Table of Contents: Are You Thinking About Dwarfs? Minimal Maintenance Landscapes Growing Tomatoes in Containers Timely Gardening Tips for Marion County Upcoming Events Published by Norma Samuel UF/IFAS Extension Marion County Horticulture Agent MARION COUNTY GOVERNMNT April 2016 Timely Gardening Tips for MARION COUNTY by Josephine Leyte-Vidal, UF/IFAS Extension Marion County Master Gardener The signs of spring are popping up everywhere. The trees have new, bright green leaves, the azaleas are blooming, the robins have cleaned out the berries, and the warm weather weeds are sprouting. This is ideal weather to do our garden cleanup and pruning. Pinch back existing annuals to promote re-bloom and plant tender annuals such as celosia, impatiens, and marigolds. New plants need daily watering for the first 10 days to make sure they develop new feeder roots so they can take care of themselves. However, too much water could Are You Thinking About Dwarfs? by Jack LeCroy, Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Agent Are you feeling a lile flushed? If so, you could have spring fever! There are only a handful of remedies for spring fever but the main andote is geng outside and pung some plants in the ground. If you have the same mentality as I do this year, I would say to put the brakes on for just a second. We need to know what we are planng before we go out and spend a lot of money on plants only to have them struggle and die a few months later. As we see the redbuds blooming on the sides of the road and the beauful mounds of azaleas starng to show off, it is very hard to fight the urge to go to the garden center nearest you, unprepared, and buy whatever is in bloom. Along with the numerous factors that we need to consider when selecng plants, going dwarf is one thing to keep in mind. No, I am not talking about a Disney movie. Dwarf plants are selecons of plants that are shorter, more compact kin of their parent plants. For example, a “Lile Gem” Magnolia (magnolia grandiflora ‘Lile Gem’) can be half the size of the straight species magnolia grandiflora. If you have a plant in mind, it is important to check to see if that plant has a dwarf variety. Depending on the plant, this could mean less work for you while pruning, and it could also mean less damage to your home. Many mes I have seen where the mature size of a plant was not taken into consideraon and damage to the home developed as a result. During this spring season don’t let your fever take complete control over you and make sure you spend a lile me researching dwarf culvars that might be available in your area. Happy planng! Little John Dwarf Bottle Brush hort.uga.edu
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Table of Contents:
Are You Thinking About
Dwarfs?
Minimal Maintenance
Landscapes
Growing Tomatoes in
Containers
Timely Gardening Tips for
Marion County
Upcoming Events
Published by Norma Samuel
UF/IFAS Extension Marion County
Horticulture Agent
MARION COUNTY GOVERNMNT
April 2016
Timely Gardening Tips
for MARION COUNTY by Josephine Leyte-Vidal, UF/IFAS
Extension Marion County Master Gardener
The signs of spring are
popping up everywhere.
The trees have new, bright
green leaves, the azaleas
are blooming, the robins
have cleaned out the
berries, and the warm
weather weeds are
sprouting. This is ideal
weather to do our garden
cleanup and pruning.
Pinch back existing annuals
to promote re-bloom and
plant tender annuals such as
celosia, impatiens, and
marigolds. New plants
need daily watering for the
first 10 days to make sure
they develop new feeder
roots so they can take care
of themselves. However,
too much water could
Are You Thinking About Dwarfs? by Jack LeCroy, Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Agent
Are you feeling a little flushed? If so, you could have spring
fever! There are only a handful of remedies for spring fever but
the main antidote is getting outside and putting some plants in
the ground. If you have the same mentality as I do this year, I
would say to put the brakes on for just a second. We need to
know what we are planting before we go out and spend a lot of
money on plants only to have them struggle and die a few
months later.
As we see the redbuds blooming on the sides of the road and
the beautiful mounds of azaleas starting to show off, it is very
hard to fight the urge to go to the garden center nearest you,
unprepared, and buy whatever is in bloom. Along with the
numerous factors that we need to consider when selecting
plants, going dwarf is one thing to keep in mind.
No, I am not talking about a Disney movie.
Dwarf plants are selections of plants that are
shorter, more compact kin of their parent
plants. For example, a “Little Gem” Magnolia
(magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’) can be half
the size of the straight species magnolia
grandiflora. If you have a plant in mind, it is
important to check to see if that plant has a
dwarf variety.
Depending on the plant, this could mean less work for you while pruning, and it could
also mean less damage to your home. Many times I have seen where the mature size
of a plant was not taken into consideration and damage to the home developed as a
result. During this spring season don’t let your fever take complete control over you
and make sure you spend a little time researching dwarf cultivars that might be
available in your area. Happy planting!
Little John Dwarf Bottle Brush hort.uga.edu
Minimal Maintenance Landscapes by Anne Lambrecht, Master Gardener
cause fungal growth or lack
of oxygen in the soil. Your
new plants could die from
too much love.
Along with plant growth
come six-legged and eight-
legged pests. Usually the
first ones to appear on new
growth are aphids, spider
mites, and scale. Inspect
both sides of the leaves for
these visitors. Spray with a
mixture of Neem oil and
insecticidal soap. The soap
washes the leaf and spreads
the oil which smothers the
bugs. Only spray the plants
that show infestation.
Be on the lookout for lubber
grasshoppers. When they
are young, they are black
with yellow or red stripes.
They appear by the
hundreds. Hand-pick and
crush or drown them in a
bucket of water with
insecticidal soap. Lubbers
are voracious feeders so do
this as soon as you see one.
Lubber grasshoppers are not
easy to kill, even with
insecticides, once they
become large.
Page 2
Timely Gardening Tips for
MARION COUNTY by Josephine Leyte-Vidal, UF/IFAS
Extension Marion County Master Gardener (continued from page 1)
I recently met with a friend who had
just moved to Central Florida. She
asked for some advice on a
maintenance-free garden WITH
ROCKS. Yikes! Maintenance free?
Gulp: Rocks? Then I started to think
about it. And because she’s my friend,
I decided I would try to bend my own
stiff-necked rules and try to work
outside my organic rock-free box. It’s true: most people want maintenance
free. After all, only crazy people like me look for opportunities to slave in
the jungle all day. And by now you all know that nothing is “maintenance
free” except for Astro turf and plastic, right? But we want our yards to look
nice even when we are often away from home, like my friend.
Definitely there are key plants that should be in every low maintenance
landscape and there are so many to choose from! You want color, texture,
shape, natives. You need to know the sun exposure in your garden, the
plant’s bloom time, growth habit and sun and water requirements. Do they
go to sleep in the winter, changing the landscape? How do they fare in our
Central Florida soil as long as they have moderate water and the soil drains
well? Planted properly, they should be also be relatively pest free.
Every landscape should have a tree, a holly, a grass, a palm, shrubs,
flowering bulbs, something that looks “tropical”, a ground cover, succulent
and/or cactus and annuals for fillers. You’ll want to use natives. You want
texture year round with a combination of contrasting form and foliage. You
want your yard to provide perching, nesting and feeding sites for birds (they
cut down on the insects).
Adding hardscape including pathways to lead the eye, fountain, large
planters, statues, is always a nice addition.
Remember the rules: RIGHT PLANT IN THE RIGHT PLACE and remember that
not all plants listed are for full sun! Some enjoy the shade. No shade you
say? The eastern side of house is a good substitute for shade.
junipers, ferns, mondo grass, perennial peanut, peacock ginger, oyster
plant, sedum, and sunshine mimosa.
Flowering perennials that need little to
no maintenance include coreopsis (the
state wildflower), gaura (whirling
butterflies), blanket flower, Mexican
heather, salvias, purple coneflower,
Rudbeckia (or black-eyed Susan), and
Stokes’ Aster.
Annuals are used for fast color or
screening as container plants and
hanging baskets, for vegetables or herbs, and in long-blooming masses or
specimen plants. They provide all-season color bridges. Good examples of
easy annuals are celosia, coleus, dusty miller, globe amaranth, marigold,
moss rose, ornamental sweet potato, pentas, pansy, periwinkle and zinnia.
You’re on your own with the choice of rocks.
Purple Coneflower and Rudbeckia ifas.ufl.edu
Perennial peanut polkfyn.prg
Page 5
Growing Tomatoes in Containers by Rebecca McFayden, Master Gardener Intern
I love growing tomatoes. My Dad and Granddad grew big, juicy, red, beefsteak tomatoes all summer long when I was a kid growing up in Ohio. I was appalled the first time I brought home tomatoes purchased from the grocery. This fruit was nothing like those beefsteak tomatoes Dad grew. “I’ll just grow my own,” I decided. Since I was living in an apartment, container gardening was the only way to go. But you know, I grew very nice tomatoes that year. Not beefsteaks, but still good. That was in Virginia. In 1985, I moved to Ocala, Florida. Love the place and consider it home. Of course, I’ve been trying to grow container tomatoes here. Have I been successful? No way!
As a Master Gardener intern, I decided to ask the experts how to grow tomatoes in pots in Marion County. Ron Wells, who is renown within the Master Gardener program for his skill in growing vegetables in containers, told me that he has never been successful growing tomatoes. I was feeling pretty hopeless about the situation until I meet Lesroy Samuel after he lectured our class on lawn care. Mr. Samuel has his B.S. in Agribusiness and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia. Mr. Samuel grows many types of tomatoes in containers saying it’s the only way to grow tomatoes in Ocala. Here are his tips for success:
● Plant your seedlings around mid-February in the spring, and before September 28th in the fall.
● Use the right plants. Look for plants with letters after their names that indicate they have immunity to at least some plant diseases. Also, look at their growing times. Will they mature and bear fruit within the growing time you have (i.e. before temperatures become too hot for the fruit to set or too cold for the plant to grow).
● Use the right growing media. He recommended commercial potting soil that already contains fertilizer. Add the recommended amount of tomato plant fertilizer to the potting mix at the time you plant the tomato in the container. Fertilize again when the first true leaves appear on the plant. Do not fertilize again.
● Set the pots on black plastic to help prevent soil-borne diseases.
● Do not overwater. Tomatoes don’t like being in wet soil.
● Locate pots where they will receive six hours of direct sun each day.
After considering these suggestions, I think I have found my problem. My instincts are all wrong. I start thinking of planting tomatoes in late April or early May. By the time I take action, Ocala gardeners in the know are way ahead of me and are already gathering their crop.
Now that I’ve identified my problem, I feel hopeful that things will be different next year. I can already envision beautiful pots of tomatoes, sitting on black plastic in the sunshine. Come next year, I will be one of the Ocala tomato gardeners in the know!
For those of you born in April—your birth flower is the Daisy. The Daisy symbolizes innocence, youth, and purity. Many people give the Daisy to wish good fortune, happiness, and pleasure. It is also a flower given between friends to keep a secret; the daisy means “I’ll never tell.” There are five common types of daisies, with the Gerbera Daisy