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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This years program moves to The Hillsborough Community College Plant City Campus to accommodate more participants and to see the University of Florida Teaching Gardens. Excellent speakers will answer all your gardening questions. Learn the latest on safe insect control from the Dr. Jim Price and ask him about the Jerry Baker and snake oil formulas that make extravagant claims.

Florida Friendly Landscaping TM 101 Program
8:30 – 9:00 am Registration and refreshments
9:00 – 9:30 am Recent Landscape Regulations - State Bill 2080 (Lynn Barber)
9:30 – 10:15 am Alternative Vegetable Gardening (Dr. Sydney Park Brown)
10:15 – 10:30 am Break
10:30 – 11:15 am Bats and Snakes (Dr. Steve Johnson)
11:15 – 12:00 pm Safe Solutions for Insect management (Dr. Jim Price)
12:00 – 12:15 pm Green Learning – Local Educational Opportunities
(Lynn Barber, Erin Givens & Matt Freedman, Dr. Sydney Park Brown)
12:15 pm Questions & Answers

Last years pictures of the Teaching Garden.

Growing Green- April 24, 2010 Click to see who is going and sign up.

Time:8:30AM Saturday, April 24th

Location:Hillsborough Community College Plant City Campus

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In this episode of The Outdoor Room Jamie and his team remake this backyard into useful and fun destination for the family. This is one of the best gardening series I have seen and this episode, Edible Garden, is my favorite so far.

The Outdoor Room engages you with the reality TV type conflicts through the design and installation phases and then of course there is the happy ending.

Monrovia Nursery sponsors this great series that kicks up the fun and gives you lots of ideas on how to transform parts of your outdoor spaces into rooms you can enjoy.

Check out Icee Blue Podocarpus from Monrovia Nursery.

This plant has performed well in our Tampa area garden. It is about 9 feet tall now and busting out with new blue growth. The color works well with our bluish native Silver Palmettos.

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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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Dr. Gail Hansen and the folks at U of F Extension have produced many great documents at their Solutions for Your Life Website. If you want to evaluate your landscape take a look at this Publication.

Consider adding a border to tie your landscape together and give it a finished look. At most Florida Home Depot stores you will find SausEdgeTM. You can use this innovative tube to cut your work and cost in half and get an edge on your beds.

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Looking back at 2009’s Flower Festival helps us get more great ideas we can enjoy in our own gardens. Check out the Ornamental Sweet Potatoes used in this cleaver display as a pumpkin patch. 

This year we will have new Ornamental Sweet Potato varieties called “Bright Ideas”. They will be available with Lime (chartreuse), Black and Rusty Red foliage. Plant them in the spring or summer and then place your pumpkins in the foliage for a fall pumpkin patch display. They will be available in April at most Florida Home Depot garden centers.

Ornamental Sweet Potatoes make great container and hanging basket plants. They are a SPILLER element in combination planters. Use the colors to echo colors in flowers or as contrast elements to make them pop.

2010 will surely be a great year at EPCOT for the Flowers. They just get better every year. Penny and Kim are talking a lot about the upcoming EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival on their blog over at The Dirt and in the Getaway section of the Tampa Tribune next Sunday.

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1. Hardy Perennials – Gardeners are asking what plants thrive both frost and hot summer temperatures. These plants tolerate frost quickly recover after cold weather. These popular plants are what customers will have the most success with and will remove some fear of planting. Plant success!

                           Sedum Florida Friendly Gold

                                             Blue Eyed Grass

                                 Bulbine – Jelly Burn Plant 

                                            Dianthus Firewitch

2. Drought Tolerant Grass and Accent Plants – Gardeners looking for long lived, easy care plants that will survive the typically dry spring and fall growing seasons will be successful with these plants. For the Top 20 Drought Tolerant Florida Perennials go to http://floridafriendlyplants.com/

                  Purple Showers                                       Purple Queen               

                                              Variegated Flax Lily

3. Butterfly Plants – For success in attracting butterflies to your garden you can use both the nectar host plants and the larval host plants. Plant them in a sunny site them in the landscape. Refer to the Home Depot tag information for suitable planting conditions.

                Lantana                              Pentas                               Milkweed

For the Top 20 Drought Tolerant Perennials and the Top 20 Florida Butterfly Plants go to http://floridafriendlyplants.com/

SausEdge^TM is an innovative way to save money and time and get instant results in your garden. Several popular varieties make an instant border in your garden.

http://floridafriendlyplants.com/Sausedge.asp

See the video at http://www.youtube.com/profile?edit=1#p/u/5/E1MObn0HqQc

or search Sausedge on Youtube

                              Cuban Gold Duranta from SausEdge^TM

                                          Lantana from SausEdge^TM

Classic Selections are an economical way to plant perennials and use less plastic.

Classic Creations give instant results for combinations in your own containers.

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The weather outside is frightful… By Florida standards anyway. At the nursery, we cover acres of plant with Frost Cloth every time a freeze threatens. This works very well except when the wind blows the cloth off your plants. At home I use a different method I developed called Pot-in-Pot Landscaping.

I use an empty pot as a sleeve. It is the same size pot as the pot of the plant I am installing

and I drop it in for a finished job. When the frost threatens, I lift the plants and park them in my garage for the evening.

The method has many reason for you to consider using it in Florida. Follow this link to 21 reasons for Pot-in-Pot Gardening. This works also well for larger containers and combinations too.

Using this method in combination with a drip irrigation system save water and improves plant quality and longevity. Pot-in-Pot is also ideal for using tender plants within large containers as shown here.

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Temple Terrace, located on the East Side of Tampa,  is designated by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA. Some of our Florida Native Trees are the best choice for longevity and structure.

Trees make gardening in Florida much more enjoyable. I can’t imagine gardening without the partial shade of trees. Plants growing in the full sun all day require so much more water to look their tropical best.

Trees create a micro climate as we see on days like today after a freezing night like last night. Trees prevent some radiation heat loss. As you look around your neighborhood this week you will see how much better plants growing under the trees survived this extreme cold snap of 2010.

The Temple Terrace Garden Club, the city of Temple Terrace and Tampa Electric Co. have produced a full-color Temple Terrace Tree Guide That is available with in formation on how to select the right tree for the right spot.

The guides are at the Temple Terrace Public Library, 202 Bullard Park way, and Temple Terrace City Hall, 11250 N. 56th St. Similar information can be found on the web at:

Tampa Electrics Florida Tree Planting Guide

TECO also has information about tree trimming. Learn much more about all the Florida Trees at this University of Florida Extension Service site.

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This garden is one of Florida’s treasures and one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Visitors have shared their images of this tropical south Florida paradise in the slide show below. The garden is home to thousands of palm species where research continues on their preservation and use. There is always something special happening at Fairchild.

There is a strong focus on Butterfly Gardens and plants that attract them. The plants are well attended and labeled by many volunteers. Native Florida Plants are featured here as well. Plants collected from around the world give you ideas of what you can use in designing your own colorful tropical settings in your patio and home landscape.

The garden is located just south of Coral Gables and Coconut Grove where you can walk the streets and enjoy the sounds, smells, tastes and sights of a happening culture. You can’t take your dog to the restaurants any more or the garden for that matter but they do have fun dog parks and dog friendly hotels. The streets of Coconut Grove are fun to walk. It is like walking through a tropical garden with exotic plants that grow to their full size in a non-jungle setting where you can get a real appreciation of their grandeur.

There are so many great places to eat in the area. The Red Fish Grill is an old coquina building sitting on the bay in Matheson Hammock Park. You will love the setting, seafood and the perfect weather. We like to go on a day between November until April when the weather is usually warm, sunny and such a change from northern parts of Florida.

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens are close by on Biscayne Bay. The Gardens are in a coastal hardwood hammock. You can see Florida Friendly Plants that have been used for decades in all their glory. I will have much more on this in later posts.

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