tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44826811220053440662026-03-24T12:46:16.147-04:00Florida gardening, north florida gardening, Gainesville gardening, southern gardening, tropical gardening, sub-tropical gardening, South Florida gardening, urban homesteading, vegetable gardeningThe Consummate Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568244709162240940noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-21583083810613259862026-03-24T11:01:00.000-04:002026-03-24T11:01:27.411-04:00

 I've been inactive on this blog for a long time, but readers have been asking me to revive it, so here we go! I'm planning a new redesign, new features, more images, and more how-tos and gardening tips. This blog will also be linked to my Reddit forum r/gainesvillegardening, so if you are in the Alachua County or surrounding Zone 9a areas, and would like to go over and join, that would

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-52797639603417363392022-12-04T08:22:00.000-05:002022-12-04T08:21:11.352-05:00

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Yule or whatever you celebrate this holiday season. No, you can't plant poinsettias in North Florida this month, but what would December be without them? Greens, Greens, and More Greens You can continue to plant your winter greens this month, being careful to protect them from freezes. Some winter greens are cold-hardy

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July is a month of anticipation in North Florida, because most of our fall/winter crops are planted in August. There are only a few veggies you can start from seed in July, but there is still time to put larger plants in the ground. You can usually find veggies such as peppers and tomatoes in sizes from 3-inch to 1 gallon pots, or sometimes even larger at nurseries and big box stores. Time

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-32275883716832062262021-05-01T00:00:00.002-04:002021-05-01T12:20:08.745-04:00

May is when the heat usually hits North Florida, and we consider it the beginning of summer. Not much will grow from seed this time of year, in fact this year (2017) has been so hot that my pepper seeds I planted last month never sprouted. Vegetables to Plant in North Florida in May  Fried Okra Is an Old Southern FavoriteImage Credit Lahti 213 CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-83684996589984886262021-02-10T11:50:00.002-05:002021-02-10T11:50:43.044-05:00

Beginnings of the South Facing Garden, 2015When I moved here, I had NO money and the soil was horrid -- pure sand.  People told me I couldn't do permaculture in this tiny space, but I didn't listen. I did what I could, using what I had, and what I had was leaves. With lots of large trees around the complex, I started raking and piling them up on the beds in the winter, nothing else, just

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-11351705478348310662020-08-03T14:02:00.000-04:002020-08-03T14:02:12.896-04:00

The garden is out of control.For the next two weeks, I will be getting rid of probably 75% of the containerized plants in the courtyard and digging out a lot of ornamentals in the outside gardens. The hurricane scare (which was a non-event here in Gainesville) made me realize that these plants do not bring me joy anymore. I'd be much more joyful in nice, open courtyard with a few pretty plants

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-27396315434021738652020-05-21T15:43:00.000-04:002020-05-21T15:43:23.949-04:00

Doesn't look like an edible? Keep reading to find out what it is. I decided last year I was going to transition over from ornamentals to edibles in my gardens. Having very little gardening space, and even less full sun, it's been a challenge for sure. I've tried a few experiments over the years, some have succeeded and some have failed. Some did o.k., but needed more sun, so turned out to be

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-58986410423469050392020-05-17T12:09:00.000-04:002020-05-17T12:09:24.845-04:00

Giant Peace Lily in from the cold NOTE: This is a post I put into draft back in February and never finished, so here it is, as far as I got with it. This is the most frustrating time of year for me. I want to get out and clean and trim, but the possibility that we'll have another freeze before the month is out keeps me from doing it. My garden just looks awful! But because of the mild

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-84280483007182090072020-05-16T11:04:00.000-04:002020-05-16T11:04:54.369-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile, and I don't have time right now to post pictures, but here's a bit of what's been happening lately in the gardens. I've been trying to get rid of a lot of my excess plants. Since I can't have my yearly plant sale due to the coronavirus, I've been giving away a lot of my plants. I won't give away the nicest or most valuable of them, so I'm looking at

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-23746400313283975152019-08-31T13:54:00.000-04:002019-08-31T14:17:46.687-04:00

I've been happily propagating and adding to my plant collection over 40 years and here for the past 4 years. I came here with 10 plants and now, due to the kindness of friends, mostly, have literally hundreds of plants to care for during hurricanes and freezes. One of the drawbacks to living in an apartment complex is that they dictate what you do during bad weather. Now, with

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-9350083105752417292019-08-19T16:27:00.000-04:002019-08-19T16:28:35.525-04:00

Uh-Oh! Just realized that August is nearly over and I forgot to post this. Hope you found it from the link in the sidebar, but you have plenty of time to get things in the ground this month, plus, most of what can be planted in August can also be planted in September, so you're probably good. The main garden season has finally arrived in Florida, and here in the northern part of the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-74114619292523814352019-06-14T14:09:00.001-04:002019-06-14T14:10:49.644-04:00

NOTE: I forgot all about this post. I'm publishing it without many pictures for now because June is half over and I want to get it up. Sorry about that. It's been a busy month. June is a harsh month in Florida, and most gardeners use it as a time to rest and plan for their August plantings, but there are still food crops that can be planted and grown, though many you may never have heard of.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-33417713825427287462019-04-11T14:21:00.000-04:002019-04-11T14:21:49.897-04:00

I have had so much trouble with a lack of sun in my gardens. My courtyard gets some afternoon sun, but not enough to plant full-sun vegetables. Still, the bananas seem to grow tall enough to reach the sun, and do very well, so I figure what I need is fruit trees that can grow taller than the garden wall. The courtyard isn't that big -- 11 x 14 feet -- so I can't grow a lot of trees. Also,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-5393619831395816242019-04-06T11:21:00.000-04:002019-04-06T11:21:54.898-04:00

April is the last planting month for many vegetables in North Florida before the heat of summer comes. There are actually very few vegetables you can still start from seed, but you can still use starter plants for some, and there are oh so many types and varieties of summer veggies you can enjoy! Annuals to plant in April in North Florida Coleus are a wonderful way to add color to your

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-88437816004154694502019-03-19T13:03:00.000-04:002019-04-06T11:24:33.791-04:00

It's a nice, cool, cloudy day here in Gainesville, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to work on the newer front bed up by the fence. I'd stuck a few things up there, but it really was just trashy looking, no form, rhyme or reason. I couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it until I lucked up on a bounty of free bromeliad pups in the trash pile at the community garden.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-54398018537627355492019-02-23T13:11:00.000-05:002019-04-06T11:24:48.180-04:00

The warm weather has come too soon, and I lost out on the cool weather I needed to get the beds ready for planting. I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish all that I had planned, because I simply can't work in the heat. Once it gets past 75 F, I have to go inside.  So many "have to do this before I can do that" things are holding me back. I wanted to do the courtyard first, but

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-32625868643535408902019-02-01T11:11:00.000-05:002019-02-23T13:22:50.061-05:00

I couldn't wait any more, so I went and whacked  back the Christmas cassia (Cassia bicapsularis) and the Cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella). I was going to do the confederate rose too, but I want to root some of those cuttings to sell, so I need to wait a bit for those. I hope all chance of a hard freeze is over, but who knows? I just know that I"m sick of all these plants, and since

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-80029962215184852742019-01-26T15:27:00.000-05:002019-02-23T13:24:32.131-05:00

I frequent one particular gardening forum, and I hesitate to post at times, because I realize some of my posts are sort of silly to serious gardeners. I post about getting excited over cuttings rooting or seeds shooting up, but I am so in awe of nature that I just get excited about the tiniest things. My grandmother was my gardening guru, and she taught me to never take anything for granted,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-90411315509978148252019-01-21T17:38:00.002-05:002019-02-23T13:25:15.771-05:00

I don't really like very cold, freezing weather, which is why I moved to Florida. I moved from SW Florida to North Florida because I missed the seasons. I wanted a short winter where things actually died back and went dormant, but it seems I may have to go a bit further north for that. It's hard to tell what's going to happen to the weather nowadays. Last year, we had two hard freezes in

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-78659703972265900712019-01-01T10:53:00.003-05:002019-02-23T13:26:07.029-05:00

2019 is a year of out with the old, in with the new for me. I started this garden with the hopes of growing food, but that didn't work out well at all. There is absolutely no full sun, so most of what I tried to grow either did nothing or very little. Plus, there is a distinct lack of pollinators, so even the things I managed to get to grow didn't produce anything. So I've had to rethink what

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-16153002426655492332019-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:002019-01-01T10:24:13.432-05:00

January is one of the coldest months in North Florida, but it's a great month for starting veggies for your spring garden. Put your potatoes in the ground this month, and start some tomatoes from seed or clone some from your existing plants for spring planting. You can also brighten up your landscape with the cute smiling faces of pansies or add a graceful camellia to your flowering shrubs.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-50657047555756604752018-11-18T14:20:00.000-05:002019-01-01T10:59:31.540-05:00

Cranberry Hibiscus in Bloom As those of you who have been reading this blog since I moved to this apartment know, my gardens here are an ongoing experiment. At first, I planted anything I could get cheap or free or grow from seed, but as seems to always be the case with my experiments, this one has not worked out too well. Too Many Large Perennials for a Small Garden When I moved here, I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-42099310786982485732018-09-30T16:59:00.002-04:002019-01-01T11:00:32.971-05:00

Peacock Gingers and Wandering Jew under the Hibiscus This was the first year I used fertilizer on my gardens, and I wish I hadn't. I was committed to growing organically, but things didn't seem to be growing quickly enough, so I said "why not?" and applied some mild, timed-release bloom fertilizer.  Then the rains started. The fertilizer, which was supposed to last "up to 4 months

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-28114689237704429722018-09-24T11:41:00.001-04:002018-09-30T17:02:48.864-04:00

My beautiful hibiscus, which was killed back to the ground by the freeze this past January, has finally put out its first bloom. What a beautiful site after the disaster I have been faced with since last Wednesday. The yard crew for my apartment complex, which is an outside contractor, has not been doing its job this summer. I was patient, because of all the rain, but finally, I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482681122005344066.post-83480063310368349392018-09-03T14:46:00.003-04:002018-09-24T11:55:59.112-04:00

The sun comes up later now , but the mornings are staying cooler longer, which allows me to get much more done. Yesterday, I had an orgy of transplanting rooted cuttings and repotting potbound plants. What Was I Thinking? I had one of those WWIT moments yesterday, and had to spend a couple of hours cleaning up the aftermath. This spring, with all the rain, I didn't get to lay new

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