to the hush of the morning so this is the sound of you here and now whether or not anyone hears it this is where we have come with our age our knowledge such as it is and our hopes such as they are invisible before us untou