Love and Hate Facebook gardening groups will light up at the mention of Mexican Petunia, Ruellia simplex. Comments like “Worst weed ever!”, “My favorite plant!”, “Invasive! Pull it out quickly!”, and “It’s so easy to grow, I love… Read More
Learning to Landscape If you are a gardener and you have lived anywhere else, you realize pretty quickly that Florida is different. The weather, the bugs and a whole lot of other gardening issues add to the… Read More
Florida Agriculture When you think of Florida, you may think of citrus. In Highlands County we live among the many orange groves. We are the 3-4th largest citrus producing county in the state, depending on the year. We… Read More
Why host a Birds. Workshop in Highlands County? Part of my responsibilities as an extension agent is to educate others on the importance of Natural Resources. Getting out in the community, I get asked a lot of bird… Read More
I wrote about feral cats earlier in the year and promised to elaborate on Florida’s native cats later. Other cats that visit your yards and neighborhoods may be those native cats such as bobcats and panthers. Often these… Read More
Appearance: The gopher tortoise is a moderate-sized, terrestrial turtle, averaging 23–28 cm (9–11 in) in length. The species is identified by its stumpy, elephantine hind feet and flattened, shovel-like forelimbs adapted for digging. The shell is oblong and… Read More
If you hear a loud buzz coming from trees in the daytime, the noise is most likely caused by cicadas. These buzzing critters make their presence known by leaving their brown exoskeletons on tree trunks and shrubs. Cicadas… Read More
By Samantha Grenrock UF/IFAS Communications When it comes to urban planning, sometimes a bird in hand is not worth two in the bush. Researchers with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have created an… Read More
