In mid-July I visited the home one of Jackson County’s veteran Master Gardeners, Les Furr. Together we created two videos that share successful gardening ideas from Les’ property. He has a number of fruit trees, and planted annual sunflowers to hide a ugly area on his property.

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Fruit Trees adapted to the Florida Panhandle

In the first video, Les shared a few comments and stories about the the different fruit trees he grows in his garden. He grows figs, soft pears, loquats (aka Japanese plums), pomegranates, and blueberries.

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Sunflower Screen

In the second video, Les and his wife Pat had an idea to cover up an ugly debris pile left from Hurricane Michael with something beautiful. They grew a sunflower screen. The seeds were some Les had ordered years ago and stored in his freezer. Even after 15 years, the Van Gogh sunflower seed mix still had excellent germination. While this was just a temporary solution to their problem, sunflowers can be grown annually to provide beauty to your property along fences, roads or other areas. Plus, if you allow the plants to mature, their seed can be harvested to plant again in future years.

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To get more information on these subjects, use the following links to extension publications:

Dooryard Fruit Varieties

The Fig

Loquat Growing in the Florida Home Landscape

The Pomegranate

Blueberry Gardener’s Guide

UGA Home Garden Pears

Common Native Wildflowers of North Florida

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