Here in Florida we can plant and grow Zinnias. I never knew this, but the Urban Harvest sells seeds and they sell things that will grow in Florida. Sure enough, Zinnias are heat tolerant and should grow all summer long.
Zinnias attract bees and butterflies and they come in beautiful colors. This is why you should plant them.
A few days ago I placed my third seed packet order from The Urban Harvest, a Florida based grower. Within a few days my seeds arrived. I planted the Zinnia seeds into small pots on May 19th. The next day– May 20th – all seeds had sprouted!
Zinnia seeds after one day!
I don’t believe I have ever in my life seen seeds sprout in one day’s time. To say I am amazed is an understatement. I have great results growing seeds from The Urban Harvest.
Currently I have Okra growing that was planted directly into a raised bed and it came up in four days. Of the 15 seeds planted, there are 12 growing. But, what is eating my okra?
Much of what is growing in my gardens have come from seeds bought at The Urban Harvest.
Zinnia Seeds Sown Directly Into the Garden
It also works to sow zinnia seeds right into the dirt. I did this around the edge of my small garden space – which is quickly being overrun by watermelon vines.
See how I planted a little flower garden in my Florida yard.
My son took me to Lindley’s Nursery in New Smyrna Beach the other day and I picked up some flowering plants for the yard. (More about Lindley’s further down the page.)
I’ve been saving cardboard boxes to use as grass killers in the yard. It is not that easy to kill Florida grass and weeds, but this type of thing works very well in New Hampshire! Haha… I’m not there, I’m here, so we used the rototiller.
Step Two
Dig up the grass, roots, and dollar weed (ugh) and pull it all out. (There is no way to remove all the dollar weed.) This leaves a sandy “dirt” to which I added a bag of store bought soil. (We buy our dirt, compost, and mulch from The Yard Shop in New Smyrna.)
Nearly done with the garden
Plant the Shrubbery
I had four plants to put into the space and I planted them back a bit to leave room for something in the front. Also, I’m not sure how big they will become. I used a piece of the cardboard to kneel on while planting.
These plants came from Lindley’s Nursery in New Smyrna Beach. I was so impressed with the upgrades they had done to the place since my last visit (quite a white ago). I would have stayed longer because the grounds were beautiful and they had so many wonderful plants, but I was with my son who was not into plant shopping.
I grabbed some flowering things that seemed to attract bees (if the bees are on the plants while shopping, it’s a good indication!). All the Florida native plant names totally left my head, but I will probably go back at a later date to find more plants. They did not have any native milkweed because I asked. It was sold out – and there was no sign – so I’m not sure which type they were selling. I hope it was not the tropical milkweed.
The digging began early in the morning to beat the sun. I have until around 9:00am until this area becomes sunny. I did have to finish with the mulch and do the watering in the sun, but at least the digging was finished.
Finished!
Planting Tips
For each plant I added to the garden, I included some bone meal, crab meal, earthworm castings, and compost. All these things should help improve the soil and keep the plants happy for now. I used these amendments because I had them, but bone meal only would have been fine for now. (All links are Amazon affiliate links.)
A couple of the plants were very root bound, so I disturbed the roots by pulling them a bit to keep them from being tight. This helps them to grow outward instead of round and round like they had to do in the pot.
All the soil amendments I mentioned above were mixed with the ground soil once the plant was in its place. After planting, each plant was soaked with water, and once the mulch was added, I watered them all again.
I’m trying a new way to grow larger individual vegetables in my small garden space. Tall buckets may serve well as pots for tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.
Be sure to select a native milkweed for the yard, or you could be harming the Monarchs instead of helping. Don’t take store and seller’s word for it – be informed.
When I wrote this blog post, over two years ago, I had read an article about Tropical milkweed being horribly bad for Monarchs. It seems that is not completely true. As I’ve continued to learn about growing milkweed, I think the Tropical variety can be used as a good stand in if native milkweed is not available. But it must be cared for correctly.
Back then: On a trip to the Farmer’s Market, we found some plants for the yard. I was happy to find this plant at the market. It cost me $15.00 but I was very excited to find such a wonderful, big plant to help the monarchs. What I didn’t realize is that it is NOT native. I bought Tropical Milkweed which is becoming a problem in the south.
Two-colored flowers (red and orange/yellow) with pointed leaves – this is the non-native Tropical Milkweed. But, the only reason it seems to be a problem is that it does not die back in Fall / Winter.
Good Intentions
I want to fill my yard with food for the bees and butterflies (namely Monarchs)… BUT… this is not the right kind of milkweed for my area. When this milkweed plant began to drop its seeds, I looked for information about planting them. I’m so glad I searched for information. BUT, now there is more information.
I suggest removing the seed pods so the plant doesn’t spread into the wild where it can’t be cut back over winter.
This is when I realized that I have the wrong type of milkweed. Wrong meaning not native. It was time to learn more about milkweed.
Updated Info on Tropical Milkweed
Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is NOT a native Florida plant. It is native to Mexico. It’s always best to plant native. However, I have not easily been able to find nice, native milkweed plants at local nurseries and garden shops. Tropical milkweed is easy to grow, and it grows fast. No wonder plant sellers prefer this one.
If you have tropical milkweed, the most important thing is to cut it back by December. It won’t die back on its own in many locations. This keeps the Monarchs from migrating. If they stick around and continue to breed, the caterpillars can develop a lethal parasite (OE). Read the article about this at IFAS for more info.
I doubt that many sellers of the tropical milkweed even realize it is not native to Florida. And many probably don’t understand the need for cutting it down.
Non-native, flowers are bi-color red and yellow.
If you are willing to cut back the plants in winter, and remove the seed pods so the plant won’t spread outside the yard, Tropical Milkweed should be okay to grow.
When is it Okay to Plant Tropical Milkweed?
So what if you have this milkweed growing in your yard? After I removed my Tropical milkweed plants, two more plants grew – 2 years later. Right away I began to see caterpillars. I knew this was the wrong milkweed, but it was feeding those hungry caterpillars. So, is it better to help the Monarchs even if the milkweed is not native? I say yes.
I now believe that having some tropical variety can be good to supplement the native types. Native milkweed is hard to find to buy. Certain types need sun and lots of moisture (swamp variety). Others need sun and dry conditions (Sandhill). Milkweed is meant to grow in Florida’s diverse ecosystem, which is vanishing. It should not be grown in a yard that is sprayed with chemicals.
All these things make native milkweed hard to find. With roadsides mowed, and lawns taking the place of fields, butterflies are now endangered. If we can help by providing some plants – native or not – I say let’s do it.
Right now I am trying to grow native milkweed for my yard. I have planted seeds, and purchased milkweed seedlings online. My goal is to have a variety, with many native plants (mainly) for the butterflies.
Florida Native Milkweed Links
Sandhill Milkweed – Big, dark leaves and pink flowers. Likes to grow in sand and doesn’t need lots of water.
Orange Butterfly weed – Not preferred by monarchs (so I’ve read) but great for butterflies and other insects.
Swamp Milkweed, white / pink – Moist, well-drained soil. Full sun to part shade.
Whorled Milkweed – blooms longer, into Fall, and can supplement if other native milkweed has died back.
Find Milkweed Seeds and Plants Online
You may find what you want, along with other Florida native plants, from this list of growers / nurseries on the Plant Real Florida site.
I have purchased seeds from Johnny Butterfly seed. They have sprouted at this stage, but are still tiny.
The hydrangea shrub in my Florida yard is doing well and blooming with pink flowers.
The hydrangea I planted in my Florida garden a few years ago is now blooming once again. Soil in Florida tends to be alkaline so the flowers are pink. When I first bought the plant the flowers were blue, no doubt due to amendments to the soil. Everyone wants blue flowering hydrangeas.
But when this hydrangea plant was left to grow in the sandy soil in my southern yard, the flowers became pink. I don’t care. Pink is pretty too.
The key to success when growing hydrangeas in the hot and humid Florida climate is to give the plant shade. All the leaves fall off for winter but the greenery comes back along the stems in Spring. Don’t cut the plant back! The first year I did cut it, but it’s not necessary.
2017 Potted and blue
Here is the hydrangea plant when I first bought it. It was probably grown in a greenhouse and given something acidic for the flowers to bloom blue.
For the winter months in Florida, the plant is nothing but stems. Once the weather gets permanently warm again – around February – the stems will begin to show green growth.
February – hydrangea is stems only!
2022 June – Pink flowers
The flowers will only be blue if the soil is acidic. In Florida, azaleas, camellias, gardenias, and crepe myrtle all like acidic soil. So planting hydrangeas near these plants means they can all be amended with bone meal, or something to naturally turn the soil acidic. Read about more ways to turn soil acidic.
It seems that each year this plant has more, and larger, flowers. I try to give it plenty of water and it is never in direct sunlight thanks to the fact that a large shrub covers it.
June 2022
July and the Blooms Are Fading
July’s faded blooms
I was sick with Covid for nearly a month and only recently have been back out in my Florida yard. Now my pink hydrangea flowers are a very light greenish color. One little pink bloom hangs on.
It is the beginning of September and my end of summer garden clean up is underway. I happily pulled up all the Seminole pumpkin vines. I managed to haul in my huge harvest (not) of three little pumpkins. Two of them have holes from something trying to bore in. I’m so over the vines that…
Two Moringa trees are growing in my backyard. I’m in Central Florida and the trees grow great all summer, but slow down the remainder of the year. Hurricanes, or strong wind, will knock these trees over. I had to cut mine last year because it fell over the garden. New stalks have grown and I…
Over winter here in Florida my hydrangea shrub became a bunch of sticks. The stems lost nearly all their leaves.
January
After all danger of frost – around the end of February – I cut the stems back removing the old leaves. There were new leaf bud growths already forming along the stems.
February, after cutting back
Attempting to Propagate a New Plant
In the photos above and below I have placed a rock over a low hanging stem. I’m hoping that roots will form so I can cut this part off and plant it creating a new hydrangea plant!
Rooting a stem
This hydrangea is growing in a nice shady location beneath a larger shrub. It seems to be happy and now I’ll just wait for the flowers.
All I’ve used for fertilizer is some bone meal and fish emulsion.
While I am hanging out at home (which I pretty much do all the time anyway) I have given the yard some attention. I thought I’d share photos of what is growing in my Florida yard.
Here in my area of Florida we’ve had a few very cool nights (ya..60’s), but I’ll take it. By May it’s usually hotter than this, but I am not compaining. I’ve still been taking walks early without sweating too badly and it’s been nice outdoors for puttering in the yard.
Tropical garden plants
I took some croton cuttings the other day and they are sitting in a pail of water waiting for roots to grow. I’ve had success with propagating crotons, and Spring is a good time to get cuttings of new growth.
One of my previous croton cuttings, gave me a new cutting… and now that first plant is shooting off new growth. It’s a beautiful little plant with dark reddish orange veins. Because this croton grows beneath an oak tree, it does not get lots of direct sun and that keeps the leaf color darker. Now it will give me a new plant!
In the back corner of the yard are some banana trees. They have grown a bunch of bananas, but I can’t reach them. I zoomed in to get this photo because they are quite high. We could probably eat them if only they were closer. We did not plant these trees.
Bunch of bananas out of reach
I don’t go out to the store, so I haven’t bought new dirt or seeds, so I’m working with what I have. A tomato plant began growing from seeds of a tomato I used as compost. I’ll cut up vegetables and just throw them in my garden. Now I’ve picked 2 semi-large tomatoes and have some cherry tomatoes growing also.
Some tiny cherry tomatoes
The front garden doesn’t get much attention from me. It’s where the croton is (see it upper left) and I planted a baby bromeliad – right. Front right is the pink caladium, which disappears underground for months and comes back in Spring. I also had a white caladium, but that has not grown back this year.
Tropical garden plantsSkittle watches as I photograph my little garden
The Azalea is doing well with lots of green leaves. And the rubber tree – also taken from a cutting, is doing quite well. The Bromeliad double, which is white and pink, was the original plant I purchased. I’ve dug out babies and planted them around the yard.
New Guinea impatiens do best with some shade. These will last a long time – sometimes over a year – with shade, water and care.
New Guinea impatiens
The green plants which make a low hedge across the front are filling in nicely. I had cut them back, added dirt and fertilizer and mulch. They looked very ugly and sparse, but no more. They will end up filled in and pretty. They just needed attention.
Last but not least is my hydrangea! It is alive, but very small at this point. It’s been fertilized, and watered, and I’ll watch to see what happens. It’s not at all like the hydrangeas I was used to in New England. Florida is like a completely different country.
In May – the Hydrangea
I hope you are keeping busy while all this Covid virus stuff persists. Maybe it’s almost time for gardening where you are. I hope so.
Hydrangeas Blue 