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Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping

Fallen oak leaves

Support Your Local Bugs: Leave the Leaves (Get a FREE Bumper Sticker!)

by Jackie Lebouitz
March 19, 2025

You may have heard the phrase "leave the leaves" before. It was first coined by the National Wildlife Federation, then popularized by the Xerces Society. After that, many other groups followed suit. Before we dive into what that phrase means, ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Arthropod, Bug, Drop, Entomology, Insect, Invertebrate, Leaf, Leave The Leaves, Leaves, Mulch, Pgm_Chemicals
Jabaticaba and it's uses pictured.

Suncoast Grown and Gathered: March Jaboticaba – A Bountiful Harvest from Trunk to Table!

by Forest Hecker and Mindy HanakForest Hecker, Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Community Educator for Sarasota County's UF/IFAS Extension and Sustainability Department.
March 14, 2025

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 suited to our distinctive southwest Florida climate. Through this project, ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture
Tags: Agriculture, Edible Gardening QOTW, EdibleGardeningSeries, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Food, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Pgm_HortRes
Round springtail navigates through the sandy soil in a landscape

Spring Forward – Like a Springtail!

by Jackie Lebouitz
March 14, 2025

All across the state, many disgruntled denizens adjusted their clocks this past Sunday, March 9, to accommodate daylight savings time. While this lets us have longer days, a historically helpful tool for farming...it can be a bit disruptive ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Collembola, Entomology, Garden, Insect, Pgm_Chemicals, Soil, Spring, Springtail
Deforestation with an added hurricane symbol.

Replanting Our Communities: Celebrate Arbor Month 2025 with Native Trees

by Forest Hecker and Ashley EllisForest Hecker, Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Community Educator for Sarasota County's UF/IFAS Extension and Sustainability Department.
March 13, 2025

Hurricanes have left lasting scars on our landscapes in recent years, and Arbor Month 2025 offers us an opportunity to heal and rebuild by replanting the trees that are so essential to our communities. We are grateful to the Florida Forest Service ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Work & Life
Tags: Event, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Pgm_HortRes, Storm, Wildlife
Field of Lyreleaf Sage with Tiger Swallowtail

What Is That Lawn Ornament? Native Purple Powerhouse, Lyreleaf Sage!

by Forest Hecker
March 12, 2025

Welcome to our Lawn Ornament blog series, where we explore the plethora of micro-plants that can help create a biodiverse, predominantly green, yet also delightfully colorful lawn that requires much less maintenance than a traditional grass ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Work & Life
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Lawn, Nature, Pgm_HortRes
On the left is Blue Toadflax on the right is Bay Lobelia.

What Is That Lawn Ornament? Blue Toadflax and Bay Lobelia — Two No-Mow March Standouts!

by Forest Hecker
March 11, 2025

Welcome to our Lawn Ornament blog series, where we explore the plethora of micro-plants that can help create a biodiverse, predominantly green, yet also delightfully colorful lawn that requires much less maintenance than a traditional grass ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Work & Life
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Lawn, Pgm_HortRes
Mangrove background, Bahama Swampbush and native Swampbush in foreground with an assortment of hummingbirds found in Florida.

Florida’s Best Hummingbird Plant? Native Endangered Swampbush!

by Forest Hecker
February 10, 2025

A year ago, I was attending the Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Overwhelmed by the crowd, I took a short walk into the "lowlands" of the garden—an area I rarely explore unless searching for the resident crocodile. But ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Nature, Pgm_HortRes, Wildlife

Reading the Leaves: What Your Landscape Is Telling You

by Ashley Ellis and Forest HeckerAshley Ellis, Residential Horticulture Agent and Master Gardener Volunteer Coordinator in Sarasota County.
January 31, 2025

Reading the Leaves: What Your Landscape Is Telling You As a University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) horticulture agent based in Southwest Florida, I often encounter homeowners, Master Gardener Volunteers, ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Florida Friendly, Master Gardener Volunteer, Native Plants, Pgm_HortRes

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