When To Plant Vegetables in South Florida

I found it! Here's the link to the IFAS Extension chart for when to plant vegetables in Florida. Since, I am south of State Rd 70, I looked at the right column in Table 4. It says I can begin sowing seeds for a ton of stuff now! Since the straberry plugs I planted a few weeks ago burned up in under a week, I'm going to make sure I mulch heavily. And I won't use cyprus mulch. See one of my earlier posts to find out why.

What to Plant in Zone 9B in September

All the veggies are shriveling up and dying. Even with the drip irrigation system I have installed, the heat is really getting to the veggies. I need to mulch the garden again...that will help some.

I'm not complaining, just wondering what edibles I should be planting now. Anyone have ideas?

Gardens at Marriot World Center

I love going to the Disney area! The gardens are always so beautiful. The coleus is everywhere this summer! I don't know exactly which varieties these are, but the contrast in color is gorgeous. Along the entrance and throughout the valet area were these huge hanging baskets. Each basket had a quarter inch black irrigation hose wrapped around the handle. At around 3-4pm each day, the coleus began looking very strained. It was around 94-95 degrees each day. When containerized, coleus just cannot handle that heat. I should have taken more photos of the gardens by the pool. Everything is labelled so you know what you're looking at. They are OCD for bromeliad. I bet they had 30 diff. varieties near the pool. Dwarf mondo grass was used instead of grass frequently. If you're in the area, stop by and take a look at the gardens.

As a side note: Disney Boardwalk's garden did not impress me. It usually does. A friend even noticed paint chipping off some of the planters. Paint chipping....at Disney...?

How to Espalier: Confederate Jasmine Vine

Confederate Jasmine is a great plant to use for small Espalier projects around the house. All you need is strong fishing line, some rust-resistant screws or nails and a surface on which to let your creativity run wild. This one is only a few months old and it began life as a 3 (0r maybe 5) gallon nursery plant.

What I love about the Confederate Jasmine is that it that the last 10 inches of each vine has green, plyable, bendable flesh. So, you can easily bend and weave the end of the vines through the fishing line, then over a week or two, the flesh becomes woody and hard and stays where you put it. Make sense?

Purple Piccabean Palm Tree - Archontophoenix purpurea

I have a new friend in Tampa that is a palm tree expert. This is one of his more rare trees. I've never even heard of it before. It's called Purple Piccabean Palm Tree or Archontophoenix purpurea. Here's his website for more info on his unique trees.

It's a gorgeous King Palm, that has a unique purple colored crownshaft and silver color on the underside of the leaflets.

Here are some details I've found:

Location: Australia
Cold Hardiness: Tolerates approximately 28º, F.
Trunk type: Tall, single and slender trunk; has a purplish to red colored crownshaft.
Leaf type: Pinnate (feathered shaped) leaf, dark green leaf with glaucous/whitish color on the underside of the leaflets.
Suckering/Solitary: Solitary (single trunk).
Maintenance: Easy
Speed of growth: Slow to medium.
Height: Up to 40' feet.
Soil requirements: Average moisturel, good drainage.
Sun Requirements: Coastal, full sun; inland part day sun