There are many ways that weeds can establish in a landscape bed. Some weeds like Florida betony are difficult to manage once they are growing around other plants. Learn about our experience with Florida betony in the Escambia County Demonstration 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 already saved seed, just package those up and make a label with planting details. Your label can be printed or homemade.
There are many native and Florida Friendly plants that offer seeds for you to share with friends. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
A few common plants that offer plenty of seeds include Rudbeckia, Zinnia, Blanket flower, Native milkweeds, and sunflowers. Just collect a few mature flower heads, separate the seeds from the debris and let the seeds dry out on a towel for a couple of days. Remember there are numerous sources of seeds locally and online that offer a large variety of flowers and edibles when you need a prepackaged gift. Just add in a recycled tray or homemade cups for starting seeds.
If you don’t have seeds available now, consider plants that can be divided from your garden. Stoke’s aster, daylilies, gingers, and Toadlily are just a few. Find a recycled pot for plants that have leaves or add ‘bulbs’ to a small decorative bag with a label.
For those with a green thumb, consider taking a few cuttings of easy to root herbs or annuals. These plants will be ready for a small 4 inch pot in a short time. If you are not able to easily root plantings, consider sharing a piece of a turmeric or edible ginger stems. These can also be purchased from the store for starting new plants.
A plant is often a lasting gift, offering positive memories and beauty in the garden.
Many herbs, like rosemary, are easy to start from cuttings. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Fresh turmeric from the garden or store is easy to grow in a container. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
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 groundcover spread amongst the rocks. Luckily, I was able to bring a piece to Florida to add to my landscape over 24 years ago.
Creeping phlox in a home landscape. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Thrift or creeping phlox is a low maintenance groundcover that only grows about 6 inches tall. Plants grow well in moist, rich soil, but also in poorer soils or sand. Planting sites should not hold water to prevent rotting roots. Phlox does need sunlight for best spring blooms but the Florida summer sun can be too intense. Consider using in areas where sunlight is plentiful in the spring but tree canopies may offer shade in the summer heat.
This is usually not a groundcover for traffic areas so use stepping stones if you need to move through planted areas. There are cultivars with flowers that are red, white, or lavender but the original pink is very appropriate for the spring season.
If you choose Creeping phlox for your landscape, some neglect is good once plant’s are established. Pick a spot that has good air circulation and water as needed after root’s take hold. Routine overhead watering may lead to some disease in your plants.
One of our well known spiders found in landscapes is the Yellow and black garden spider, Argiope aurantia. Most people will recognize this beautiful spider that rests in a large web with a zigzag web pattern in the middle called a stablementum. A wide variety of insects will be caught in the web throughout the summer, with many prey larger than the spider itself. The Yellow and black orb weaver is just one of our beneficial spiders in landscapes.
Garden spider waiting for a meal. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
As fall approaches each female garden spider leaves us a wonderful gift in the garden. She will create a very distintive egg sac that can be hidden in plants or hang in the corner of a porch. The sac is brown and pear shaped, supported by strands of web attached to branches or structures. Hundreds of eggs are inside and although they hatch in late fall, the spiderlings will stay in the sac until the spring. A large number of spiderlings will not survive due to predation and other factors, but a few will continue development to adorn your garden in the following season.
Egg sacs of the Yellow and black garden spider in a rosemary. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
If you did have a garden spider in your landscape this summer, just be a little more careful when maintaining plants. You don’t want to accidently remove the overwintering egg sac. Although this large spider can be startling for many people, they are not aggressive and are considered beneficial in the garden.
Saving seeds is a wonderful garden activity that gives us both a sense of pride in our gardening skills and helps us save a few dollars on new seeds.
Malabar spinach is one of our heat loving vines that grows well until frost and produces abundant seed. If you are looking for a leafy green spinach substitute, Malabar spinach does very well in the summer garden. We had a late start on planting our Malabar spinach in the Escambia Extension garden so the seeds are now ripening. This is the perfect plant for saving seeds.
Vines growing along with mature fruit. Photos by Beth Bolles UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Malabar spinach has plenty of fruit for you to save seeds for yourself and friends. When mature, fruit will be dark purple and you may easily pull the fruit off stems into a small container. This is definitely a practice that requires gloves unless you want to have your hands stained purple for a while.
Your next step is to lightly press on the fruit while running them under water. Have a strainer underneath to catch the fruit. You are just trying to loosen some of the pulp, not remove every bit. Fill a small jar 3/4ths with water and then add your fruit. Let this sit on a counter for a few days. You may change out the water as needed. This is the step that loosens the remaining pulp from around the seeds.
Loosening pulp from seeds and then soaking in water. Photos by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
After several days in the jar, pour the jar liquid through a strainer and wash over it with clean water. This removes the final bits of pulp. Place a paper towel or cloth on the counter and lay out your cleaned seeds. They will need to air dry for a couple of days. Keep seeds away from a heat source and out of the sun.
Final rinse of seeds and drying on towel. Photos by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Once dry, you are ready to package your seeds for next season’s planting or gifts for friends. You may use a paper envelope or small plastic bag. You may also add seeds to a jar, close it tightly, and put in the refrigerator. Label your package with the plant and date because you will not remember those details later.