Category: Educational

“It’s exciting to see things coming up again, plants that you’ve had twenty or thirty years. It’s like seeing an old friend.”
― Tasha Tudor, The Private World of Tasha Tudor

Tropical Milkweed Pod

 

Tropical Milkweed Flowers and Leaves

Monarch Butterfly

Milkweed, a host plant for the Monarch butterfly is considered by some to be a friend and others a pest. The pod releases an abundance of seeds with attached “parachutes” which carry the seeds upon the wind. New plants emerge from the sprouts. The sap produced by the plant is toxic. However, Monarch caterpillars consume the leaves and transfer the toxicity to its predators. Predators avoid  the caterpillars.  Butterfly enthusiasts  find pulling unwanted milkweed sprouts a minor inconvenience and avoid the  toxic sap.

Learn more about tropical milkweed at the following link.   Tropical Milkweed

Learn more about Monarch butterflies at the following link.  Monarch Butterfly

“I watch the trees all dressed up in the Spring,
While posing as they stand in line,
Placing their best foot forward, showing off their leaves and fighting for attention,
One tree at a time”
― Charmaine J Forde

Native azaleas, members of the Rhododendron genus, are spectacular spring bloomers.  While their unmatched beauty draws attention in the spring, the best time to plant these shrubs  is in the fall. Read more about these deciduous natives  at the following link.   Native Azaleas

“Two lads an’ a little lass just lookin’ on at th’ springtime. I warrant it’d be better than doctor’s stuff.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

 

Aztec  Grass

As the soil  warms and the sun shines more brightly, gardeners become more sprightly. Spades turn flower beds, nimble fingers spread soil amendments and bedraggled plants are hurried to the compost pile. Garden center aisles are crowded with  optimism,  inspiration, ambition and determination .  Frances Hodgson Burnett  must have been a gardener; springtime is better than doctor’s stuff.

If a  spot, with partial sun,  is in need of a transformation, try Aztec grass. Learn more about this Southern favorite at the links below.

Aztec Grass – Monrovia

How to Plant Aztec Grass – Home Guides

Everything that slows us down and forces patience,

everything that sets us back into the slow circles of Nature

is a help.  Gardening is an instrument of grace.

Mary Sarton

Society Garlic

Society garlic, a member of the onion family, is a clumping perennial which produces purple flowers and can be used as a ground cover or border. This South African native grows well in zones 8-10, is drought and cold tolerant, and requires full sun to produce flowers. The edible leaves and rhizomes can be used in the same way garlic is used in recipes. Consideration should be given to planting this aromatic near walkways as the aroma of garlic is released when the leaves are brushed. Learn more about this plant at the link below.

Society Garlic – UF IFAS Gardening Solutions

 

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.

— Janet Kilburn Phillips

 

Vivacious Verbena

Garden center tables are laden with an abundance of spring planting choices, including verbena. Verbena can be planted in containers, borders and beds. Requiring full sun, well drained soil and about an inch of water per week, these lovelies will bloom  all summer long. In containers, they serve as “fillers and spillers.” Experiment with some today.

Verbena-Southern Living Plants

Verbena-Basics from Gardener’s Path

A day comes in the springtime
When Earth puts forth her powers,
Casts off the bonds of winter
And lights him hence with flowers…
~Dora Read Goodale, “The Chorus,” in Country Life in America: A Magazine for the Home-maker, the Vacation-seeker, the Gardener, the Farmer, the Nature-teacher, the Naturalist, April 1902

Belleza Gaura, Light Pink

Gaura lindheimeri, a North American native perennial, is also called, “whirling butterflies” or “wand flowers. ”  A sun lover, this native is drought tolerant, thrives in poor soils and blooms profusely. The Belleza Gaura is a compact variety, growing to 18″ high and 20″ wide, while other varieties can grow to 48″ high.  Butterflies and hummingbirds love gaura. So find a sunny spot and start “casting off the bonds of winter.”  Learn more about gaura at the following link.   Gaura lindheimeri

 

Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to. But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough. Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them. ~Victoria Glendinning

Geraniums, natives of South Africa, have been popular in the United States since the days of Martha Washington. The first,  First Lady, even has a geranium named for her. These aromatic plants grow in full sun and do well in beds, baskets and containers. Available in a variety of colors, cultivars produce blossoms throughout the summer months. However, some fail to blossom in the extreme heat of a Gulf Coast summer.  So if one finds a Southern belle wilting in the shade of a live oak,  just call her Geranium and bring her a glass of sweet tea. She will not be inhibited nor embarrassed.

More About Geraniums