Strawberriegirl:

I had the same issue four years ago - spent all my life in VA and things are totally different here! I think the smartest thing I did was to take the landscaping class at Seminole Community College. While it focuses on landscaping (vs gardening), the class was very informative and I found the instrcutor (Howard Jeffries) to be a real hoot. Not sure where you live but it is offered in Oviedo and Sanford. I think Tom MacCubbins (who writes for the paper and has several books) teaches a class in Orange County.

Anita

I have been here for about 5 years and one of the important things I have learned is that things grow much larger here than elsewhere. Be sure to check out the mature size of plants, shrubs & vines. I have had to relocate so many things over the years. The plants I was used to gardening with were in the 1-3' range. Here the range seems to start at 3-4' and go to 9-10', especially for the flowering shrubs. You don't want to be pruning all the time. You will lose the beauty of the plant at full maturity. Of course this doesn't mean not to prune at all, or you will have a jungle in no time.

I have also discovered that things grow much, much faster than up north. If you go away for a week you will not recoginize your yard.

One more final thing, that I am sure others will tell you also, drive around and check out other yards and see what you like. You will get a better idea of how they grow in your area and what you like. You can also see how large they get. You can usually tell if the plant will do well in your area if you see healthy ones in your neighborhood. I cannot tell you how many sickly dogwood trees are in my neighborhood. They just do not do well in my area.

Hope this helps.

Gabriele

First let me say welcome. ;o)

Check out your extension service, many offer free classes.

Visit your local botanical gardens and see what they grow.

Get rid of that raintree! It is very invasive and chokes out all the native plants, the seeds are wind blown to the wild. Seedlings grow everywhere, in drains and downspouts. There was awhile back a lengthy post about this monster of a tree. Check it out.

I came from NJ 11 years ago and was in your shoes. I think you need to except the fact that you'll make mistakes and just have fun. There is always someone here to help. ;o)

Hi and welcome to Florida

One thing I have learned is to be cautious about what the plant tag says. If it says full sun it does not necessarily mean full FLORIDA sun. Drought tolerated plants are the best in my opinion, otherwise they seem to droop too much through the hot summer.

Plants that do well, can sometimes do way too well. One being the mexican petunia, I have some and it will take over the whole flower bed in no time. I love the plant but it is hard to control. Same holds true for a lot of plants here.

Definately agree with the size issue. Lots of plants exceed the stated size. I always read plant tags but then tend to not believe half the things it tells you, lol.

I have only been gardening about 3 years and all of it has been here so I don't have other regions to compare with, but I know plant tags have fooled me alot.

Good luck and have fun

Wow! Thanks for all the responses so far. :-)

Anita, I've thought about taking some classes and am still investigating. I know the extension service offers free classes that I'd like to check out. I've got two of Tom MacCubbins' books. He's been an enormous source of help. I also read his columns. I like him because he's got information specific to central Florida. It is such a unique climate here with the lack of hard frosts and high over night lows for much of the year.

I'm still trying to get a handle on it all. The size issue is, no pun intended, huge. Even the grass is huge... LOL. Springtime, I've driven around the neighborhood and there are a lot of plants I really like. Some of the dracaenas, the crotons of course, hibiscus and the gingers have really caught my eye. With the passing of summer I'll be able to get out more. (I wasn't able to do much my first summer because of adjusting to the heat. Portland heat is very different and it took some time for me to become climatized. I think I finally have - 65 degrees seems chilly! :-D) What I'd really like is the chance to talk to some of the gardeners in the neighborhood and sometimes that's hard.

Katkin, I've visited the Leu Gardens and I'd like to go back with a camera and a notepad. I was amazed to see so many roses there and doing so well. In Portland - the city of roses - you can just plunk a rose down in any full sunlight spot and watch it grow grow grow!! I had given up on roses down here until I saw them. However I don't think I'll plant many - probably just one or two. (I used to have over 60!! Eeeek that's too many.)

The golden rain tree... I could write volumes on it. I read a humorous thread about it here the other day when I went looking for information. It's too bad that the awful thing is so #&!% invasive. It really has some nice characteristics. I wish it were sterile. I do however have some practice in dealing with invasive trees. In Portland I had a red leaf maple that formed thousands and thousands of seed pods that would find their way to the beds every fall. I was able to manage that one so I'm hoping I can take my techniques and apply them to it. Unfortunately getting rid of it at this time is not an option. It's the only shade tree on the entire property and is needed to keep energy costs manageable.

I've inherited something of a fixer-upper when it comes to the garden. I've got a long laundry list of what needs to be done. In the NW corner of the property there is an azalea patch that is obscured by two vines. One like a grape vine and one very charming but very invasive vine. (Little pointed leaves, small bell shaped white flowers with magenta throats. Very 'delicate' looking.) This patch is also the home to two golden rain tree saplings (they're going), several taller evergreen bushes/trees, a palm of sorts and a stump from a large oak that fell in the hurricanes of 2004. In the east side of the house I've got a palm tree planted way too close to the house that has to be removed. I've already removed 3 golden rain tree saplings from that side and am working in nursing an orange tree back to health. It's doing much better since all the volunteers have been removed from its bed. The grass on the entire property is a hodgepodge of bahia, sedge, st augustine and another I don't know. The only part of the yard that is in control is the immediate area surrounding the front porch. I've trimmed the podacarpus down, planted an oleander, thinned out the snake grass, re-mulched and planted some low maintenance annuals.

Jamjar, you are soooo right about the tags. The tags were all written for climates up north of here it seems. Even the ones that grow outside here I've noticed have had house plant type tags on them. I've looked around a couple local nurseries, Lowes and Home Depot. I find that touring them gives me a better feel for things but the tags just don't offer what I need. The summer heat is a huge issue. It's not just the day time highs either, but the night time lows. The continuous heat is an issue - something I'd never thought about in plant terms in the PNW. It's only for two weeks in August up there that you have high night time temps.

So far I've learned that plant selection can be a double edged sword. You want hardy and drought resistance but that opens you up for invasive and big growth plants. Florida seems to be being overtaken by a lot of bad plant selections so I want to avoid that. I've already got one doozy with that stupid golden rain tree and that's enough for me right now.

Welcome to Florida! I've moved back up to NY, but in 5 years I learned a lot about gardening in the Sunshine State. I also worked at an awesome garden center near Vero Beach for most of that time :)

1) the less watering you have to do the better--select plants that will either thrive despite this "neglect" or will only need watering once a week during the driest times. Also find good, strong, wind-resistant trees to grow for shade--you'll appreciate it come summer!

2) don't limit yourself to just Florida native plants, but learn to utilize the ones that please you, are beautiful, and they will reward you along with the exotics.

3) along with that, plant in the ground the plants that will be hardy for your zone--there's nothing like realizing that you have to protect a 10 foot palm tree from a freeze or it will probably die or suffer for many months before it's lovely again. Anything that's marginal plant in beautiful containers or, like orchids, hang from a tree and bring in when the temp dips below 50.

4) Whatever plants you loved up north you will most likely have to forget about--find Florida-friendly equivalents for them. I love hydrangea, but they just were not a reality for MY gardening LIFESTYLE so I discovered plumbago. Instead of daylilies I grew amaryllis, rather than lilac I had crape myrtles in 5 colors, etc...

5) Have fun! Once in a while pick up a plant "just because" and give it a try--at least in a container for a season.

6) don't try petunias, pansies and snapdragons or tomatoes during the summer--wrong season!

7) read Pamela Crawford's Florida Gardening book series--they're fantastic!

8) Start slowly--nothing pains more than trying to maintain too much at once. Mulch well. Use appropriate fertilizers. Although it's smelly I liked to use milorganite because it didn't have to be watered in. I'd even fertilize the natives that I had.

9) Forget your lawn. It's not worth it. I grew gaillardia, dune sunflower, sensitive plant and purslane instead. When the neighborhood was all dry and crusty my yard looked FANTASTIC!

10) and last but not least...check out botanical gardens, stroll your neighborhood, and peruse garden centers where they grow and carry what's appropriate for the season and will tell you :) You will learn to trust some and not others. Attend garden "events", plant sales, and soak it all up.

Strawberrygirlie!

Some plants that you'll see in your neighborhood, if you decide that you want it, check to see if it can take sun or shade. Some plants labeled "full sun" can not take our
Florida sun.
You might want to plant fruits and take advantage of that opportunity. When in doubt ask here. There is never a dumb question.
These are the friendliest people anywhere.

Happy gardening,
Felix

Strawberrygirlie (I love that name),

The one that looks like a grape probably is. It is a bitter grape and can be invasive but not as invasive as that other little vine you have. I too have a fixer upper property. I don't have the GRT but have camphor, brazilian pepper, potato vine, grape and that other little vine whose name escapes me at the moment and mimosa too. On the plus side, I have beautiful oaks, a gorgeous cedar and magnolias too.

To your question, my advice would second most of that above and also add when you plant something think how you will water it. Will you need to drag a hose when the rains stop or is a sprinkler available? In a big yard, it is a big consideration.

As for grass, if it is green and holds the dirt down, consider it a great yard. Much less stress that way.

Like Felix said, if you have a question ask it here. Nicest and most knowledgeable plant people anywhere.

Remember that Florida is a place of extreme weather, especially in 9a. It can get incredibly hot, wet, dry, cold. Mostly not in the same day but the swings are quick. Only the toughest plants survive.

Welcome.

I just remembered the name. Skunk vine. If you do a search on this forum, you can get a picture to be sure. It is a nasty bugger.

start small.

start with mulch and newspapers (search the forum for the how/why). use the mulch you can get for free, from tree trimming services. it's full of lignan and other yummy things, and it's ecologically OK.

then. in these islands of mulch, add trees, bunch grasses (muhly, sea oats) shrubs, vines. a few climbing roses (don juan, prosperity), some fruit trees (figs, citrus, peaches). then build around them -- more roses, perennials, tropical stuff (if that's your thing), annuals.

mulch, mulch, mulch.

it cannot be said too often: high, filtered shade is your friend. NOTHING thrives here in full sun (until very well established).

learn how to run pvc lines (easy as pie) so that watering can be done by hand, where needed. consider also using microsprinklers, which are highly efficient and easy to re-purpose as your garden grows.

but, really, start small. little islands of plants, learn what does well where. then build out.

Florida is the land of microclimates. You'll be looking out your window and wondering what kind of bog plants to buy while, a mile away someone is watering their cactus! The north side of your house is getting frost bit and the tomatoes on the south are merrily putting out fruit.
The bed of tropicals you started got 'killed' by the frost so you replanted with a hardier species only to find that the tropicals had returned by July.
Then you could have a soil change where one part of your land is sand and another part crosses a clay ridge.

Key to survival is to maintain your sense of humor, be prepared to be amazed, and keep adult beverages on hand.

Also, ask on this forum. You can see how many responses you've gotten already. We like people.

Welcome to Florida! There's been some great advice given so far and I don't want to duplicate much of it. I do remember when I moved here ten years ago from California that a lot of this was overwhelming, so I understand what you are going through! Know that you will go through a bunch of trial and error until you find what works for you and your yard. Here are a few thoughts:

1. It's best to forget everything about gardening where you were and start fresh. Not only do we have different climate but the soil here isn't very good compared to where you came from. We do have good drainage, though and that's a blessing in a lot of cases. You'll need a completely different mindset to garden here.
2. Keeping a lawn is a big hassle, it's bad for Florida's environment too, with pesticides and fertilizers leaching into the water. I've replaced much of my lawn with ground covers: perennial peanut and mimosa. You can mow some of the ground covers and they do just great without fertilizing or extra watering.
3. Be careful to know the downsides of a lot of great plants before you plant them. I love bougainvillea and it's so gorgeous, but the pruning is horrible, the thorns on that thing are huge and the plant grows so large that it becomes a big pain in the butt when it comes time to prune, which is often. Passion vine is gorgeous but when your neighbors threaten to disown you because it's coming up all over their yard (and it's volunteering all over yours too) and growing something like ten feet a day, it is hard to look at the flowers and still feel good about them. Some palm trees require a lot of pruning and are messy. The FL native sabal palm is one. And so on.
4. A lot of the Florida native plants are great but some of them do sprawl. I have a good mix of natives plus other plants that don't require a lot of water or fertilizer, and that are not invasive. Be really wary of picking the wrong vine because some of them take over and then are really hard to get rid of.
5. I've found some things too good to be true. Beautiful hybrid hibiscus is one good example. They look good at the nursery and look good for a year or so, but I have not been able to sustain them for very long. They are expensive and showy for a while but eventually they've all died on me.
6. I used to plant stuff and then cover it in the winter to protect it from the cold. Now I just have a few orchids I bring in the garage when it gets cold, but otherwise I've let Darwinism rule. If it survives, I keep it.
7. I've found over the years I've gotten lazier about maintenance and would rather not do a lot of pruning. I have a large property so pruning can get overwhelming and expensive if you don't want to do it yourself. So now I'm doing things like planting a lot more bulbs and shrubs like crotons that grow slowly and need very little extra care.
8. Take advantage of Florida's positives. Plant herbs and vegetables in the fall and enjoy them for many months. Plant butterfly plants for butterflies to eat and others as nectar sources. Allow the butterfly larvae to eat whatever they want and you are rewarded with flying flowers!
9. Try to garden without using pesticides or inorganic fertilizers. It's better for the environment and in the long run you will have an easier time keeping the garden from becoming overrun with truly harmful pests.

That's about it from here. Number one thing is to enjoy yourself because Florida nature is very beautiful and all your work will be well rewarded by the wonderful environment you will create for yourself and friends and family.

Rocks, water features, mulch, pathways; then start thinking about plants. Much less work, no fertilizer or irrigation needed.

Hi, strawberrygirlie,

Welcome to our forum. Sounds like you have already done quite a lot of homework, and that you have gardening in your background, so you already have a great start. Plus, you already found us! This forum will be a great resource for you as it has for all of us.

My advice is not unlike Ill's, feed the soil by using organic materials as a mulch. Do this regularly, and our poor soil won't be an issue.

Welcome!

Anna

I live in SW Fl. 27 yrs.a few things I can tell you is, don't over plant, because we live in a natural hot house, you will end up with a jungle in one year. Feed, feed, feed your plants and tree's, they are trying to survive in sand....use a systemic for flowers/plants especially on Oleandar or bugs will eat them up in a week's time...if you have Bahia lawn, no need to water even if it goes brown, it will comes back, you can't kill it, it's in the weed family..LOL Do not plant hibiscus on the north side they freeze easily hate frost too, put your azalia's there, they love cold..

Wow... again! LOL... Such responses. It's taken me the better part of the day to absorb it all.

I'll try to take them in order.

Guapogardener... I'm trying to do the whole xeriscaping thing. I am not one that likes to spend copious amounts of water when it's not available. Also since all of the watering done will have to be done by hand, it's a lot of work to do for this entire lot. My old garden in Portland was large, but not as large as the lot I have now. I can't imagine planting labor intensive flora in the long run. I am looking for 'substitutes' so to speak. I feel it would be strange to try to put in plants that thrived in Portland here in Orlando. Additionally, there are all these beautiful tropical plants to choose from - I can't imagine picking something as 'mundane' as a rhododendron when I can have crotons. I would actually *love* to get rid of about 40% of the lawn I have now. Not just because it's a hodgepodge but I'm just not a big lawn person. Mowing, edging, weeding blah blah blah. And in return... a lawn. Now I know there are those that love lawns, I'm just not one of them. Also in Portland a brown lawn in the dry season is a badge of honor. It means that you are doing your part to conserve water.

Countrynest... thank you for the welcome. :-) I intend to be asking many questions. Especially on plant identification. There's a couple plants I've seen that I'm really finding attractive. I just need to go out and get pics of them to post here and ask.

Gardencpa... The nickname is actually from my boyfriend. I have a lot of Irish in my background and because of my hair and skin, he calls me that. I have to admit I like it. *grin* Watering... there are plenty of nozzles available for hoses. Which is a good thing in the establishment phase of things.

"only the toughest plants survive"... there must be a lot of tough plants here. It seems like everything grows so well... almost too well. It confuses me because of the sandy soil and the heavy rains that wash away minerals. Yet... everything grows like wildfire. Is everyone fertilizing like mad or did too many people bring in too many plants?

The skunk vine... is that the name of the very delicate looking vine that's very invasive? The one with the clusters of small white flower with magenta throats and small pointy leaves? I'd love to know the name of it. You know what they say... 'know thine enemy'. ;-)

Ill_mannered_ache... I think you are so right about starting small. If nothing else it makes sense when trying to establish plantings. Instead of driving the water bill sky high by trying to establish new plantings all over, it seems better to so a bed or two at a time. Not only for labor but because you do have to water things that you're trying to establish.

Lakeron... I sooooo know what you mean about microclimates. I've noted so far that I have at least four... not just for the four compass directions either although they do play a role. The western sunset sun is much more harsh than the eastern sunrise sun. Also the southern side is much more prone to have things wither than the northern side. I'm glad you posted because it made me think of sectioning off parts in the yard into individual areas. I've got more than enough space to do it.

Lacoquina... One of my big concerns is planting 'bad plants'. The ones that can get out of control, be invasive, have environmental issues etc. I am glad you posted about the passion vine simply because I'd been looking at it. I think I am better off with a different flowering vine. Any suggestions? :-)

Fawnridge... I'm trying to go with the approach of creating 'islands'... I'm not big on water features simply because... well if it's a fountain and it runs it makes me have to go to the bathroom. *grin*

Anna... thank you for posting. I'm still confused about things growing so big/fast and the condition of the soil. If the sand is so bad, why do things grow so well?

Susieq... a sidenote... that's my sister's nickname. :-D My oleander hasn't bloomed much for the past months, is it possible that the bugs are eating the blooms? What product do you use? In Portland I used natural controls for bugs - alliums, marigolds etc but I fear that natural controls may not be enough here.

Whew! Thank you all for your feedback. I'm watching this thread like a hawk. So much knowledge in one place. It's like I've found nervana for garden info in Florida!

OK, maybe I was being a bit melodramatic with "only the tough survive" :o) but with the bugs and the drought (or the floods) and the heat and the invasives, there is no room for weak plants. That is unless you want to baby them. We do have a great variety though.

Skunk vine, Paederia foetida - looks like this.

Wicked stuff. Is that what you have?

Ayup... that's the one. Pernicious little bugger. I have pulled quite a bit and there's more to pull. The frustrating thing is that my neighbor has it planted *on purpose*!!! Oysh.

Thanks Gardencpa. You've answered a serious query for me. :-)

Strawberrygirlie...

you would be SHOCKED at how many people ask about plants that they had up north--and they still want to grow them in Florida! It borders on bizarre, but I believe it is because Florida is a new frontier in so many ways! A new climate, new plants, new soil, etc.

I used to love it when people would come in and ask what they can grow...and I could just take them on a tour! That was my favorite! I loved educating, showing, and designing.

Way to go! You are definitely falling for Florida and just dive right in! You are right--there's SO MUCH!