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Florida Gardening

New to Florida

11 years ago

We just bought a place down in Florida and Im looking for plants that will survive this zone and take care of themselves when we go back to Michigan in about 3/4 months...I am so excited to learn about the new way of gardening down here...any thought and the kinds of plants I should be looking for?..I am into brugs and will try and get them to grow here but would love to get any input..Judy

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Comments (8)

fl west coast zone 10a
11 years ago
Welcome to Florida. I'm originally from the Chicago area
and love the gardening here. The 7 years I lived here
have taught me that gardening is completely different here.

I have a few questions for you. Will anyone take care of
trimming, weeding etc while you're gone? Some plants such
as plumbagos grow real quickly, while crotons and pygmy
date palms grow much slower. There also are summer and
winter annuals. Impatiens which are grown in the summer
up north are used in the winter here, by May they have a
hard time surviving the heat, while purslane and vincas
love the summer heat. In zone 9b most years will have
a little bit of frost a couple mornings, and a bit of
a freeze once every couple of years (except for Jan 2010
which was very cold for Florida). The East coast tends
to be warmer than the West coast at night also. Also
the amount of sunlight you get where you want to plant
is important, and are there awnings or anything else
that stop the rain from watering your plants?
rednofl
11 years ago
Brugs can be put in the ground and will flourish with enough water available . Many will not tolerate full sun very well. They will freeze to the ground and come back once they are established.
welcome to Florida
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katkin_gw
11 years ago
Welcome to Fl and to GW. You'll learn a lot here, so keep asking those questions. Keep in mind Fl is a big state and has many zones. What happens in Jax doesn't happen in Miami. :o)
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
What months will you be gone?
thonotorose
11 years ago
And where is your new place? Welcome!
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
11 years ago
Here's a useful website w/ plant info specific to Florida....

University of Florida also has a great site, but it seems to be down this morning - perhaps it'll be back up later on

Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata.com
zzackey
11 years ago
I don't think she/he is in Jax. That's 9a. Welcome to Florida! We lived Florida for 17 years. Now we live just over the border in GA. Brugs are great. We used to take care of a friend's place in the winter. She had brugs, spider plants, wegelia, and firecracker plants(in a shady spot). They all did well with no care.
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
11 years ago
Apologies for that bad link - here's 1 that should work...

Here is a link that might be useful: University of FL EDIS/IFAS

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