What to Do in the Garden in September and October

by Leon County Master Gardener Volunteer
September 8, 2026

By David W. Marshall, Extension Agent Emeritus August brought brutal heat to our area this year. But thankfully we also got much-needed rain, which relieved some of the heat stress on our plants. Tropical storm development in the Atlantic ... READ MORE

Category: Fruits & Vegetables, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease
Tags: Cigar Flower, Cool-season Annuals, Cool-season Vegetables, Cuphea Micropetala, Fall Color Trees, Fall Gardening, Fall Perennials, Firebush, Firespike, Hamelia Patens, Japanese Maple, Lawn Care, Lawn Fertilizer, Malvaviscus, Mexican Bush Sage, North Florida Gardening, Odontonema Cuspidatum, Pineapple Sage, Salvia Leucantha, September Gardening, St. Augustine Grass, Tropical Sod Webworm, Turk's Cap

Start It or Sow It?

by Molly Jameson
September 3, 2026

Every September I start to get emails full of fall gardening questions, and some of them come down to a single decision: do I start these seeds in a seed flat, or do I put them straight in the ground? It's a fair question, and the answer ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture
Tags: Cilantro Bolting, Direct Seeding Vs Transplanting, Fall Vegetable Garden, Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, Forked Carrots, Panhandle Gardening, Parsley Germination, Seed Flats, Shade Cloth, Taproot Crops, Transplant Ability

Why Your Windflower Is My Anemone

by Leon County Master Gardener Volunteer
August 28, 2026

By Camille Stein, Master Gardener Volunteer Fans of classic films may remember the Gershwin song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," written by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Shall We Dance. The song ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture
Tags: Anemone Blanda, Binomial Nomenclature, Black-eyed Susan, Botanical Names, Carl Linnaeus, Common Names Vs Scientific Names, Genus And Species, Grecian Windflower, How Plants Are Named, Plant Taxonomy, Rudbeckia Hirta

Ready, Set, Count! Be a Part of the Great Southeastern Pollinator Census

by Leon County Master Gardener Volunteer
August 20, 2026

By Susan Barnes, Master Gardener Volunteer The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is a citizen science project created by the University of Georgia and is designed for everyone to participate in and make a difference for pollinator conservation. ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, HOME LANDSCAPES
Tags: Great Southeast Pollinator Census, Master Gardener Volunteer, Pollinators
4H youth participating in a cooking workshop at 4H University.

Getting Kids in the Kitchen

by Suzanne Holloway and Valerie M. StanslyAvatar photo
August 10, 2026

Learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all, have fun! - Julia Child Childhood is an important time for developing healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime. Hands-on food preparation activities ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Clubs & Volunteers, Food Safety, Health & Nutrition, WORK & LIFE
Tags: 4-H In The Panhandle, Cooking, Featured, Food, Food Challenge, Living Well In The Panhandle
Firefly on leaf.

Fireflies: Nature’s Fireworks

by Mark Tancig
August 4, 2026

  Many of us have memories of warm summer nights watching fireflies. Some of us might have even chased and caught a few to put in mason jars for observation, fascinated by their glowing abdomens. Floridians actually have the best chance ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, HOME LANDSCAPES, Lawn, Natural Resources, Wildlife
Tags: Firefly, Gardening In The Panhandle, Lightening Bug, Lightning Bug, Panhandle Gardening, Special Topics

Meet the Crew Beneath Your Crops

by Molly Jameson
August 4, 2026

"The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible." – Sir Albert Howard, An Agricultural Testament (1940) Farmers are intrinsically tied to the soil beneath their fields. Where others see dirt, greenery, and maybe a few worms, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Natural Resources
Tags: Beneficial Nematodes, Compost, Cover Crops, Green Manure, Nutrient Cycling, Panhandle Agriculture, Soil Ecosystem, Soil Food Web, Soil Health, Soil Life, Soil Microorganisms, SV Ag Update, Topsoil

The Grape That Loves a Southern Summer

by Molly Jameson
July 24, 2026

The Grape That Loves a Southern Summer Late summer in the Panhandle has a flavor, and for a lot of us it tastes like muscadines. If you grew up here, one bite can send you straight back to a hot afternoon spent picking grapes off a backyard ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: FAMU, Grape Harvest Festival, Home Orchard, Muscadine, Muscadine Cultivars, Muscadine Grapes, Native Plants, Panhandle Gardening, Scuppernong, Seedless Muscadine, Viticulture, Vitis Rotundifolia, Wine Grapes

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