It certainly is. In fact, where I am here in Gainesville, we are more like S. GA. than S. FL

It does seem different. We get just as hot in the summer but more frost in the winter. We also seem to get more rain here where I am (Jax area) than south fl gets in the summer.

Let's rebel!Lets start are own!Lol!See my post.Give a shout out.

secretsquirrel007 - Start our own what? Will this site break FL up into 2 regions? Maybe 3?

No.So,since they won't.....I say lets rebel...make our own.In so many words.Look for my post.Titled....Calling all N.FL & Central FL rebels.We can talk about stuff.I posted a general question.All feel free to add.

Florida such a big state.They should have 5 catagories.North,central,south,coastal,& inland.Maybe 6.Panhandle.-?

Lets go for 8, East and West coast.

Thinking a good start would be to add your FL zone to your name....

There are 8 distinct regions in FL: Northwest/Panhandle, North (GA border down through Jacksonville), North Central (Gainesville and surrounding areas), Northeast, South Central, Southwest, South (which includes SE) and The Keys. They are all distinctly different, even if some are in the same zones. For example, I'm in the same zone as Jacksonville, but they are way north of me and much colder. South Central FL is much warmer in the winter than North Central, and on and on. The soils are different, the climates and microclimates are different, and the plants are different.

This is a strange state, but no stranger than California or Texas, so unless we all want to leave here and go set up little micro forums elsewhere, this is what we're stuck with. I think it works well. I lived in the SW for almost 20 years, and I still enjoy reading about the plants I used to grow and sharing my knowledge of those things.

I was on Facebook for awhile, and there were little microforums there. Some were totally dead, and some were lively. All in all, I missed having comraderie with gardeners from all over the state. I started a Florida gardening forum over there that turned out to be full of malicious people, so I gave it up and came back here where people are friendly and helpful without being know-it-all meanies. I like that we all get along, and can disagree in respectful ways.

I do still kinda miss my Gainesville gardening forum there, but not enough to go back to FB! Eck!

I started a Florida gardening forum over there

Was that where everyone went when they got mad about the missing posts here, or was it another one, DG?

It's Florida Gardening Friends. I can't remember when I started it. It was years ago. It's been made into a secret forum now due to so many trolls and spammers. People are still fighting over there. Gardeners shouldn't fight. I went then to a Central FL group, and was in the Gainesville groups too. I just prefer it here. This was my first internet gardening home -- came here originally I think 1997. Left to start a gardening forum on Delphi once when Spike went a little bonkers, then came back when he sold it, then went to FB to open one there. Being on a forum is one thing, running it is quite another. I don't like running them.

Personally I learn a lot from you northerners. Much of what you tells us about helps me, even if not directly applicable and only by contrast. Further north, in other states, not so much.

oldmangroot, I have so much to learn about gardening up here. I would never have imagined it would be so very different. Different soil, different climate, different plants. In 20 more years, I may actually be a good N. FL gardener.

Soooo, does anyone in zone 9a use a cold frame to grow veggies and such in the winter?

I hate that we can't grow stuff year around. The winter is too cold for a lot of things that people can grow in S. FL without protection and then the summer is too hot and rains so much (Jax area) that everything get fungus and I don't spray. So we do seem to have a shorter growing season unless we use some artificial means of protection. I have been thinking of making some cold frames. I have a greenhouse for stuff but it is usually crammed with my tropical plants and no real room for seedlings and such. I came from a zone 10 (last place I lived anyways, lol) so I am a little spoiled to being able to grow more stuff in the winter.

I do like having just one FL forum because everyone can provide something of value and we all learn from one another. I plan to move further south in a few years so it helps me prepare lol. I don't even care if non Floridians post here as long as they aren't trolling, heck I posted on this forum before I moved here because I am really into tropical plants and the tropicals forum is dead most of the time lol.

~SJN

There are a lot of veggies that will survive the winter here. We hardly ever get cold enough for long enough to kill them. This is an article from Oregon, so if they will survive there, they will survive here.

cold hardy vegetables

Plus, you don't need a cold frame. Just cover them when the temps get lower than 28, and that usually does it.

Hi

Have never understood the great debate all of florida except for a tiny bit of the Keys is not tropical Only difference is the length and duration ,still have to fight with winter.??lol You have the opportunity to grow gazillions of plants that require a winter dormant period Go through any catalog and the most

exceptions are 10/11. I grow mostly tropical because that's about all I can grow

Endless summer is far more limiting than mild winters?? gary

I get lower than 28F here. We have hit several days in the teens on occasion here. I know for a fact tomatoes die back bad enough to prevent fruit and flowering at 26 even if they are covered. I grow brugmansia that set seed pods that I want to keep because I pollinated them. They are closely related to tomatoes but have a woodier stems. Even they fry at 26F even covered. Ya I guess if I just wanted to grow a bunch of lettuce and root vegetables then maybe I could just throw a frost cloth over them.

As far as growing a bunch of dormant plants and being limited by heat or cold... I guess it depends on what you want to grow. I grow mostly tropicals and I like growing warmer weather veggies more than the cold ones. I don't have too many things blooming in the winter in my yard. My greenhouse is usually busting with blooms though :) I started growing more roses and especially old garden roses so I would have more stuff blooming in the yard in the winter.

I'm very happy with this forum. I like to read the posts about south FL gardening even if I can't use most of it. Just fun to learn. And everyone is so nice here.

After having gardened in the north for 40 years where I started seeds March 1, I get such a kick out of now starting seeds Jan 1 and planting outside March 1! And yes when the monsoons and the heat hit during the summer my gardens look miserable but they bounce back. And my tropicals which I love better than anything are always happy, even in the greenhouse for 2 months.

it's been quite a transition to re-learn to garden down here but I try to go with the flow. And when I get upset by the bugs and aphids and caterpillars eating my stuff, I remind myself that next winter I won't have to deal with snow, ice and sleet and that the really cold temps only last a few days, not a few months.