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carolina-yellow-jasmine

Spring can be elusive, especially in Florida where the sun is shining, birds are singing and plants are blooming, while snow is falling in record numbers once again, in the north.   So, when and how do we determine if Spring is here?  When can we start our spring cleaning of our landscape and gardens?  Well, I would say that the time is now, and I will tell you why I think that and what I look for.

Firstly, I look for blooms on Day Lily and Carolina Yellow Jasmine.  Day Lily are mostly an "iffy" plant for Tampa, but when planted in their perfect place, they are one of the earliest bloomers, and can provide a welcome display of fabulous colors, for those weary of gray days, typical of Florida winters.  Not to be outdone, Carolina Yellow Jasmine is another one of those plants that welcome in the spring, with small yet fragrant flowers that can surprise you with it's deceptively small "rest of the year" presence, both with it's mass of flowers and it's subtle perfume scent that carries through the dense evening nights.  It's a true "wallflower", until Spring.  While many plants will bloom throughout a mild winter, these two plants are a true harbinger of Spring.

Secondly, I watch the trees, particularly the large hardwood shade trees.  While some large trees like Sycamore and Maple drop their leaves early, Oaks take a little longer.  With that said, Live Oaks seem to be the most stubborn, waiting to the very last minute to drop the rest of their leaves, even to the point that Maples have already seeded and begun new leaf growth.  With the Oak's last leaf drop, they will soon seed (called catkins), and drop them within weeks, which can create as much of a mess as the leaf drop itself.

Lastly, I watch the moon phases and trust my instinct, after 25 years of experience.  Old timers say that there will be no frost after the full moon in February, and I would say that prediction has held true 90% of the time.  Of course, it's the other 10% of the time that is the concern.

Today, I see Carolina Yellow Jasmine blooming, and Day Lily with buds.  The Maples have seeded already, and are putting on new leaves.  The Oaks have dropped most of their leaves, and some are even flushing with new leaves.  The majority of Live Oaks, though, have not seeded and dropped their catkins, but I do believe that will happen soon, and it will be a small production yield this year, not near as bad as last year.

With that, Spring is very near, and it is time to make your plans.  To get the full benefit of what a Spring garden can bring to your home, now is the time to prepare to take action, with regards to Spring cleaning of your landscape, seasonal plantings, new plantings, vegetable and herb gardening, as well as fertilizing and pest control.

In the next few days, I will post a guide as to what to do and how to get started.....Don't let Spring pass you by, with all of it's glorious wonder.  Let's get growing, Folks!

Donell

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spring2

With a beautiful day like today, so reminiscent of Spring, it beckons to my Gardener's heart.  Early Spring, though, has a beguiling nature, offering promises that may not be fulfilled, should one respond to it's call too early.  With that said and my many years of personal experience, my Landscaper's mind cautions me to not rush in.   Winter owns this day, and at least another twenty more.

A Quote by Henry Van Dyke:

"The first day of Spring is one thing, and the first Spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

How true!  The official first day of spring is March 20, 2014, but I suspect that we won't have to wait that long.....

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bell-pepper2

Even though spring is still several weeks away, it is not too early to start preparing and planting your spring vegetable garden.  Whether you have a designated garden area established or need to create one, this is the time of year to add or freshen soil, supplement the soil with compost and fertilizer, design your garden layout, and purchase the plants (or start from seed).  Most of the vegetables that you may want to include in your spring vegetable garden will need to be planted in February and March, so it is time to get plowing!

Today's vegetable gardens have grown in concept and popularity from the days of past.  You no longer have to have rows of vegetables at the back end of your lot.  You can add them to your landscape beds, mixed in with your landscape plants,  or you can grow them in pots on the patio and in the landscape beds.  Growing your own vegetables could never be easier or more fun, just use your imagination!

Once you have determined your vegetable gardening site(s), you will need to select what you want to grow.  Most vegetables do have a preferred growing season, so to be most successful, you will need to choose what will grow best in spring for Tampa, and Central Florida.  Fortunately, there are a lot of options to choose from:

  • Beans (pole, bush, Lima)
  • Canteloupe
  • Corn
  • Cucumbers
  • Eggplant
  • Okra
  • Peppers
  • Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
  • Squash
  • Pumpkin
  • Tomatoes
  • Turnips
  • Watermelon

So, let's get busy....time is a-wasting!  As always, Johns Palms Landscaping can help you with all or any part of the process, from free advice to set up and installation.  Just call our office at 813-493-3373.

Also, a great resource for any gardening or agriculture related topic is the Institute of Florida Agriculture Services (IFAS).  In particular, an in depth article about creating and growing your vegetable garden can be found at this link:  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021

 

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CAM00382

front yard garden flowers
front yard garden flowers

What exactly is a landscape ground-cover?  By all that I have ever known in my many years as a landscape designer, it defines any landscape plant that grows under 3' tall. I find that to be a confusing definition, so I am going to discuss a new definition of landscape ground-covers: landscape plants that do truly cover the ground and grow to heights of under 1' tall, more or less.

When I think of ground-cover plants, I think of potential sod substitutes, and I want a plant that will cover the ground!  With that concept in mind, there are only a handful of plants that will truly crawl or creep and eventually fill in the bare spots in your landscape.  They are:

  • Minima Jasmine (also called Dwarf Confederate Jasmine, Asiatic Jasmine):  best in full shade or part shade, variegated varieties also available
  • Ornamental Peanut, also called Perennial Peanut:  full sun only, and not deer resistant
  • Mimosa Plant:  full sun only
  • Blue Pacific Juniper:  full sun, part shade, not a true vine runner like the other 3 above

Naturally, there are other plants that will "pup" or multiply, with mature heights of one foot or less, but they will only fill in a small space and cannot be relied upon to cover large areas.  With that, while they may "qualify" as a  landscape ground-cover, they are unpredictable, at best, in their overall potential performance in the landscape, with regards to cover large areas as a sod substitute.  Beyond that, though, they are fabulous landscape plants for any home:

  • Bulbine
  • Aloe
  • Purple Queen and Wandering Jew (those are two different plants, btw)
  • Dwarf Oyster
  • Mondo and Dwarf Mondo
  • Blue Daze, Heather, Kalanchoe
  • Sedum
  • Fireball Bromeliad
  • Dwarf Mexican Petunia
  • Portulaca-Rose Moss

Ground-covers, clearly, are an awesome addition to any landscape, no matter what height the plants grow to.  However, fabulous landscape designs can only happen when we have a better understanding of what plant should go where, based on it's value to the landscape design.  The more we know, the better our landscapes grow, yes?

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frozen-orangre

With our first serious cold snap of the season approaching, you may be wondering how you can protect your Tampa landscape from freeze and frost damage.  While it is unlikely that your tender and delicate plants will emerge unscathed, there are some things that you can do to minimize the damage.  Before we explore ways to protect your Tampa landscape, let's discuss the potential damage to plants from either freeze or frost.

Frost is a common weather event  in a typical winter in Tampa, and usually will occur several times in the months of January and February.  While we may occasionally have a mild winter without frost, it should be considered a rarity.  As a general rule, frost will not settle under the canopy of a large shade tree, in most areas around a structure such as a house, or on windy nights.  One easy way for you to determine the frost prone areas of your landscape is to observe where the frost is, when we do have frost.   Once you have observed the "frost zone", it will give you a better idea of what areas need to be addressed for protection.  As well, this information may come in handy in the future, should you decide to re-landscape some areas with cold hardy plants.

Frost damages cold-sensitive plants by settling on their leaves, new growth, and flowers, while plants that are cold hardy will not be affected.  Frost will generally not kill a plant, although it may cause leaf drop and die back that can take months or even years to recover from.  I find that plants like Hibiscus will rebound quickly from frost damage, whereas plants like Croton can take several months or even years.

Freeze is an uncommon weather event in Tampa, but it does occur often enough to warrant attention.  While we may occasionally experience temperatures at 32 degrees, it is temperatures at or below 32 degrees for more than 4 hours that should be of concern.  With extended hours of freeze, all cold-sensitive plants can be affected, including those that are generally not affected by frost (your frost-free zones).  If an area of your landscape is capable of reaching temperatures at or below freezing for more than 4 hours, it is possible that your cold-sensitive plants will be affected.  Freeze can kill plants at their leaf, stem, and root, and can be quite devastating to a landscape that is not cold hardy.

With the above in mind, here are some tips to protect your Tampa landscape from freeze and frost damage:

  • Determine if you should be protecting your plants from freeze, frost, or both
  • Identify the frost prone areas in your landscape; then identify which plants may need to be protected that are in the frost zone
  • For frost protection, cover the plants with burlap, quilts, or commercial frost cloth, or create a tent-like canopy with thin material such as tarps or sheets.  Denser cloth like burlap can rest on the plant leaf as frost most likely will not penetrate; thinner material like sheets will need to be "tented" over the plant, as frost will likely penetrate the fabric.  If necessary, anchor the material with clothes-line pins, or large book binder clips (to prevent covering from blowing off plants)
  • Turn off your sprinklers.   If plants are dry a few days prior to a potential frost or freeze, it is advisable to irrigate them, so that they are less stressed.   However, irrigating plants during a frost or freeze may actually damage the plants more by blanketing them with ice.  While that is appropriate for commercial fruit and produce growers, it is not for  a landscape.
  • If a severe freeze is predicted (below 32 degrees for more than 4 hours), the trunks of valuable plants, trees, and palms should be wrapped in blankets, as well as the canopy, to prevent trunk splitting.  Oak leaves, hay, mulch, or pine needles can be piled at the root system to prevent root kill.
  • Do not cut back or trim any damaged plants until spring.  The frost or freeze damaged plant material serves as a buffer for any future damage.  As well, trimming often promotes fresh growth that will be prone to additional frost or freeze die-back.
  • Do not leave protected coverings on for an extended period of time.  Quite often, after a frost or freeze event, our Tampa temperatures will climb to make for another hot and sunny day, and the covered plants can actually suffer from heat burn.
  • Throughout the rest of the winter season, continue to maintain your plants as normal, even if they look dead.  While you should not trim or fertilize, you should not let them dry out, so irrigate as needed.  Even if your plant looks dead, it probably isn't and you will be rewarded in the spring for your patience.

While this current frost and freeze forecast seems ominous, I would suggest that it may not be as bad at it seems.  Frost is predicted, but heavy winds should prevent it from settling, thereby minimizing damage.  As well, while freeze is a possibility in some areas, it is not likely to be for 4 hours or more.  Of course, weather predictions are just that, and not a certainty, so it is always best to be prepared.

 

 

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winter-color-tampa-azalea

When we have a mild winter season, it is easy to add winter color to your Tampa landscape, as most of the plants that are blooming all summer will continue to bloom throughout the winter.  Plants that are year-around bloomers, such as Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, Plumbago, Dwarf Firebush, Oleander, Ixora and most butterfly perennials will endlessly bloom if the temperatures are above 50 degrees and the sun is shinning.  As well,  variegated leaf plants such as Croton, Shell Ginger, and Variegated Arboricola will continue to provide vivid color through their leaf patterns, no matter the weather conditions.  Unfortunately, though, our winters are rarely mild, and all of these plants are prone to frost and freeze damage or die-back.

The truth is, most plants that provide year-around color through either blooms or foliage are generally not cold hardy.  It can be risky to build an entire landscape on plants that can be damaged, or even killed, in any given winter.  While these plants have their place in a garden, they will never be a fair substitute for  the real show stoppers that add true winter color to your Tampa landscape:  cool season annuals and cold hardy flowering landscape plants.

Annuals are plants that last for a season, although they can sometimes last longer.  Most annuals have a preferred season to grow in, and are replaced out when the season passes.  Some examples of annuals rotation that we use at Johns Palms Landscaping are Begonias in the spring, as they love the dry, hot weather, but hate the rains;  Coleus prefers the summer, as it loves both the heat and the rainy season, but is prone to cold damage; and finally, the winter annuals, of which there is a nice selection to choose from.  A good winter annual can handle both mild and extreme winters, as well as our moderate, but typical winter rainfall.  In some cases, extreme frost or freeze may damage the flower, but not the plant itself, and within days, it will be blooming again.  The winter annuals that we generally use are Geranium, Petunia, and Pansy, as they are characteristically the least fussy, and last the longest.  Just remember, annuals should always be planted in a bed of well-draining potting soil, and when temperatures start to reach 85 degrees on a regular basis, it will be time to replace them out with spring annuals.

Seasonal annuals are not for everyone, and can have a moderate level of maintenance, given the chore of rotational replacements.  Luckily, though, we have a handful of cold hardy landscape plants to choose from, that will add winter color to your Tampa landscape through flowers, that perfectly bloom this time of year, year after year.  These little landscape gems will usually bloom late winter or early spring, depending upon how cold it is, and when the cold weather finally arrives.  No matter when the blooms arrive, though, you can count on them being a winter surprise, just when everything else seems so drab and dull.

To add some winter color to your Tampa landscape, consider any of these awesome landscape plants:

  • Azaleas, many varieties to choose from
  • Brunfelsia
  • Spirea
  • Camellia, many varieties to choose from
  • Daylily, many varieties to choose from
  • Carolina Yellow Jasmine
  • Cassia
  • Tabebuia

While all of these plants have different needs, soil conditions, and preferred growing sites, if your landscape plan and maintenance efforts can meet their specific needs, you will be rewarded in abundance, not only with beautiful flowers but the gentle reminder that the rebirth of spring is drawing near.  And, that is reason enough to add winter color to your Tampa landscape.

 

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butterflypines

Creating a butterfly garden for your Tampa landscape not only brings additional flower color and interest to a sometimes dull landscape, it beckons the "flying flowers"....butterflies!  As well, butterfly attracting plants are like any other plant in a landscape, and it is easy to incorporate some or many of them into your existing plan.

To attract butterflies to your landscape, you will need nectar producing plants (for the adult butterflies), larval food plants (for the caterpillars) and a water source such as a shallow pool of water, or wet soil, for the butterflies to drink from.  Butterflies tend to prefer full sun or part shade and plants that have flowers with short tubes in the colors purple, red, orange, or yellow.  As well, each butterfly's larvae (caterpillar) usually has a strong preference to the type of plant that it feeds on, so you must take that into consideration if you would like to attract a particular type of butterfly, or a wide variety.  I will list some of the recommended larval foods below, along with the type of butterfly that it will attract.

Designing your butterfly garden incorporates the same design principles as any other type of landscaping design:  leave enough room for larger growing plants (background), allow proper spacing for mid-sized plants, and place the shorter growing butterfly attractors in the front.  If you have a rather mature existing landscape, and would like to add some butterfly attractors, just pick from the lists below and find some that will be the right size to fit in around your current design.  Or, you can designate an entire area, and use both butterfly attracting plants, and non-attracting plants to add texture and interest.

Consider adding any of these low maintenance and easy to care for butterfly attractors to your butterfly garden (listed by growth size):

Larger growing (4' and up):

  • Bush Allamanda
  • Dwarf Firebush
  • Cassia
  • Butterfly Bush
  • Porterweed, red or blue
  • Passion Vine
  • Jatropha
  • Golden Dewdrop
  • Vitex

Medium growing (2'-3'):

  • Penta
  • Lantana
  • Milkweed
  • Golden Shrimp Plant
  • Salvia, many varieties
  • Sunflower
  • Necklace Pod
  • Coreopsis
  • Ixora

Smaller growing plants (under 2')

  • Whirling Butterfly (Guara)
  • Verbena
  • Stoke's Aster
  • Gaillardia
  • Zinnia
  • Cosmos
  • Alyssum

To encourage as many types of butterflies to visit, and perhaps to stay for a while, you will have to add larval plants to provide a host plant for the adults to lay eggs on and, ultimately, for the caterpillars to feed on.  The larval plants will be eaten perhaps completely, or with bite notches in the leaves, but this is their purpose.  Here is a list of more common larval plants, and what butterfly they are a host plant for:

  • Passion Flower (Zebra Longwing, Gulf Frittilary, Julia)
  • Milkweed, Asclepia (Monarch, Queen)
  • Carrots, Parsley, Dill (Black Swallowtail)
  • Legumes (many Sulphurs, Skippers)
  • Citrus (Giant Swallowtail)

By adding either a simple or an expansive butterfly garden to your Tampa landscape, you can bring another dimension to your outdoor living space, as well as an element of wonder as you watch these graceful creatures flit about your flowers.  A butterfly garden is guaranteed to bring joy and serenity to all that witness it's multiple layers of beauty.

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Creating a beautiful landscape is not easy, even for me, and it is challenging.  It requires an understanding of balance and space, and how to use that with plants.  I do consider landscaping an art, and with that, instead of paint and brushes, one has the world of plants and other forms, such as boulders, statues, rock walls, and more, that contribute to the palette of choices to draw from.  I also believe that all of us have an artistic voice or bone that is untapped  within us.  Perhaps some of us have never known our talents , or even knew that we had them, but they will come out once you fall in love with a plant.  A Plant.  When you fall in love with one plant, your heart is lost to all of them.

And, truly, that is all that landscaping is, falling in love with one plant.   With that, there are a few design principles and plant choice principles that you will need to follow, to be successful.

Tomorrow, I will start my Landscape Series, here on my blog, starting with:  Landscape Design For Your Home:  Where to Begin.

Please Join me, it will be worth your time.

Donell

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fall-calendar

With our recent slightly cooler mornings, it can only mean one thing:  summer is drawing to an end.  And, with this year's heavy rains, our summer garden chores seemed to be so far from ever ending!  But, alas, they are, and it is with a wistful heart that I write today of the fall yard chores for your Tampa landscape.  Over the next few weeks, there are some end-of-growing season chores to do, to get your landscape ready for the winter.  Use this easy check list to see if you are done with your fall yard chores, or if you still have a few things left to do:

  • Fertilize plants and grass for the last time this year
  • Scout for scale insects on plants, and treat (you may need to do a follow up treatment in 10 days)
  • Scout for grub evidence in sod, and treat (look for areas that are thinned out or go into drought state easily)
  • Treat for weeds in your sod when temperatures fall below 85 degrees
  • Test sprinkler system, make adjustments and repairs.  Be prepared to reduce the amount of irrigation to be applied as temperatures drop
  • Add new sod or plugs to bare patches of St. Augustine, or top-seed with Rye Grass in Bahia
  • Replace summer annuals with winter annuals like Petunia or Pansy when temperatures are below 85 degrees
  • Install cold hardy plants in your landscape
  • Pull weeds in beds and spray weed control, if needed
  • Add fresh mulch to barren beds to help keep down weeds, retain moisture to the roots of plants, and protect cold sensitive plants at their root zone
  • Plant winter herbs and vegetables
  • Do a final trim or cut back of landscape plants
  • Trim palms, hardwood trees, and Crape Myrtles

I like to have all of these fall yard chores for Tampa landscapes finished by mid-November, with Thanksgiving weekend being the last marker date.  With that, you can rest easy, as your beds have their final going through, all plants and grass have fertilizer, insect control, and mulch.  the plants and trees are trimmed, and you can rest easy, to focus on family, holidays, and football!!!

Remember, as always, we will be happy to help you out with any of these chores, with either free advice and know-how, or free estimates to do the work.

 

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Landscape-bromeliads

Bromeliad plants for the landscape?  Of course!  While most people might be familiar with Bromeliad plants for indoors, they can be a wonderful addition to your outdoor landscape, too.

Bromeliads are a a diverse group of plants that are generally native to the Tropical Americas, and have over 3000 species in 55 genera.  The category that we are going to explore today is the terrestrial group of Bromeliads that grow in soil, and interestingly enough, includes the Pineapple!  And, more particularly, the Blushing Bromeliads, which have a stunning array of colors and leaf designs that range from deep burgundys, lime greens, cherry reds, tangerines, stripes, spots........the choices are endless.

While most Bromeliad plants for the landscape prefer shade or part sun, there are many varieties that will thrive in full sun conditions, with varietal names such as Martin, Erika, Aztec, and Gespacho to list just a few.  As well, to emphasize the variety of options available with this versatile landscape plant, you can choose from Bromeliads that grow to 4' (Blanchetiana) to those that grow as small as 4" (Fireball), and anywhere in between.

With so many varieties of Bromeliad plants for the landscape to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin, and it can be daunting to select which Bromeliads to use, as you can fall in love with all of them!  I start with the site selection, and determine the sunlight conditions.  If the area is dark and shaded in the background, I begin with a larger growing light colored leaf variety, with either lime greens or white stripes, as they will stand out in the shade.  In the foreground, I will use deeper colored varieties, that grow smaller, as they will stand out against the background Bromeliads.  If there is more sunlight towards the front of the bed, I will select a sun-loving variety such as Fireball or Compacta.

Bromeliad plants are very low maintenance, as well as forgiving of mistakes.  With that in mind, the most important thing about using Bromeliad plants in your landscape is to select plants that you will be happy with, experiment with them, and have fun!   You will be instantly rewarded for your efforts, with years and years of fascinating enjoyment of these amazing plants.