“Lawn out front, flowers in the back. It's the landscaping equivalent of a mullet haircut: Business in the front, party out back.

And it's headed the same way.

More homeowners are giving up on staid front-yard lawns and putting gardens front and center instead. Many choose native and Florida-friendly plants that, placed in the right spot, save time and money, water and fertilizer.

But not everyone's doing it just for the savings.”

Read the full article in this link

Penny Carnathan’s article in The Tampa Tribune Getaway on Sunday

Using Florida Friendly Plants as the article suggests has been a theme of ours for 28 years. Check out this post for a great plant that will add beauty and the savings discussed in the article.

Shrink the Size of Your Lawn Today!

Another low growing drought tolerant Florida Friendly Plant that is a perennial is the Ornamental Sweet Potato. It is a spreader that covers a lot of mulched area and requires minimal care.

One-potato-two-potato-three-potato-four!

Something to entertain you as you ponder the subject… Taking out the Grass is a Gas

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Disney has beautiful gardens that amaze visitors for days but for a combination of beauty and diversity of plants, The Harry P. Leu Gardens is the crown jewel of Orlando and Central Florida.

Just as you wouldn’t miss the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the windy city, you shouldn’t miss this Botanical Mecca if you visit our state. Allow plenty of time, wear comfortable shoes and bring extra batteries for your camera.

Robert Bowden is the director and fellow committee member who showed the FNGLA marketing team the highlights and stunning views and garden rooms.

Click this link to our Facebook Album for more Leu Garden Images.

Leu Gardens features many potted specimens and combination planters. They use the Thriller-Filler-Spiller concept to demonstrate how to make a beautiful container garden you would be happy to have on your porch or patio.

Profusion Zinnias are a disease resistant type on display throughout many sunny spots in the garden. The butterflies were plentiful and highly attracted to these zinnias.

Weddings are a big thing at Leu Gardens. They are booked over a year out. They have excellent facilities for multiple weddings and are located near downtown and near I-4 for easy access.

The largest formal rose garden in the south is a central feature of Leu Gardens.

Photographers flock to this garden to take images of plants and flowers that are used in magazines and books published all over the world. Fashion photographers find many beautiful settings at this garden.

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Milkweed, Scarlet - Asclepias curassavica is a Caribbean and tropical native that is widely found in Florida. The flowers are attractive to all butterflies and the Monarch and Queen larvae depend on the leaves of these plants to feed their voracious appetites. We often deliver them to your Home Depot with live eggs or small monarch caterpillars as we do not spray milkweed with harmful chemicals that would kill them. These are available nearly year round especially in central and south Florida stores. Milkweed will grow in sandy soils and will reseed readily in your garden.

Optimal Light:
Sun
Mature Height:
3ft-4ft

Light Range:
Full/Part Sun
Mature Spread:
1ft-2ft

Soil Moisture:
Well-drained to Wet
Soil Texture:
Any

Wildlife:

Salt Tolerance:
Low

Florida Native:
No
Florida Region:
N,C,S

Drought Tolerance:
Medium
Hardiness Zone:
9b-11

Season of Color:
Year-round

Monarch and Queen butterflies feed on the nectar of milkweed flowers. They lay their eggs on these milkweeds and as the larvae eat the leaves they acquire the plants toxins which in turn makes them distasteful to predator birds.

Milkweed Aphids exist on every continent and there are Lady Bug predators everywhere there are aphids. If you just wait a few days the Lady Bugs will show up and clean up the aphids. If you must spray them use nothing harsher than soapy water to wash them off.

In a story from Cornell University scientists explain how plants control the food chain through evolutionary changes.

In this image from the Cornell article we see a predatory ladybug feeds upon a milkweed aphid (Aphis nerii)

A hard spray from the hose can be used to knock aphids of the stems of plants. You can also gently smash their very soft bodies between your fingers as you slide them along the stems.

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This group of butterfly photographers have captured Florida butterflies exceptionally well. See if you agree with me. 

At EPCOT this week we visited the popular butterfly garden and butterfly pavilion where visitors walk among hundreds of butterflies and learn about their life cycles and the Florida Friendly Plants that attract them with their nectar, pollen and tasty leaves for their larvae to consume.

These topiaries are better than signs to direct you to the butterfly garden.

Florida Friendly Perennials are the main draw for the butterflies.

Children enjoy the Fairy Garden adjacent to the butterflies and call the names of each of the fairies that are well positioned in floral displays for photographing memories.

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Melampodium paludosum is one of the most resilient warm season annuals you can grow that will last through the summer. If we have a very wet year, slugs can be a problem for some annuals that you need to treat with a safe organic slug bait containing iron phosphate (Sluggo Snail & Slug Bait). It works! You can also use stale beer in a saucer that attracts them and then they fall in and drown…or something. Melampodiums are one of the Top 20 Florida Friendly Annuals and can reseed so you may be able to keep a crop of them going for years. They grow in varying amounts of sun to partial shade and flower continuously.

Florida Home Depot Garden Centers are having an incredible sale right now on beautiful gallon annuals. Check them out now for the best value on color of the season. You won’t be disappointed by their performance.

Melampodiums and other gallon size warm season color plants and perennials are on sale at an unbelievable price. The Home Depot is making them available to you at values never before seen. These are all top quality items and quality you won’t find at Wal-Mart or Lowes. See it for yourself.

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In the words from the city’s website …Discover the Beauty

Sunken Gardens is a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city. As St. Petersburg's oldest living museum, this 100 year old garden is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.

Unwind as you stroll through meandering paths, lush with exotic plants from around the world. Explore cascading waterfalls, beautiful demonstration gardens, more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers.

Sunken Gardens provides garden tours, horticultural programs, special events, field trips, weddings, private and corporate rentals. Call 727.551.3102.

Just a stroll through these images gives you ideas of how to add Florida Friendly tropical color to your home garden. Extensive use of butterfly attractive plants make this a haven for the flying flowers. I highly recommend a visit and you ca refuel at one of our favorite restaurants just up the street, Red Mesa.

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There is always something special happening at Fairchild. Last spring I took these images. I always get ideas of how to use Florida Friendly Plants when I visit the gardens. New species and hybrids on display in unique combinations get my design mind in gear. They display plants in colorful arrangements that are interesting to the viewer at all levels. Groundcovers and foreground plants draw your eyes forward and down the path. There is a picture of a new vignette with every few steps you take so don’t go without your camera. I wonder what new plants I will find on my visit at the end of March? Look for them here or plan your own trip.

Go through these Power Points to see some flowering trees at Fairchild Gardens and some new and interesting plants that will be coming to a Florida nursery near you soon.

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Every day folks come in to shop at their Florida Home Depot Garden Centers and see beautiful flowers and wish they had some one to tell them how to get started. Many people would spend more time in their garden if they had a sense of what works where and why. The plant tags in the containers help but getting it right takes some trial and error. Gardeners of all levels use our Plant Database for details of where to place plants and how big they grow. When you see a neighbors garden flourishing you realize that that gardener has some real insight on how to select and cultivate plants. We call it Right Plant – Right Place to keep it simple as you learn how to select what will thrive and beautify your garden or patio.  If you don’t have time you may want to hire a Garden Designer to come in and draw a plan. purchase, plant and guarantee large and small plants. If you do have time and you want to get good advice and buy a few plants at a time, check out this link to a Florida Garden Coach. As I said, every day gardeners walk into Home Depot expressing a desire for some level of help with their garden.

Right Plant – Right Place color contrast & bright colors for shade

I don’t hesitate to recommend Cynthia. This is what she offers:

Scope of Services
Serving the Tampa Bay Area
813-417-4546~~ Call today to set up your consultation.
Contact: CynthiaCay@floridagardencoach.com

There are many reasons to hire a garden coach.
It is my goal to help you achieve the garden you dream of having. Whether it is your landscape, a peaceful sitting area, an entry way, or even a vegetable garden I will work with you to make it a success.

There are many possible and fairly easy steps you can learn to help you overcome the obstacles many gardeners often experience with gardening in Florida.
Think of coaching as having your very own personal, private tutor. As your coach, I will personally teach you best practices and simple techniques for nurturing and enjoying your gardening space you desire.

Engaging me as your 'Florida Garden Coach' and mentor will give you the increased confidence you need to become a better Florida gardener.

Initial Consultation

• Initial consultation will last between 1 and 1.5 hours.
• A flat fee applies for up to 1.5 hours.
• An hourly rate will be applied beyond 1.5 hours.
• I come to your garden and listen to your thoughts about what you would like to accomplish in your garden.
• Photos will be taken of the specific area(s) you desire to begin working on.
• Using the photos and notes I've made,
  I will summarize our meeting and add my design suggestions and ideas and give those to you approximately a week later.

Follow-up Coaching Sessions

• An hourly rate applies.
• There is a 2 hour minimum rate for each session.
• I work with you in each session teaching you as we work together. Each mentoring session will last 2-3 hours. (Possible exceptions could apply for longer sessions.)

Services Available
Cynthia will help you with just about anything you can think of that is garden related. A list of common requests includes:

• Create focal points for interest in the garden
• Create gardens specifically to attract butterflies and wildlife
• Create herb or kitchen gardens
• Create beautiful, long-lasting container gardens
• Increase your garden's curb appeal
• Grow a vegetable garden
• Assist you with design for specific areas in the garden
• Starter ideas and fresh design tips
• Learn what grows well in sun and shade; and when to plant what in our Florida climate
• Learn how to combine plants with best results for visual appeal
• Learn best practices for organic gardening  and eco-friendly habits
• Learn how to compost making the most of your garden waste
• Low-maintenance gardening and xeriscaping options
• Specializing in Florida friendly and native plant selections for easy care

Some helpful questions to ask yourself in determining the scope of service which interests you.

• Would you like to spruce up a focal point in your garden or increase your curb appeal?
• Would you like to create a butterfly garden or an herb garden but need a little guidance to get you started?
• Do you enjoy gardening but need some help with design in specific areas in your current garden?
• Do you have a desire to grow your own vegetables but aren’t sure how?
• Do you need some starter ideas or fresh design tips?
• Do you want to learn what grows well in the sun, what thrives in the shade, and what plants in general do well in our Florida climate?
• Are you looking for a low-maintenance garden but aren't confident which plants will work?
• Have you thought about incorporating more Florida-friendly or native plants into your landscaping?
• Do you need some inspiration with designing seasonal plantings or container gardens?
• Would you like to identify some existing plants and learn what best compliments what you have growing?

Contact me: CynthiaCay@floridagardencoach.com

Right Plant – Right Place hot colors for sun – low water requiring plants

If you know of other Garden Coaches in Florida that I can recommend please comment below.

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From NOVA watch The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies online.

This one-hour program is divided into six chapters. Choose any chapter and select QuickTime or Windows Media Player to begin viewing the video at this NOVA link.

The videography is as amazing as the story. If you think you have heard this story before you are in for a pleasant surprise.

Monarchs in Florida are not part of the same population that migrates from Mexico’s mild winter resting sites to Canada each summer. Because we have warm winters, Florida monarchs can continue to feed and develop through their life cycles all year. Much of the Florida monarch population migrates north to mid south states is what is currently believed. Many Florida monarchs starved this year when the milkweed plants froze in this unusually cold winter. Sales for milkweed plants have been brisk at the Home Depot where we keep the plants stocked year round. Journey North is a site filled with monarch butterfly information and resources. The Florida monarchs are not as widely studied as the Canada to Mexico population that is the subject of The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies.

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Over the last 3 weeks I have traveled around the state and met with 600 Home Depot garden associates spreading news and knowledge about great Florida Friendly Plants. This excited team is chomping at the bit for good weather after all the freezes we have had. We did have a little sleet and snow on January 10th in parts of Florida. What an El Nino winter this has been! With climate change we know winter and summer precipitation will be greater as there will be much more water vapor in the atmosphere as the planet warms yet droughts in drought prone areas are worsening. Poor Australia! We gardeners will just have to take what mother nature sends our way.

A good percentage of associates are Florida Certified Horticulture Professionals (FCHP). Much of what I shared with the long time Home Depot garden associates (some as much as 20 year vets) is in the post  Successful Gardening in 2010.

New shipments of Florida Friendly Plants are arriving daily at most

Florida Home Depot garden centers.

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