Garden Club of St. Petersburg

02/05/2025

How to keep cut flowers looking their best.

3-minute video with UF/IFAS Horticultural Researcher Ria Leonard, available at www.tinyurl.com/Caring4CutFlowers, demonstrates the proper way to select and care for cut flowers to keep them looking good for longer.

Infographic description: titled "CARING FOR CUT FLOWERS" with a pink background and black text.
- The title is followed by six steps to care for cut flowers, with each step accompanied by a corresponding image.
- The steps are:
- Remove leaves or blossoms that will end up underwater
- Place the flowers in a clean vase filled with fresh water
- If the water turns yellow and cloudy, wash the vase with soapy water
- Re-cut and rinse the stems before placing them back into the container
- Keep the flowers away from heating and air-conditioning vents, and from direct sunlight
- The infographic also includes a logo for the University of Florida and a link to "TINYURL.COM/CARING4CUTFLOWERS" for more information.

02/03/2025

For your entertainment pleasure!

02/01/2025

February-What to Plant

Annuals/Perennials/Wildflowers: Good performers in south Florida's mild winter include impatiens, verbena, coleus, and dianthus.

Groundcovers: Consider replacing areas of grass with drought-tolerant, low-maintenance groundcovers.

Vegetables: Winter vegetable gardening is in full swing. Last month to plant cantaloupes, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, peppers, spinach, and tomatoes for a late spring harvest. Protect crops in the unlikely event of frost or freeze.

February-What to DO

Lawns: If local ordinances allow, fertilize lawn grasses to improve color or coverage. Choose a fertilizer (NOT a "w**d and feed") with 0% or very little phosphorus unless a soil test indicates the need for it. A fertilizer with controlled-release nitrogen provides longer-lasting results.

Shrubs and palms: Fertilize shrubs and palms by spreading fertilizer evenly over the soil surface and watering it in. Follow with a fresh layer of mulch to conserve moisture and reduce w**ds. Delay pruning any cold-damaged branches until new growth starts.

Pests: Begin a regular scouting routine to detect warm-season landscape pests like whiteflies, lubber grasshoppers, and Tuttle mealybugs on Zoysia lawns. This allows for early intervention and the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques.
Avocados and mangoes: Disease-susceptible varieties of avocado and mango may require applications of copper fungicide.

Citrus: Fertilize now if not done in January. The frequency and amount of fertilization depend on the age of the tree.

Trees: Don't wait until hurricane season to check your trees. Hire an ISA-certified arborist to do an inspection.

UF/IFAS South Florida Gardening Calendar
For further information:

University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU), administers....

01/31/2025

Celebrate National INSPIRE YOUR HEART WITH ART DAY by transforming ordinary objects into garden art.

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01/30/2025

Inspiration!

Beautiful place to relax 🥰

01/28/2025

• Here’s an excellent resource that can be used in your browser or as an app for your mobile devices. Search by plant name, type, shape, sunlight requirements, native status, salt tolerance and more.
• Filter to show only plants for your zone.
• Print or download details for your selected plants.
https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/resources/apps/plant-guide/

01/27/2025

Florida has a native poinsettia (Euphorbiaceae).

Native plant enthusiasts, Florida has a native poinsettia too. You can find this wildflower blooming now or purchase from a native nursery. It's also called painted leaf because of the showy red bracts surrounding the flowers. Bees, butterflies and moths feed on the pollen and nectar but be careful when handling this plant as the milky sap can irritate the skin. https://www.fnps.org/plant/euphorbia-cyathophora

01/26/2025

This is a good deal!

My plants and I have a deal—I water them, they boost my mood.

01/25/2025

The zebra longwing butterfly (Heliconius charitonius) is the state butterfly of Florida. It was named the state butterfly in 1996.

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01/24/2025

HEIRLOOM? OPEN-POLLENTATED? HYBRID? GMO?
Help understanding these terms.

HEIRLOOM? OPEN-POLLENTATED? HYBRID? GMO?

What do all these terms really mean? An understanding of these terms can help you make informed choices when selecting your seeds and plants for your garden.

HEIRLOOMS are those varieties that have been passed down through many generations, and are typically at least 50 years old. Although this definition can vary a little. They are hand selected and saved favorites because of a historical significance, a great flavor, or even color. Their traits are stable and will grow ’true to seed’ when you save seed to re-plant. These have been OPEN-POLLENATED by the natural movement of insects and wind. Heirloom seeds carry cultural distinction.

OPEN-POLLENATED is a natural process through pollination by insects, wind, or other natural methods like movement by animals or people. Like heirlooms they have traits that are similar to the parent plants. Although they may not have a long history like heirlooms, they also have consistent traits and are popular for saving seeds for the next season. Many, if not most, heirloom plants are open-pollenated. But not all open-pollenated plants are heirloom. This is because they do not meet the ‘age requirement’ of 50 years to be considered heirloom. However, open-pollenated varieties are of value for their stability and ability to produce the same plant characteristics year after year. Saving these seeds and replanting them helps to maintain genetic diversity within a plant variety. This allows your plants to adapt to your local environment and climate.This is a natural and sustainable gardening practice, and produces your own seed supply.

HYBRID means a cross between two types of the same plant species. Hybridization is a natural and traditional method of plant breeding. It involves cross-pollinating between the two plants. It is an old method of plant improvement that has been practiced for thousands of years. The process can occur by human intervention, but plants also cross-pollinate on their own in nature. You will notice hybrid seeds marked as F1. This means that two genetically distinct parent plants were cross-pollinated to create a first-generation (F1) hybrid. The parent plants are genetically uniform and come from pure lines. This hybridization is done to create offspring with specific desirable traits. Just like puppies, this is selective breeding. The F1 hybrid is the ‘first filial’ generation offspring of the parent plants. But hybrid plants do not always produce seed true to the parent plant. This means that seeds saved from hybrid plants may not produce the same results so you will have to purchase new hybrid seeds for next season if you want the same plant.

GMO (aka Genetic Modification) involves altering the genetic makeup. This has to be done in a lab setting. This can include adding genes from entirely different species. For example, genes from bacteria may be inserted into a plant’s genome to make it resistant to pests or herbicides, or even tolerance to harsh environments. These plants are often patented and are closely guarded. It is possible for wind to carry pollen from GMO crops to non-GMO plants. The common GMO crops are corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, and canola.You will not generally find GMO seeds for sale to the public.They are primarily sold to commercial farmers due to the complex licensing agreements involved with their production and use.

Understanding these distinctions between Heirlooms, Open-Pollenated, Hybrid, and GMO can guide you in making choices in your seed selections and gardening practices. Explore the beauty of gardening and make choices that align with your own values of health, sustainability, and self-sufficiency.

https://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-breeding/tomato/

01/23/2025

Save the Dates, Friday, February 28 & Saturday, March 1.
Our Flea Market is our largest fundraiser of the year and this year we need it more than ever!

01/22/2025

Here’s how to get recognition for all the hard work you put into your garden.

01/21/2025

Beach sunflower can be grown throughout most of the state; it works well as a groundcover and is great for borders, edging, mass plantings, and even cascading down a wall. Growing to a height and spread of 2 to 4 feet, this plant can quickly cover its growing area. ~ UF/IFAS

Bulletproof groundcovers like this native beach dune sunflower tolerate the cold days in the winter and the hot days of summer.They are wonderful for all kinds of pollinators and easy to grow from seed. The most frequent complaint is that they grow too much and spread over sidewalks and need pruning. https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/beach-sunflower/

01/20/2025

Here are some research based hints for starting your warm season transplants indoors.

Thinking of starting transplants indoors as you prepare early for spring planting in Florida?

Below is a link to a wonderful research-based resource on the topic:
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/planting/starting-transplants-indoors/

The article contains information on:

🌱 Timing

🌱 Light requirements

🌱 Containers

🌱 Soil

🌱 Water

🌱 Air circulation

🌱 Heat

🌱Hardening-off and transplanting

01/18/2025

After a freeze: water the soil around your plants to defrost the soil, avoid fertilizer until spring, and don't prune cold damaged plants right away.

Pruning
Don’t prune cold-damaged plants right away. The dead foliage looks bad, but will help insulate plants from further injury. In the spring, assess the extent of the damage by scraping the bark with your fingernail.

Cold-injured wood will be black or brown under the bark. To be certain where to prune, wait until plants begin to sprout new growth.

Herbaceous plants like impatiens and begonias that are damaged by the cold may collapse. If this happens, it’s best to cut them down and remove the plants to prevent fungal or bacterial problems from arising as they decay.

Lawn

Seeing your lawn turn brown during the winter can be worrying for some homeowners; however, this is a normal part of your lawn’s winter dormancy.

Come spring time your lawn should rebound and begin producing new green growth.

But when hard freezes hit, your turfgrass may be injured. If temperatures suddenly fall below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, your lawn may be permanently damaged.

The grass may initially appear wilted, and then turn to a whiteish or brown color. It may mat to the ground and smell putrid.

If your lawn does not recover in the spring, you may have to replace some of the grass with sod pieces or plugs.

To access the complete UF/IFAS article, please continue onto the following link:

Treating Cold-Damaged Plants

https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/weather/treating-cold-damaged-plants/