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Take the Be Floridian Online Pledge
Whether your idea of summer fun is boating, paddling, fishing, reading a book on the beach, or simply enjoying a juicy grouper sandwich at a waterfront restaurant, we've got you covered!
Take our Facebook pledge to skip the fertilizer this summer and instead do something FUN to enjoy our beautiful state. You might win a prize in our monthly drawings. And, you will be helping protect the bays, rivers and oceans that make living in Florida great!
You'll even get a Facebook badge you can share with your friends so they can help Protect Our Fun too!
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Got a Day? Don't Delay
Floridify Your Yard Today! | |
Are you willing to invest a little time now to get a low-maintenance yard you can enjoy for years to come? Check out the "Quick Start" tab on our website for simple ideas you can tackle in a morning, a weekend -- even on a rainy day!
Spring is the perfect time to "Floridify" your yard by removing some grass and replacing it with easy-care groundcovers, a colorful butterfly garden, or a winding pathway that invites you to stroll through your own piece of paradise. Check out our Florida Yard Gallery for examples of landscapes that protect our bays, lakes and rivers, while leaving you plenty of time to enjoy them!
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Need some expert advice on Gardening Like A Floridian?
Check out the Garden Coaches, Landscape Designers, Lawn Care Companies and Nurseries that support our mission to protect the waterways that make living in Florida fun by clicking here
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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. Most workshops are free or very low cost.
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The Flamingos Are Flying!
 | "Floramingo" by
Alba Mas |
Our custom-painted flock of 24 whimsical, wonderful plastic yard flamingos is hitting the road starting in July. The traveling flock will be a standalone art exhibit at museums, city halls, art centers and other venues in the Tampa Bay area through Spring 2015. Connect with us on Facebook or via our website to find out where they will be landing. They will be in each of their temporary homes for at least a month, and would love to have you visit!
We give a synchronized 24-wing salute to the following fabulous artists who painted our flamingos:
Renee Berger
Adria Bernstein
Lisa Burns
Samantha Churchill
John Costin
Holly Dodson
Nettle Greenman
Charlene Solomon Jones
Kiaralinda
Terry Klaaren
Shawna Laufer
Pete Lawson
Anita Long
Cari Majors
Alba Mas
Veronica Perkins
Diana Rast
Stacy Roth
Maria Weed
Cathie Carol Zurich-Wus
See all of the painted birds on our Pinterest Board or in our Facebook Gallery.
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"Lucinda" by Stacy Roth
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It's Summer: Skip The Fertilizer
Instead, Get Out There and Have Some Fun!
Summer fertilizer bans began June 1 in Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, and the city of Tampa, and continue through September 30. The restrictions keep harmful nitrogen that causes algae blooms from spoiling our fun during the rainy season.
If you have grass and are concerned about its appearance, hopefully you applied a good slow-release fertilizer in April or May. Fertilizers with slow-release nitrogen gradually feed your lawn, nourishing it over a longer time and minimizing runoff into nearby waterways.
Now that summer has arrived, here are some simple tips for keeping both your yard and the waters we share healthy:
Pump some iron! When your grass starts to look tired and faded, an application of iron -- available at most garden centers and big box stores -- can green it up without making it grow. Who really wants to mow their yard every week anyway?
Consider using a fertilizer with only potassium, the third number on the fertilizer bag. Nitrogen is a no-no in the summer, and Florida yards have so much natural phosphorous in the soil that extra isn't needed. But potassium is a great nutrient for summer because it helps plants handle stress, and what is more stressful to your lawn than our long, sizzling summers?
Quick Tip: Look for fertilizer bags where the first two numbers are 0, as in 0-0-12 or 0-0-18.
Don't overwater! It's summer, and we can almost set our watches by regular afternoon thunderstorms. If you have an automatic sprinkler system, make sure you have a WORKING rain shut-off device. They are cheap and easy to install, and will ensure that your water-conscious neighbors (like us) don't give you the evil eye when your sprinkler system is running during a downpour!
We've said it before. Well, OK, we say it all the time: Reduce the amount of grass in your yard by replacing it with a bed of shrubs, spreading groundcovers or flowers, or even a meandering brick, stone or shell pathway. That will leave you with more time to fish, paddle, water ski or just savor a sunset over the beach. Isn't that really what Florida summers are about?
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Be Floridian Inspires Grass-Free Yard
Brandon homeowner Ironi Dorazio credits Be Floridian with inspiring her to transform her front yard from a boring, hard-to-maintain lawn to a vibrant tapestry of flowers, shrubs and small trees.
Ironi won a free yard makeover consultation with Garden Coach Cynthia Glover in last summer's "Skip The Fertilizer" Pledge Contest. Cynthia visited Ironi's home, discussed her goals, and gave her ideas and sample designs incorporating Florida-friendly, water-thrifty plants.
 Ironi had already started to replace her water-needy turfgrass with lower-maintenance plants, but Cynthia's help gave her the motivation and guidance she needed to complete her vision.
"Cynthia showed me how to arrange plants in groups, so that the eye could flow through palettes of color and texture," Ironi said. "Her suggested plants were easy to care for and drought-resistant.
 "I really enjoy when people stop in front of my garden to admire the flowers and butterflies," she added. "Best of all, no more mowing grass!"
Well done, Ironi, we are so proud of you!
And thank you to the talented Cynthia Glover for giving Ironi the support and good advice that helped her achieve her dream.
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Ironi Dorazio replaced her turfgrass with mulched beds
of colorful and drought-tolerant plants
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Plants for True Floridians
Florida NativeBlack-eyed SusanRudbeckia hirta
This hardy native wildflower puts on a show along Florida roadsides and the fringes of wooded areas throughout summer -- and will happily do the same in your yard. Make sure you purchase a native variety -- cultivars grown for larger, showier flowers usually wither in Florida's summer heat.
Black-eyed Susans produce abundant flowers on bristly stalks that rarely exceed 2 feet tall. The sunny yellow flowers with black centers take on a distinctly conical form as they mature. Although they often live only a year or two, leave the flower heads in place and they may reseed and expand over time. There are two native species of this summer stalwart -- buy from a native nursery to make sure you get the one that flourishes in your part of Florida.
Florida-Friendly Non-Native
Shell Ginger
 This popular shrub, a native of Hawaii, is planted for its outstanding foliage, which can be either a glossy solid green or green and yellow variegated. But its drooping clusters of scented white flowers -- typically produced in late spring and early summer -- are just as impressive! This shrub stands 4 to 8 feet tall, and is drought-tolerant if planted in full or part shade. It makes an outstanding border, accent or featured plant in a landscape. Shell ginger is widely available at local nurseries. For a primer in how to properly prune your ginger, read this blog post from garden coach Cynthia Glover, a Be Floridian business partner.
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Recipe for Relaxing
|  On a hot summer day, nothing quite beats a chilled refreshing tomato gazpacho! Tomatoes are particularly high in vitamin C and also contain a good amount of vitamin A. One of the tomato's most important health benefits however, may be its high amount of lycopene. Lycopene is a phytochemical found in red foods and is considered a potential cancer-fighting antioxidant.
If you like it hot, liven up your batch of gazpacho with a few shots of Tabasco sauce, then top with a dollop of sour cream. Create your gazpacho to please your palate - chunky or smooth. This version is thick with chopped fresh Florida tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, and red onions. If you would like a thinner version or need to stretch it, add up to 2 cups tomato juice.
Classic Gazpacho
6 large Florida tomatoes
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium-sized red onion, minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
Herb croutons (optional)
Peel the tomatoes by submerging them in boiling water for 15-30 seconds. Remove to a colander and rinse under cold water. The skins should slip right off. Core the tomatoes and gently squeeze out the seeds. Chop half of them coarsely and puree the other half in a food processor. Combine the puree and chopped tomatoes in a large mixing bowl. Blend the remaining ingredients, except the herb croutons, with the tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving. Serve chilled, garnished with herb croutons. YIELD: 6 servings Recipe from the Florida Tomato Committee
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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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