Category: Horticulture

When the Garden Wakes Up, So Do the Insects: A Spring Story About Pests, Predators, and Paying Attention

by Ashley Ellis
April 5, 2026

On a warm spring morning in Southwest Florida, the garden doesn’t just grow—it hums. If you pause long enough, you’ll notice it. A leaf that wasn’t chewed yesterday now carries a series of holes caused by cabbageworm. Ants move steadily ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Pgm_HortRes

From Wasteland to Wonderland: A Food Forest Journey PART 3

by Giuseppe Di Giacinto
April 1, 2026

As this food forest continues to evolve, the focus has shifted from site preparation and design to one of the most exciting and revealing phases: plant selection and performance. This stage has brought both rewarding harvests and unexpected ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Alternative Lawns, Alternatives To Pesticides, Edible Landscape, Edible Landscaping, Food Forest, Horticulture, Sustainability, Sustainable Landscaping

Recovering your Landscape after Cold Damage

by Natasha Rocha
April 1, 2026

Record Cold Front Winter 2026 February 2026 set two record lows for the South Florida region – with two separate weekends of temperatures dropping into the low 30s and high 20s. For our home gardens, this meant either bringing plants indoors ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Commercial Horticulture And Pest Management Updates, Gardening, Palm Beach County

Are You Over-Pruning Your Palms?

by Tia Silvasy
March 29, 2026

The Big Misunderstanding: “Do not prune above 9 and 3 on a clock” was guidance intended as an absolute pruning limit. “Pruning to 9 and 3” as a standard was never the goal. Over time, it has been misinterpreted as the correct way ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Fertilizer, Florida Friendly, Home Landscapes, Palm, Palm Trees, Pruning

UF/IFAS FNGLA Palm Quest 2026 to unveil next generation AI drone research tools for a changing industry on April 21-22

by Lourdes Mederos
March 26, 2026

From artificial intelligence that can diagnose palm diseases to drone technology tracking tree health from above, the Palm Quest 2026 Conference will spotlight the future of palm science when it returns to Fort Lauderdale April 21 to 22. Hosted ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, , Conservation, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: AI, AI-driven Palm Diagnostics, Artificial Intelligence, Disease, Drones, Ecosystem, Environmental Stressors, Florida, Florida's Ecosystem, Fungal Diseases, Fungal Pathogen, Mica McMillan, Native Palms, Palm Quest 2026, Palm Trees, Palm Varieties, Pests, Plant Health, Soil, Sustainability, UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research Education Center, Urban Environments

It’s Time to Transplant

by Duval MGV
March 25, 2026

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are all warm weather vegetables from the Solanaceae family They feature prominently in many of our favorite Mediterranean cuisines—from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese to Middle Eastern and North African. All ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Duval, Eggplant, Florida Gardening, Gardening, Harvesting, Landscape, Peppers, Plant Transplant, Tomato

Letting plants grow naturally helps pollinators

by Sara MacDonald
March 24, 2026

In a residential landscape in Florida, a simple change in how shrubs are trimmed is improving plant health and helping pollinators like bees. Many ornamental shrubs, including Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis spp.), were previously trimmed into ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Recreation, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County

Papaya banker plant system strengthens biological control of whiteflies

by Stella Canfield
March 24, 2026

A new study finds that papaya banker plants can strengthen control of the sweet potato whitefly, one of the most damaging pests in ornamental crop production. Published in the journal “Biological Control,” the research highlights a promising ... READ MORE

Category: Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Banker Plants, Biological Control, Cindy McKenzie, Lance Osborne, Papaya, Pests, Poinsettias, Whiteflies, Whitefly

Webspinners

by Caitlin Sollazzo
March 23, 2026

Webspinners (order Embioptera) are one of the most overlooked and fascinating insect groups on the planet. Despite their small size and secretive habits, they are more common here in Florida than most people realize, especially due to our subtropical, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Conservation, Horticulture, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Bugsarecool, Embiidina, Embioptera, Webspinner

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