Post Storm Landscape Tips Hurricane Idalia just brushed us, thankfully leaving Manatee County with limited damage. In many ways, our parched landscapes are thankful for the rain, but stressed by the sudden changes. See the tips below to help ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
How riotous the morning, draped in silver and pomegranate, new shoots gasping forth from soil tended carefully. Buds on branches swell and burst with leaves fresh and trembling in their newness. A haze of moisture in the morning air left staggering ... READ MORE
Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
As if by magic, overnight, tucked neatly beneath a cap of mulch, or peaking deftly between blades of grass, mushrooms appear in all shapes, sizes, and colors imaginable. What we observe, recognized as mushrooms, are the reproductive spore producing ... READ MORE
Category: , Home Landscapes, Natural Resources
Trees provide innumerable benefits to our community. I have written about their beauty, their ecosystem services, and their care on several occasions. I am a lover of all things tree, constantly fascinated by their growth and structure, the ... READ MORE
Category:In celebration of Arbor Day and Earth Day, the City of Bradenton and Manatee County has once again partnered with Keep Manatee Beautiful and the Arbor Day Foundation to provide free trees to residents. City of Bradenton and Manatee County ... READ MORE
Category: Community Volunteers, Home Landscapes, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS
The Gift of Trees Muffled in leaf litter, I stepped carefully, reverently toward the towering column. Unafraid, I knelt softly and pressed my hands on the smooth bark. Solace, solitude, and sanctuary provided by the sturdy boughs. I sat listening ... READ MORE
Category: 4-H & Youth, Home Landscapes, Natural Resources, Relationships & Family
Plant a Rainbow The first green shoot seeking the sun, tendrils grasp, life encircled in each new node, our eyes witness to the verdancy of soil, seed, and sun. Gardening is a vibrant and reaffirming experience. Hands with knuckles caked ... READ MORE
Category:
Tomato growing in Florida can be a tricky endeavor. It starts out well as you watch the deep green and fragrant leaves unfurl, climbing with fuzzy fervor seeking the sun, only to walk out the next morning with your coffee to discover the chewed ... READ MORE
Category: Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, UF/IFAS Extension
What do we really lose when we lose a tree? A thousand silent voices removed from the universal chorus. The tree is not a stand-alone unit, a single entity, a monument of stony bark, the tree is they. A connected symbiosis of lichens, fungi, ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes, Natural Resources, WildlifeCo-authored by Alyssa Vinson and David Outerbridge Wakeful in early morning, cool air, clear sky, what would the morning sun bring to light and sight? Intensification, quick turns, bundling up loved ones and properties. The day after Hurricane ... READ MORE
Category: Community Volunteers, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension