Each year, on the third Friday in January, Sarasota County’s UF/IFAS Extension & Sustainability Dept. celebrates Florida’s State Arbor Day. Since 2018, the County’s urban forestry Extension program Treejuvenation Florida, has marked the occasion with… Read More
![Closeup of a Bauhinia x blakeana "orchid tree" blooms. [CREDIT: "Unha-de-vaca" by Mauricio Mercadante (CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0), via Flickr.com]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2022/01/2021_Blogs_MGVSeries_12Bauhinia_xblakeana_flickr02MercandanteMauricioCROP1338x357TINY.png)
By Karen Pariser Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Looking for an amazing pop of color and texture in your Florida yard? Consider the impact of a flowering tree. Specifically, the orchid tree. Bauhinia basics… Read More
By Lee Hayes Byron, County Extension Director and Abbey Tyrna, Water Resources Extension Agent As I travel around Sarasota County, I see so many examples of sustainability and best practices applied in peoples’ yards, homes,… Read More
![Allamanda cathartica. [CREDIT: pixabay.com, Dezalb]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/11/2021_Blogs_MGVSeries_11Allamanda02_cathartica_pixabayDezalbCROP1338x357TINY.png)
By Dianne Beaver Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member With large, bright-yellow flowers and vibrant-green leaves, Allamanda cathartica seems like the perfect plant to brighten up your patio or front garden area. It is a… Read More
![Lantana camara blossom in an indoor trough. {CREDIT: pxhere.com]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/10/2021_Blogs_MGVSeries_10Lantana01_pxhereCROP1338x357TINY.png)
By Karen Clark Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Lantana checks off all the boxes that make a plant popular. Colorful? Check. Drought tolerance? Check. Handles sandy, salty “soil”? Check. Holds up to direct sunlight?… Read More
![Pentas, with tiger swallowtail. [CREDIT: UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County, Wilma Holley]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/09/Pentas-with-Tiger-swallowtail_CROP1338x357-1.png)
By Donna Alese Cooke Residential Horticulture Agent UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County Over the past 15 years, UF/IFAS Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Sarasota County have worked tirelessly on an endeavor close to their hearts: their… Read More
![Yellow, wedelia flowers bloom, en masse, in a lush field. [CREDIT: Pixabay.com]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/09/2021_Blogs_MGVSeries_09Wedelia01_pixabayCROP1338x357TINY.png)
By Rita Dadzis Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Oh, wedelia. Why do you? Wedelia is a beautiful plant, with a thick mat of green leaves and pretty, bright-yellow, daisy-like flowers that bloom year-round. It’s… Read More
![Pothos, also known as devil's ivy, grows rampant in a Florida oak tree. [CREDIT: Ann Madden]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/08/2021_HortRes_blogMGVPothos_MaddenAnn1669_crop1338x357TINY.jpg)
By Ann Madden Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Oh, that tropical look. Many homeowners want it, and often turn to the eye-catching pothos to create it. In doing so, they may unwittingly unleash a… Read More
![A row of sansevieria adorn a 50-foot contemporary wall planter. [CREDIT: Karen Pariser]](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasotaco/files/2021/07/2021_Blogs_MGVSeries_07Sansevieria_01_CROP1338x357TINY.jpg)
By Karen Pariser Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Remember your grandma’s impossible-to-kill parlor plant, the “mother-in-law’s tongue”? You might know it as “snake plant” or “viper’s bowstring” or even “African spear plant.” However you… Read More
By Renee Stevens Master Gardener Volunteer Program team member Mexican petunia (Ruellia simplex, syn. Ruellia brittoniana) has a lot going for it. This native of Mexico, the Caribbean and South America is a colorful blue-to-purple… Read More
