Spring Into Action – Pollinators
How often do we stop to think of the importance of pollinators to food security? Pollination is often described as the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of a flowering plant. These transfers are made possible due to pollinator visits in exchange...
Turfgrass to Seagrass: Become a Scallop Sitter!
There are many interesting and important ways to volunteer for Extension, such as being a Master Gardener for horticulture, a 4-H volunteer for youth development and even being a Scallop Sitter for natural resources! We need your help! Become a Scallop Sitter! The...
Blackberries in the Home Landscape
The Blackberry When you think of fruit production in Florida, blackberries (Rubus spp.) will not quickly jump to mind. Many people envision viny plants infiltrating your gardens and attacking you with their tiny spines. These are dewberries and are not known for large...
Pheromone Traps
Insects use pheromones to attract their mates and communicate with each other. Ants use pheromones to tell fellow ants where to find food. Aphids use pheromones to warn each other about potential predators. And all insects use pheromones to call for a mate. So what...
Bot Rot: Sweet Viburnum’s Achilles Heel
Sweet Viburnum (Viburnum odoratissimum) is thought of as being an ironclad landscape shrub, generally a rapid, healthy grower free of insects and disease. However, this spring, many Sweet Viburnum specimens across the Panhandle have experienced varying degrees...
Woodland Pinkroot Adds Vibrant Color to Spring Landscapes
This week I have been noticing some of the beautiful perennials blooming at the Jackson County Extension office, and one struck me as especially beautiful. Indian Pink or Woodland Pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica), it turns out, is native to several counties in the...
Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! Program Summary: Citrus in the Home Landscape
This month’s program focused on Citrus for the Home Landscape. Citrus is a wonderful addition to your landscape. You may have tried it before and run into some issues. This episode of Gardening in the Panhandle seeks to demystify these trees. Below is a summary of the...
Easy Care Roses for the Gulf South
Due to several unique challenges home gardeners and nursery owners are often baffled when trying to incorporate roses into landscapes. Consequently, they ignore roses altogether or limit themselves to cultivars in the knockout or drift series. While knockout roses and...
“Symbiotic Serenity: Ant-Aphid Farming Dynamics”
Why is ant taking over my plants? Welcome to the world of symbiotic serenity, where ants and aphids work in harmony to create a thriving ecosystem. Ants farming aphids is a fascinating phenomenon in nature, where ants tend to aphids, protecting and nurturing them like...
White, Fluffy Tufts in Lawns May Be Trampweed
Do you have a low-growing weed that is producing tufts of white, fluffy, dandelion-like seeds, which float in the wind when disturbed or mowed? This is Annual Trampweed (Facelis retusa). I did not see this weed in North Florida until recent years. It’s native to South...