2025 Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! Webinars Begin March 6th
Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! is launching Season 6 with new topics starting on March 6, 2025! Each episode is delivered live on Zoom Webinar then posted to our YouTube Playlist. If you would like to join us live and help drive the panel discussion, be sure to...
Locally Abundant, Globally Special
Most folks are familiar with the concept of supply and demand and how it affects cost. The more numerous a product, the lower the cost. The cost also reflects value, so the more abundant something is, typically the lower the value. This idea of abundance being tied to...
Pruning Peach and Plum Trees
Peach and plum trees are prone to diseases and often produce inconsistent yields. The best way to remedy these issues is with proper pruning. Annual pruning reduces disease incidence, improves fruit quality, and increases tree longevity. So when should trees be...
Time for Taters
Whelp, the new year has come and gone. We find ourselves facing the beginning of a new gardening year. This naturally brings out the question of what can even be planted this time of year with all the cold that has set in over the last week? Luckily for you, IFAS...
To Eat or Not to Eat Fall Colors with Ornamental Kale
As cooler weather settles across the Florida Panhandle, many homeowners refresh their landscape beds with plants that provide vibrant seasonal color. Ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and ornamental cabbage are reliable, eye-catching choices for fall...
Pruning Overgrown Shrubs
Q. My oleander shrubs are overgrown. How severely can they be pruned? A. Oleanders flower on current season’s growth. So, if you prune just before new growth occurs, you'll still get flowers. However, severe pruning (removing 1/3 or more of the plant), may result in...
Brown Is a Color Too
As we move through the coldest part of the year, you’ve probably noticed many perennial landscape plants turning brown. Your first instinct might be, yuck – where are my pruners? Those crispy leaves, spent flower stalks, and dark masses look like they need to...
Gifts from the Garden
Gifts from your garden are an easy and thoughtful way to share something special with a friend or neighbor. They can be low- or no-cost gestures that tells someone you are thinking of them. Many of us have annuals and perennials that reseed in the garden. If you have...
The Assassin Bug–A Beneficial Garden Visitor
When maintaining a garden, knowing the difference between your enemies and the “good guys” is half the battle. Once, I was teaching a group of landscape maintenance folks about beneficial insects, and quizzed them on their bug identification skills. I flashed up an...
A Plant From My Past
Growing up in Tennessee, my backyard was a large expanse of woods right off a concrete patio. In areas that received sunshine, one of my favorite plants was a groundcover called thrift, Phlox subulata. Each spring, pink flowers brightened the slope as the...
How do flowers know when to bloom?
Flowers are a beautiful addition to any landscape, but have you ever wondered why some plants bloom in the spring while others show off in the summer? Let’s start with why plants produce flowers. Simply put, flowers are the sexual reproductive structures a plant uses...