by Julie McConnell | Dec 9, 2013
Photo credit: Julie McConnell, UF/IFAS
If you are looking for an easy to grow, colorful indoor flowering plant, look no further than Holiday Cactus. The two main types are Thanksgiving Cactus and Christmas Cactus which have similar care requirements but as the name indicates, bloom at different times.
When purchasing a new plant, don’t assume that it is “Thanksgiving” or “Christmas” based on when it was blooming at the store, growers know how to manipulate plants for flowering based on market demand. Instead look at the leaf shape and anther colors for positive identification. Thanksgiving cacti have pointed teeth on leaf margins and yellow anthers in the flowers. Christmas cacti have flattened leaves with rounded teeth on the margins and purple anthers.
The best spot for your Holiday cactus is a bright location away from any drafts or heating and cooling vents. Keep soil slightly moist, but take care not to over water. They can tolerate some drying out, but too much can cause flower buds to drop. In Northwest Florida’s mild climate you may keep your Holiday Cactus outside most of the year, but protect it from full sun during the summer months and bring it indoors if temperatures are forecast to fall below 50° F.
Fertilize Holiday cacti with a general purpose houseplant fertilizer from April until August following label directions. To make your plants fuller, prune or pinch in June and this will encourage more branching. Holiday cacti are easy to propagate. Take those pieces you pinched off and place in a lightweight potting soil or vermiculite and they will grow roots and you will have new plants to share.
So, how do you control flowering time? Holiday cacti form flower buds based on two environmental factors, photoperiod (length of daylight) and temperature. They are considered “short day” plants which mean that they bloom when light is reduced to 8-10 hours a day, but this description can be a little misleading. The true influencing factor is not the number of daylight hours, but rather the number of hours in uninterrupted darkness. One way to initiate flower bud development is to place the plant in a dark closet from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. for 20-25 days straight. This treatment will stimulate flower bud development. Another factor that influences flower bud initiation (even without light control) is the temperature at night. The ideal night temperature for flower bud formation is between 55 and 68° F. Temperatures above 68° and below 50° F can prevent flower bud development.
To learn more about caring for your Holiday Cactus visit the following link Thanksgiving & Christmas Cacti Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC1554.
by Julie McConnell | Nov 18, 2013
Delphiniums
As the weather changes, so should your flower bed. Annual flowers provide fantastic color to landscapes with months of flowers or attractive foliage, but the trade-off is that they give you all they’ve got over one growing season.
There are two main groups of annuals, summer (warm season) and winter (cool season). Summer annuals are considered “tender” and will not tolerate frosts, but winter annuals are “hardy” meaning they can stand cool temperatures and even hard frost if given time to establish before the coldest weather arrives. Most winter annuals actually prefer cooler temperatures and perform poorly during the hottest part of the year.
Some hardy winter annuals that can be planted after October are pansies, violas, snapdragons, dianthus,delphinium, petunia, alyssum, dusty miller, hollyhock, ornamental cabbage and kale, and verbena. With all the choices available, winter flower beds can be filled with all ranges of the color palate!
Plan to change flower beds to winter annuals from October to November, depending on the weather. Wait until cool weather trends arrive so that the new plants are not stressed by hot weather and high humidity. Most winter annuals will perform well until warm weather arrives, typically April or May in North Florida. Read more about “Gardening with Annuals in Florida.”
by Julie McConnell | Oct 14, 2013
Swamp Sunflower Photo credit: UF/IFAS Milt Putnam
Fall Blooming Native Wildflowers
Drive along any highway or rural road at this time of year and chances are some color will catch your eye; not so much in the tree tops, but in ditches and right of ways.
Although yellow seems to be the predominant color in the fall, pay attention and you may spot reds, oranges, and even some blues in the wildflower pallet.
Examples of wildflowers that bloom late summer to early fall in the Panhandle:
• Bluestar (Amsonia ciliate), blue flowers, 1-3’
• Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), orange flowers, 1-3’
• Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), yellow flowers, 1-2’
• Leavenworth’s Coreopsis (Coreopsis leavenworthii), yellow flowers, 1-3’
• Swamp Sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia), yellow flowers, 2-6’
• Rayless Sunflower (Helianthus radula), purple flower, 2-3’
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), red flowers 2-4’
• Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata), purple flowers, 1-2’
• Goldenrods (Solidago spp.), yellow flowers, 1.5-6’
• Tall Ironweed (Veronia angustifolia), purple flowers, 2-4’
To learn more about these and many other wildflowers read EDIS Publication “Common Native Wildflowers of North Florida.”
by Julie McConnell | Sep 9, 2013
Fertilizer Spreader: Image Courtesy UF / IFAS Extension FYN Program
Although temperatures are still hovering around 90° F, the last fall fertilization date is approaching quickly. Mid-September is the
deadline for applying fertilizer to warm season turf-grasses and landscape ornamental plants for the year. Why is September 15 the cutoff date? In North Florida, our estimated first frost date is November 15. When fertilizer is applied the nutrients encourage new growth that typically takes about 6-8 weeks to become “hardened off” and able to tolerate low or freezing temperatures. So, simply backtracking on the calendar gives you an idea of when to make the last application of fertilizer (if needed).
If September 15 is at the end of our warm season feeding schedule, the next question should be “when should I fertilize in the spring?” Although Northwest Florida’s average last frost date is listed as March 15, UF/IFAS Turf Specialist Dr. Bryan Unruh does not recommend fertilizing before April 15 in the panhandle. There are two main reasons for this later date. One is that the March 15 last frost date is an estimate, many times cold weather follows a warming trend in late winter/early spring. During April of this year warm weather was followed by cool temperatures with cold winds that caused landscape plant damage. If fertilizer was applied before this weather arrived, some cold damage may have been evident this spring in affected landscapes. The second reason is that if fertilizer is applied to turf or plants that are not actively growing and using those nutrients, it may leach out of our sandy soils. Nutrients do not wait for plants to use them; they can be washed out and become a source of nonpoint source pollution.
To read more tips on fertilizing visit EDIS ENH1174 “The Lawn Fertilizer Toolbox”
by Julie McConnell | Aug 5, 2013
Chamberbitter
Above average rainfall this summer has supplied water to more than just our landscapes, weeds are benefiting and flourishing as well.
Just as with any other landscape pest, proper weed control starts with accurate identification and knowledge about the life cycle of the weed.
When weeds are low in number, mechanical control (pulling, mowing) is a good start. If weed population continues to increase and herbicide options are considered, several questions need to be answered before product application.
Questions you need to ask yourself about your weed and site:
- What weed(s) are you trying to control?
o Be sure you know what the name of the weed is so that you can find it on your product label “weeds controlled” list; if you need help with identification contact your local county extension office
- What is your site?
o Lawn – specific turfgrass is important, what is safe to use on one type may kill another
o Ornamental beds – again note specific plants near your treatment area in case of sensitivity
o Water bodies – some herbicides are not labeled for use within a given distance of water; if the weed is in or around the water only use herbicides listed for aquatic weed control
- What is the life cycle of your weed?
o Annual – one season life cycle, summer annuals complete their life cycle between spring and fall; winter annuals are active between fall and spring
o Biennial – two growing season life cycle
o Perennial – plant lives for three or more years
- What category does your weed fall into?
o Grasses – one seed leaf as it emerges from the soil; hollow, rounded, stems with nodes, parallel veins in true leaves; examples are crabgrass, dallisgrass, cogongrass, torpedograss
o Broadleaves – have two seed leaves and true leaves have net-like veins and usually have showy flowers; examples are lespedeza, dollarweed, clover, chickweed, henbit, florida betony
o Sedges/Rushes – sedges have solid triangular stems; rushes have round stems; both like moist or wet habitat; examples are purple nutsedge, yellow nutsedge, beak rush
Dollarweed: Image Credit Edis ENH1128
Basic information about herbicide categories:
For more information read EDIS Publication “Weed Management in Home Lawns”
