Category: Home Landscapes

Welcome Our New Commercial Horticulture Program Specialist

by Jackie Lebouitz
April 10, 2026

At UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County, we work closely with residents, volunteers, and professionals on a wide range of topics in horticulture, with a focus on promoting plant health through best management practices (BMPs) in the landscape ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, Turf, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Business, Commercial, Featured, Garden, Greenhouse, Growers, Horticulture, Nursery, Pgm_Chemicals, Plants, Professional

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

Discover the Power of Food

by Amber Daniels
March 31, 2026

March is National Nutrition Month, and the 2026 theme, “Discover the Power of Food!”, invites us to reflect on the role food plays in health and disease prevention. ⚕️Chronic disease is a growing public health concern. Nationwide, ... READ MORE

Category: Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Relationships & Family, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: FCS, Food Is Medicine, Healthy Eating, National Nutrition Month

Suncoast Grown & Gathered: Painter’s Cherilata — February’s Berry Cheesecake Fruit!

by Forest Hecker
February 24, 2026

At the Sarasota County UF/IFAS Extension Office, we've been cultivating a Food Forest to showcase the most productive, unique, and often underutilized fruits and crops suited to our distinctive southwest Florida climate. Through this ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Pgm_HortRes

Love Butterfly Gardening? Here’s How to Take It to the Next Level

by Ashley Ellis
February 22, 2026

If you’ve planted milkweed (Asclepias spp.) for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), passionvine (Passiflora incarnata or other native Passiflora spp.) for Gulf fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), or added nectar flowers to bring in swallowtails ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Pgm_HortRes, Sarasota County Extension

Suncoast Grown & Gathered: Native Groundnuts! A Wintertime Staple?

by Forest Hecker
February 20, 2026

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes
Tags: Edible Gardening QOTW, EdibleGardeningSeries, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Food, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Nature, Pgm_Gardens, Pgm_HortRes, Wildlife

Landscaping with Native Milkweeds in Sarasota County

by Ashley Ellis and Forest Hecker

January 27, 2026

We often see gardeners using non-native tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica L.) in their landscapes—sometimes without realizing it was recently added to the UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas list as ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Wildlife
Tags: Conservation, Environment, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Nature, Pgm_HortRes

A Scent-sational Invitation to You!

by Mindy Hanak
November 14, 2025

Join me for an herb-alicious good time at your local Sarasota County library. Our “Breaking the Rules – herb trio” One Seed classes are scheduled November 2025 through January 2026. These classes are a bit social so whether you are a novice ... READ MORE

Category: Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Companion Planting, Container Gardening, Cooking With Kids, Edible Gardening, EdibleGardeningSeries, Event, Food, Garden, Growing Food In Florida, Healthy Eating, Herbs, Horticulture, Kids Gardening, Memory, Nutrition, Pgm_Gardens, Recipe, Tiny.cc/ufsaraext_oneseed, Ways To Save

ex•plore: Your Adventure Guide to Sarasota County

by Mike D'Imperio
October 30, 2025

Are you looking to find more ways for you and your family to ex•plore all Sarasota County has to offer? From award-winning beaches to natural areas and trails, from mangrove tunnels to fishing holes, birding sites, gardens and more, Sarasota ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Events, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Water
Tags: Events, Explore, Family, Family Friendly, Hiking, Outdoors, Pgm_Water

ex•plore: Edible Gardening with Extension

by Mindy Hanak
October 30, 2025

Let’s Ex.plore what we’ve been up to! We’ve been busy at our UF/IFAS Sarasota County extension campus located in Twin Lakes Park off Clark Rd. We’ve added an edible garden demo area featuring different garden beds of varied heights ... READ MORE

Category: Events, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Edible Garden, Explore, Garden, Grow, Pgm_Gardens, Produce, Vegetable Gardening

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