In the realm of pollinator-friendly plants, Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) often flies under the radar despite its remarkable qualities. This delicate flowering plant, with its clusters of tiny blooms, not only adds beauty to gardens but also serves as a vital resource for pollinators.
An exemplary instance is the hybrid series, Easy Breezy™, known for its compact size and remarkable heat tolerance, allowing it to thrive well beyond the spring season. Available in white, pink, and purple variations, this cultivar stands out. Another hybrid, known for its exceptional heat tolerance, is the white-flowering Lobularia ‘Inlbusnopr’, frequently marketed under the trademarked name Snow Princess®.
Let’s explore the many benefits of sweet alyssum as a pollinator crop and why it deserves a place in every garden.
Attractiveness to Pollinators
Sweet alyssum’s petite blossoms, exude a sweet fragrance that acts as a magnet for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects. Its nectar-rich flowers provide a vital food source for these creatures throughout the growing season.
Honey bee on sweet alyssum, photo by Worrel Diedrick
Extended Blooming Period
One of the standout features of sweet alyssum is its prolonged blooming period, which often lasts from spring through fall in favorable climates. This extended flowering season ensures a consistent supply of nectar for pollinators, especially during times when other floral resources may be scarce.
Low Maintenance and Versatility
Sweet alyssum is renowned for its adaptability and ease of cultivation. It thrives in a variety of soil types and is tolerant of both drought and heat, making it an excellent choice for gardeners seeking low-maintenance pollinator-friendly plants. Whether grown in garden beds, containers, or hanging baskets, sweet alyssum adds charm and functionality to any landscape.
Companion Planting Benefits
Beyond its role as a pollinator crop, sweet alyssum offers additional benefits to gardeners through companion planting. Its compact growth habit and dense foliage act as a natural ground cover, suppressing weeds and conserving soil moisture. Furthermore, sweet alyssum is known to attract beneficial insects such as hoverflies and predatory wasps, which help control garden pests.
Encouraging Urban Pollination
In urban environments where green spaces may be limited, incorporating sweet alyssum into landscaping projects can play a significant role in supporting local pollinator populations. Whether in public parks, rooftop gardens, or community plots, the addition of sweet alyssum provides essential forage for pollinators and contributes to urban biodiversity conservation efforts.
Sweet alyssum’s unassuming beauty and pollinator-friendly characteristics make it an excellent educational tool for teaching about the importance of pollination and ecosystem dynamics. They may be small in stature, but its impact as a pollinator crop is undeniable. By incorporating this humble yet vital plant into our landscapes, we can create havens for pollinators and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity for generations to come. Let us embrace sweet alyssum as the unsung hero of pollinator crops.
For more information on sweet alyssum, contact your county Extension office.
Begonias have long had a reputation of being either boring workhorses in annual planting beds and container gardens, like Wax Begonias, or finicky, greenhouse specialty types unsuitable for most people and landscapes, like Rhizomatous Begonias. However, in 2008, Benary Seeds introduced a new early flowering landscape/container Begonia series, all with huge, showy flowers and robust growth habits. They named the series ‘Big’ and changed Begonia’s negative narrative forever.
The first attribute that’s obviously different about ‘Big’ Begonias is that they are, in fact, much bigger than “normal” bedding begonias in every conceivable way. ‘Big’ grows to 18” high with a similar spread, roughly twice as large as conventional wax begonias. ‘Big’ also sports massive (for a Begonia) 1.5-2” flowers that don’t stop until the first fall frost ends the show. And since Begonia flowers appear in clusters, the combined effect of these much larger flowers grouped together is nothing short of spectacular. Even individual leaves are larger on ‘Big’, often hand-sized and coming in various shades of green and bronze, depending on the cultivar.
‘BIG Rose Bronze Leaf’ Begonia 45 days after purchase. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
Speaking of cultivars, the ‘Big’ series has now expanded to include eight different selections, each with slightly different leaf/flower attribute combinations. For example, the ‘Big’ that I am growing this year is named ‘BIG Rose Bronze Leaf’. As you might expect, the plant has dark, bronzish-colored leaves and vivid, rose-pink flowers that together make for a striking combination. Others in the series include such creative names as ‘BIG Red Green Leaf’ and ‘BIG White Bronze Leaf’. Though the names of these cultivars leave much to be desired (come on Benary, step up your name game!), they are all outstanding plants.
Fortunately, growing difficulty doesn’t also increase with plant/flower size and all the plants in the ‘Big’ series are extremely easy to cultivate. ‘Big’ selections, like most other Begonias, prefer partial shade and consistently moist soil, though they can tolerate the occasional dry period due to their waxy leaves. The ‘Big’ cultivars with bronze-colored leaves can even tolerate full sun, which the ‘BIG Rose Bronze Leaf’ sited in a sunny area on my deck can confirm. As with most other long-season flowering annuals, I apply a slow-release, complete fertilizer at planting and then supplement throughout the season with liquid fertilizer to keep them looking their best!
If you’ve avoided Begonias in the past like I did because they just didn’t offer the “wow” factor of other annuals, it’s time to think again. Bigger and truly better in every way than most other begonias, the selections in the ‘Big’ series are definitely worthy of a spot on your patio or in your landscape – plant one today and enjoy eye-catching Begonia blooms all summer long. For more information on Begonias, flowering annual plants, or any other horticultural topic, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office. Happy Gardening!
Crossandra in a back porch containter. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
In Florida, selecting the right plant for a sometimes-shady spot can be tough. Generally, plants that can handle the stress of even a few hours of direct summer sun are considered “full-sun” plants. Many plants that are recommended for “partial shade” either don’t flower as well in shade as they would in sun or have a weak constitution and wilt with any direct sunlight. For these problematic, sometimes shady, sometimes not spots, the plant Crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis) can be perfect!
Crossandra is a tender perennial (or annual depending on how cold our winters get) native to India and Sri Lanka and closely related to Shrimp Plant and Mexican Petunia. Growing slowly to about 3’ in height, clad with deep, dark, glossy leaves that remind me of the Coffee plant, and flaunting vivid orange flowers, Crossandra plants certainly lend a unique, tropical look to landscapes. Like its more well-known cousins, Crossandra can grow in full shade but really thrives with 3-4 hours of direct sun daily and lots of heat and humidity. These characteristics make the species the perfect summertime Panhandle porch plant!
Adding to the list of accolades, Crossandra is also super simple to grow! Apply a slow-release starter fertilizer at planting, supplement monthly after that with a general-purpose garden fertilizer, water regularly, and enjoy stunning orange flowers all summer! As a bonus, if you’re a fan of the University of Florida, put Crossandra in a Gator blue pot and have the most festive porch around just in time for football season to kick off in a few weeks!
Are you “chomping at the bit” to get started gardening this year, but not sure what you can do at this point? Well, good news, there’s plenty of things that can be done whether landscaping or vegetable gardening is your passion.
“New” potatoes grown in Florida. Photo Credit: C. Hutchinson, UF/IFAS
Temperatures can drop significantly in the Panhandle this month, and with short notice. If you want to enhance your flower beds, be sure to use annual bedding plants that can withstand the chill. Dianthus, pansy, viola and dusty miller are some good suggestions to plant. It’s a good time to plant bulbs too. Dahlias, crinum and agapanthus are good choices this time of year. Be sure to provide adequate mulch and water during this cold weather month. There are plenty of trees and shrubs that are beginning to bloom this time of year also. If you’re like me, your allergies will tell you this too. Red maple and star magnolia, just to name a couple, will soon be in bloom.
As for vegetable gardening, the potato is a good choice for Florida gardens. As Americans, we consume approximately 125 pounds per person a year. Potato farming is done commercially in Florida, but mostly with “new” potatoes. These are the small, rounded immature potatoes that have a thin skin and are perfect for low country boils.
It’s February, so it’s Irish potato planting season. The planting season for this cultivar for the Panhandle is from February 1st to mid-March. Sweet potatoes can be planted beginning in late March through June. A hundred pounds of seed potatoes should yield approximately ten bushels. Buy healthy certified seed potatoes from a garden center. Avoid using table stock potatoes. Often, table stock will not sprout successfully. Store bought potatoes are often treated with sprout inhibitors too. This treatment can cause development issues if used as seed potatoes.
Raised beds, at least 6”, are the best way to grow potatoes. Be sure to fertilize the bed soil mixture and fertilize again down furrows when planting. Irish potatoes require copious amounts of fertilizer. For fertilizer, use a general, complete formulation like 10-10-10. Before planting, be sure to dust the seed potatoes with a fungicide to reduce the chance of decay. Plant seed potatoes 3” in depth, at 12” apart and allow for 36” row spacing.
Please take these gardening tips into consideration this month and the next. Spring is just around the corner. Happy gardening! For more information please contact your local county extension office.
Supporting information for this article can be found in the UF/IFAS EDIS Publications, “ Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide” by Sydney Park Brown, Danielle Treadwell, J. M. Stephens, and Susan Webb : http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VH/VH02100.pdf and “Growing Potatoes in the Florida Home Garden”, by Christian T. Christensen, Joel Reyes-Cabrera, Libby R. Rens, Jeffrey E. Pack, Lincoln Zotarelli,Chad Hutchinson, Wendy J. Dahl, Doug Gergela, and James M. White: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS18300.pdf
The line separating what is a weed and what isn’t often comes down to where the “weed” is growing and who is managing the area it’s growing in. Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium rosulatum), one of the most complained about lawn weeds this winter/spring falls squarely in that category! Native plant enthusiasts and homeowners looking to add native wildflowers to their landscape value the plant for its low maintenance, star-shaped blue blossoms in spring. Professional and home turfgrass managers, however, loathe the plant as it masquerades as grass to the untrained eye, looks messy in the cool months, and can displace turf during spring green up. While Blue Eyed Grass can be a pretty landscape plant, our focus today is on learning why it is such an annoying weed in turfgrass areas and exploring control options if it becomes a problem!
Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium rosulatum) in a Centipedegrass lawn in late March. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
For starters, Blue Eyed Grass (BEG) is not even a grass, though it does look an awful lot like one! It is actually a member of the Iris family and is more closely related to spring beauties like Gladiolus, Iris, and Crocus than any turfgrasses. The flowers, appearing late March through April, are a dead giveaway that we aren’t dealing with a grass, as are the flat leaves arranged in bunched fan-shaped rosettes. BEG is considered a winter annual plant in Florida, meaning it sprouts from seed in the fall, grows through the winter, then flowers and sets seed in the spring. Because it grows while lawn grass is dormant, it is very noticeable during its entire lifespan. Though BEG can tolerate a range of soil types, it prefers to grow in moist areas, making it right at home in Panhandle lawns and landscapes in the winter as we experience regular to excessive rainfall throughout our cool season.
All the above characteristics make BEG an annoying weed in lawns. It hides in turfgrass very well until the turf goes dormant in the dead of winter, leading most homeowners to ignore it until it becomes a problem in the spring. At this point, BEG is nearing maturity and is more difficult to control without damaging the turfgrass. BEG also thrives in our climate and can outcompete poorly managed turfgrass, especially if the lawn exhibits the soggy, compacted conditions that heavy lawn foot traffic and winter/spring rainfall cause. So, what is a homeowner to do?
The first step in controlling BEG is maintaining a healthy turf. Ensure you’re treating your turf well during the growing season by fertilizing appropriately, mowing frequently at the correct height, and irrigating properly. Sending turf into the dormant season stressed by poor growing season management is an invitation to winter weeds. Other cultural practices that can help mitigate troublesome winter weeds like BEG are periodic mowing during the cool season to prevent weeds from going to seed and being diligent about not frequently driving on, parking cars on, or otherwise excessively compacting the soil, a common cause of unhealthy turfgrass.
Blue Eyed Grass clump brought into the Calhoun County Extension office for identification and control recommendations in February 2021. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
After implementing the above cultural practices in your lawn management regime, you may also need chemical herbicides to achieve a clean cool season lawn. There are two basic options for BEG control. First, a fall (mid-late October) application of a pre-emergent herbicide like dithiopyr, prodiamine, or pendimethalin can be very effective at preventing winter weeds from occurring at all. If you happen to miss this fall pre-emergent application, a timely post-emergent application of 2,4-D or other general broadleaf herbicides works nicely as well. (BEG and other cool season weeds are best controlled with post-emergent herbicides in December and January before they mature and begin to set seed. Plan applications accordingly!)
While Blue Eyed Grass can be an attractive addition to the landscape, it is never welcome in turfgrass! To prevent this and weeds from becoming a problem, use smart cultural practices to maintain a healthy turf and make timely herbicide applications when needed. For more information on controlling Blue Eyed Grass and other winter weeds, contact your local UF/IFAS Extension office!
