Week of April 10, 2022

April brings SPRING PLANTING into high gear. Gainesville is clearly a gardening “hotspot”, with numerous garden shops, local breeders of plants, gardening clubs and societies, UF’s Horticultural Program, Plant Breeding, and Cooperative Extension Programs, the Kanapaha and Wilmot Botanical Gardens, and endless plant sales. The goals for our Florida Garden were to replace those plants lost in last winter’s frost, and to try some new things. The Windmill Palm (tall and spindly) in the front yard was replaced with a Japanese Magnolia, to provide spring flowers and summer foliage. Two peach trees disabled from girdling by deer antlers were replaced with Navel Orange trees and a new cold tolerant Orange variety, Sugar Belle, took the place of a dead Loquat tree. We replaced a few blueberries, lantanas, and Pentas lost in the winter. A Buddeleia was added to our pollinator team. The Elephant Ears were filled in with more Black Magic roots and a new green/bronze variety was added. A small chestnut tree was planted to help pollinate both neighbors’ mature trees. Finally, some Florida pineapple plants were added to the back yard. The morning walk in the Garden gets more and more interesting.