Sounds good to me! I just planted crocus bulbs and I also have allium bulbs planted with my hostas. I have to admit I don't know if the alliums will rot or not, because they were a 'transplant' earlier this spring, as I had them in a tooooo small bed and had to move them out of necessity. But I feel the same way with the crocus. They will look nice in spring before the hosta's leaf out, and the hostas will cover the foilage later. I also have lily-of-the-valley planted with the hostas. I'm hoping the hostas will cover the LOTV when their leaves start to yellow. Hostas are pretty tough, and can stand some drier conditions when established, so I don't see any problem with tulip bulbs being planted there. Besides, I don't know if you planted "perennial" tulips or not, but since most tulips don't come back and bloom the second year, you only need them to survive and bloom in spring then.

Im in fort myers and just went with an empire turf lawn and love it. Here are questions to ask. Are you going to be running irrigation, if not, do not grow bermuda or St aug. Bahia will grow very well with no irrigation, you need to seed Bahia by June. Soon as the rainy season starts. Are you going to have a dog or lots of traffic on the lawn? If you have this, St aug is out, cant handle traffic. Bermuda, Empire or Bahia will do good, bermuda being the best for traffic. Are you going to fertilize and use herbicide. If not, go with Empire or Bahia, they need little fertilizer to none. Like I said, I went with Empire turf (zoysia). Its bread to thrive it wet hot summers. I have irrigation for the dry months. You only need to fertilize 3 times a year. The thing I do not like about St Aug (also called flortam down here) its very course and rough. You can only use one weed killer and if that does not work then your stuck with weeds to pull by hand. Empire can handle almost all weed killers, even low concentration of roundup. Long post, I know. I would spray the entire yard with round up (get a generic online, 30 bucks for a gallon of concentrated, 41%, Ill post a link). Get a dial sprayer for 10 bucks at a store, and apply. This will kill all grass and weeds so your left with sand. Now, wait two weeks and either seed or sod the yard with your choice of grass. Done. Thats my 2c.

Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal

Welcome to Garden Web, Maja! I live in NC, so can't really help you with your Florida-specific questions. However, I would suggest that you choose a zone from the link below to put after your user name (edit your member page) and put FL as well. Then people can see at a glance where you are gardening. http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-se1.html Also, there is a Florida forum which seems to be pretty active. You might get a quicker response if you post there. I've posted the link below. Your property sounds wonderful! Good luck and have fun with the landscaping. Carolinakate Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening in Florida