The Neighborhood Gardener – February

Flowering dogwood

Happy gardening!

safesubscribe logo

Florida Fresh App

Luke ConnorFor those who love the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, guess what? There's an app for that! Florida Fresh is a new mobile app that provides a list of fruits and vegetables available fresh in stores and markets at this time of year based on your zip code. There's also a list of what edibles you can plant in your garden right now. Detailed information on each fruit and vegetable is provided, along with links to other educational resources. The app is free and available at the iTune app store and Google Play.


Red Leafy Vegetables

Red leafy vegetableRoses are red
Violets are blue
Lettuce is green
But it is red too!

Yes, even your greens come in different colors. Learn more.


Don't Let Crabgrass Make You Crabby

crabgrass As cooler temperatures arrive, have you found brown patches of lawn where there was green and healthy turf just a few months ago? If so, you may have a crabgrass problem, but don't let it get you down. Now is the time to do something about this pesky lawn weed, before it grows back in the spring. More


Wendy's Wanderings

Wendy WilberWhen it's too cold to garden, Wendy peruses garden catalogs and books about landscape plants. This month, she curls up with a book that's sure to educate and entertain any gardener. Beatrix Potter is well-known for such children's books as "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," and "The Tale of Tom Kitten," but did you know that she was also an accomplished botanist? More


Plant of the Month: Roses for Florida

Mrs. B. R. Cant roseRoses are an iconic (and expensive) symbol of Valentine's Day, but you don't have to settle for pricey roses in a vase. Not everyone knows it, but you can actually grow roses in Florida! Of course, as with so many plants, what works everywhere else doesn't always work for Florida gardeners. Researchers at UF/IFAS have been looking into which roses strike the perfect balance of tough and beautiful for growing in Florida. More


February in Your Garden

Pink crinum flowerWhile we're talking about roses, don't forget that now is the time to prune any you have growing in your landscape. Many bulbs can be planted now; some to try are crinum and agapanthus.

For more month-by-month gardening tips, check out the Florida Gardening Calendar. Three different editions of the calendar provide specific tips for each of Florida's gardening regions—North, Central, and South.


"Harvest as Your Grow" Container Gardening

Hands planting baby lettuce in containerGrowing your own vegetables is becoming quite the popular hobby across the country. Container gardening allows anyone—from those with acres of land to apartment dwellers with no more than a tiny balcony—to try their hand at growing their own produce. It's also a great project for the beginning gardener. This tutorial will walk you through the basics of creating your own "harvest as you grow" leafy greens container. More


New Look for the e-Newsletter

Starting in March, we'll be moving the email version of the Neighborhood Gardener into a more mobile-friendly template. This won't change the content we provide, but it will make reading easier for nearly half of our subscribers that are reading the newsletter on a mobile device.

What's Going On?

If your Master Gardener program or Extension office is having an event, be sure to share it with us.