I live in north DeLand and have a very old fig - brown turkey I am guessing . It grew very slowly but really perked up dramatically one year when I put a heavy application of oak ashes around it . The fig took off after that . I get two crops a year - one in July and a smaller one in October . It is in poor soil and full blazing sun . It is also in my citrus grove so it gets citrus fertilizer when I think about it . It is a wonderful carefree plant . I used to trim it before I knew better and now I do almost nothing . This time of year is great since the fig leaves are returning and are a pretty green . Plant the figs in Gainesville in the ground . Ask your younguns to water it regularly until the summer monsoon sets in and off you go !

Cactus dude, its all good. If you're not familiar with mid Atlantic and Northeast Beach culture, its radically different than going to a beach in California. California is more about day tripping to the beach. It's a year round beach climate and people go there to surf or picnic or watch the sunset. Here, our beach season is short. Businesses have three precious months to make money for the entire year. Rent is VERY expensive. Anything that sets you apart from your competitor or makes your place look more "beachy" will help make the season. Tourists generally don't do day trips either, as most of the east coast cities are a few hours drive from their favorite beach resorts. So visits are often in increments of every weekend, entire week's vacation or entire seasons renting a house (often year after year or generations). Repeat loyal customers are big business. The thousands spent on "disposable" palms can translate to hundreds of thousands for the beach club, bar, mini golf or restaurant. Same for the garden center that sold the palms and installed them. Growers too.

Hey, I was born in NJ (Passaic), does that count? Lived there about a year, then lived in Union 'til I was about 5 1/2. Been living in NY ever since, but have worked in NJ since college, and am back and forth over the border constantly (we live right near the NY/NJ border). No sales tax on clothing in NJ--why shop anywhere else? LOL

thank you!