By Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandale
mail@floridanewsline.com
It’s just two weeks into the New Year as I write, and I’m already looking forward to spring. Not because I don’t enjoy this quieter time of the year in the garden, but because I am planning what I might plant and enjoy in the coming months.
Some small perennials need repotting and fertilizing if they are to make good sized garden plants this year. A dilute solution of liquid fertilizer every week or two should work. There are volunteers that I might venture to move. I’ve been slow to sow wildflower seeds, but though the seeds may not be as fertile as they were when fresh, I do expect some small successes. There are a few shrubs to go in before the warmer weather arrives. With the freezes knocking back some of my more tender plants, like Indian shot cannas (Canna indica) and firespike (Odontonema cuspidatum), it’s clear I need to install evergreen shrubs or small trees to screen the neighbors’ yards. Possibilities include female yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), rusty lyonia (Lyonia ferruginea), Simpson’s stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans), and maybe Walter’s viburnum (Viburnum obovatum). I have some sabal palms (Sabal palmetto) dotted around the yard and these plants could fit in well. I also have some wild coffee shrubs (Psychotria nervosa) to add into the mix, but after our recent hard freezes I may keep these in pots as they aren’t fully hardy in zone 9. These plants would all supply food and shelter for birds and insects, including butterflies, which is a big consideration, and are suited to our well-draining sandy soil, once established. It only remains to fill in lower layers of a design with plenty of flowers and subshrubs, either native or Florida-Friendly.
For information on these and other trees and shrubs, check out this comprehensive website: https://tinyurl.com/k9vj9xfa. And this is another useful website, specifically for “bee-friendly” plants: https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/bees/.
The Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (https://tinyurl.com/5pe3hx84) will be useful in the coming weeks while planning the early spring and summer garden. Our winter garden includes mainly broccoli, collards, red and green heading cabbages, and a few rutabaga (or “swede” to those of us with British roots, no pun intended). It’s not too late to start beets, arugula, and lettuce, to name just a few, and not too early to start peas. Check the guide. Tomato growers need time sowing their seed indoors to about six weeks before the last average frost date, which makes that early February.
I was reminded of the importance of wildflowers, while watching two female painted buntings feeding on the seeds of a native red salvia, Salvia coccinea, just outside my front door. There are also males around, looking just like miniature parrots, they are so colorful (https://tinyurl.com/bdzk63vp). Some native broomsedge grasses (Andropogon virginicus) fed a small flock of chipping sparrows just before the freezes. And a dozen or so other species were flocking to my feeders as if they knew exactly what was coming. The robins, harbingers of spring, have returned, but it feels too early. I hope they find the food they need to sustain them before they continue northwards to breed.
As a reminder, the city of Jacksonville has a great tree planting program. If you are a homeowner with property next to a right of way, you can apply to have a tree planted there for free. For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/yckcby3u, and click on 630 CITY Program Guide, where you can find out how the scheme could work for you.
