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Tell
Us What You Think Of Our Website
Take Our Short Survey
We want to know what you like about the Be Floridian website and how we can make it more useful, practical and FUN for you. Please take our short website survey (just seven questions!) and don't worry about ruffling our feathers. We really want to know what you think! |
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 | Cynthia Glover
Florida Garden Coach |
Cynthia combines an extensive knowledge of gardening in Florida's challenging climate with an artist's appreciation of color, texture and form. Through her popular Hoe and Shovel Blog and Facebook page, Cynthia shares her own garden odyssey while inspiring others to make their plots of earth more beautiful (and Florida-friendly!).
Cynthia describes herself as a "personal trainer in the garden." She can help you choose the right plants for your location, create a specialty garden, help you plan your overall landscape design, and even teach you how to grow vegetables. She assists clients throughout the Tampa Bay.
We are pleased to have Cynthia Glover as our newest Be Floridian business partner! Check out the short video to the right featuring Cynthia talking about landscape mulches.
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Classes and workshops offer free or low-cost instruction on how to save time and money by practicing Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles. Check out your county extension service to get started or to learn advanced skills.
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Add nectar plants to your yard and you'll soon have winged visitors like this Gulf fritillary.
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New Year's Resolutions for True Floridians
Let's make 2013 the year we kick our bad gardening habits and embrace gardening like the Floridians we are now, no matter where we came from or how we got here.
So fellow Sunshine Staters, back away from the power tools and pesticides, take a deep breath, and repeat after us:
-- I WILL remove a small section of grass in my yard and replace it with... NO, not rocks!! How about a curvy bed of shrubs and groundcovers, or a colorful butterfly garden, a small water feature, or even a flagstone or pea gravel pathway?
-- I WILL remember rain doesn't water fertilizer in, it washes it away, straight into our bays, lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. I WON'T use fertilizer in the summer, and I WILL use slow-release fertilizer the rest of the year to prevent water pollution.
-- I WILL use the Right Plant in the Right Place. I WON'T be taken in by all those pretty plants in the nursery or garden center that rope me into those impulse buys. Instead, I will do my homework first, so I buy only the pretty ones that will actually thrive in my yard.
-- I WILL have my lawn mower blade sharpened this year, and make sure the blade is set at the right height for my grass (3-4" for St. Augustine) so my long-suffering lawn won't be scalped like a Parris Island recruit. Booyah!!
-- I WILL finally learn how to use the timer on my irrigation system so I can turn it OFF when I don't need to water every week, such as during winter when grass is dormant, or summer when it rains all the time.
-- I WILL learn to love mulch with abandon, except for cypress mulch. I WON'T buy that, because it's made from cypress trees that Mother Nature needs in her swamps.
-- I WON'T scream and run for the poison when I see a bug (even a Big! Hairy! Spider!) in my garden. I WILL remember that 99% of all insects are either beneficial to us, or harmless to us, including spiders.
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"Thankful To Be Floridian" Facebook Photo Contest
Hurry! Deadline to enter is December 1
In the spirit of the holidays, we asked our fans to post a photo they've taken on our Facebook page that illustrates why they're thankful to be a Floridian, along with a short explanation of the photo's meaning and location.
There's still time to enter the contest! The deadline for submitting photos is December 1.
Please go to the Be Floridian page on Facebook, look for the Events tab, and post your picture and caption there.
In early December, we'll collect all the photos in an album and then ask our Facebook fans to "Like" their favorites. The 3 photos with the most "likes" win prizes such as gift certificates, gardening books and pink flamingo bling!
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Beach chair flamingo
Original artwork by Paul Brent
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Learning to Be Floridian Video Series
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 | | Mulch Magic with Cynthia Glover |
This short video explains why mulching is so important for a healthy landscape, what types of mulch are the most durable and Florida-friendly, and how and where to use mulch in your yard. |
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Plants for True Floridians
Florida Native
(Ilex vomitoria 'pendula')
Nothing says Christmas like red berries, and females of this  outstanding native tree produce clusters of colorful red to orange berries that last all winter. That is, if the birds don't eat them, since holly berries are a favorite of the feathered crowd. Bees mob the small white blossoms like New Yorkers mob the subway at rush hour.
The beautiful cascading, or "weeping," shape of this tree makes it highly attractive in home landscapes. And it is as carefree as it is charismatic, needing little water once established and thriving in a variety of soils. It does need full or partial sun to look its best, and some space since it grows 15-25 feet tall and 6-12 feet wide. Weeping yaupons are widely available at retail nurseries. Can you tell we love this True Floridian?
HINT: If you want to make sure you get a female tree, buy yours in winter when berries are visible.
Florida Friendly/Non-Native
European Fan Palm
(Chamaerops humilis)
Love palms, but hate that frantic "dash in the dark" to cover them on cold nights? The European fan palm is for you! This very cold-hardy species never needs a blankie in our region, and is very low-maintenance and drought-tolerant to boot. Plus, it is more disease- and pest-resistant than most tropical palms. This tough customer grows slowly, but its finely-textured, fan-shaped fronds make it a living sculpture for urban landscapes. You can plant this palm right now in full sun or partial shade -- it's no winter wimp! The fan palm will grow 8-15 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide, so give it some breathing room.
Hint: The fan palm will grow VERY slowly in shade, so plant in sun if you are an impatient gardener.
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Recipes for Relaxing
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Our lawns and gardens need a break in winter to rest and recoup, and so do we! Hunker down in front of the fireplace, or settle into your favorite patio chair and enjoy this festive frozen concoction. 
Santa's Sleigh Cocktail
- White sugar crystals, preferably coarse
- 2 cups store-bought eggnog, chilled
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 4 cinnamon sticks
Directions
Dampen the rims of 4 martini glasses and then line the rims with sugar crystals.
Combine eggnog, brandy, amaretto, nutmeg, and ice cream in a blender; process until smooth. Pour mixture into martini glasses and garnish each glass with a whole cinnamon stick.
-- Recipe by Sandra Lee from the Food Network Show
"Semi-Homemade Cooking"
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The Be Floridian Flamingo Flock sends you Season's Greetings
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What's Be Floridian?
Be Floridian is an educational campaign sponsored by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. Our partners include Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties; the cities of Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Tampa; and a variety of landscape designers, gardening coaches, fertilizer companies and lawn care specialists. We are calling on all Southwest Floridians to help protect what makes Florida so fun -- our bays, lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico -- by skipping the fertilizer in the summer to prevent water pollution and creating landscapes that flourish in harmony with Florida's quirky climate.
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