Great weather means great gardening. Not only people enjoy being outside, however; insects and animals of all kinds are out right now enjoying the weather with the good eating. The problem for gardeners is that some of the eating that is going on is of their treasured plants or the biting of the gardeners themselves. Do take the time to check your plants for infestations when you are outside protected by your mosquito repellant and your sunscreen! A quick check of the Beneficial Insects card on the Information Table may be a help in sorting out the good/bad bugs in your yard.

We will be discussing Gardening Problems at our meeting this month so make a list so that the experienced gardeners in our club can help you solve whatever problem(s) you've run into lately and you can share what remedies that you've used.

Maybe this is the time that you can do a sunshine survey of your property. Which areas have six hours of direct sun each day? That is what is generally needed for blooming annuals and vegetables(with some shade needing exceptions, of course.) Make a drawing of your house with the directions(N< S< E< W) noted, go out several times a day and write down whether the beds are receiving sun or not. Doctors always get a medical history of their patients and we plant doctors need to get a history of our planting areas so that we can give the correct "medicines", i.e., plant the right plant in the right place!

We've been going around the yard and finding lubber grasshoppers hatching out---which we immediately dispatch out of this world despite knowing that they could be good food for a hawk or owl. They eat and can kill many plants so I'll rationalize that the hawks and owls can eat something else other than the lubbers. We've noticed something eating on our zuccini plants so we're watching them to see what we have to fight to keep them producing. It seems that eternal vigilance and maintenance must be the gardeners' motto.

I have a copy of a report from the state Horticulture Chair about the 2008 Plants of the Year that will be on the Information Table. There are some selections for the Florida Plants of the Year also which includes the Stromanthe sanguinea,"Triostar" which is the "variegated ginger" that so many of us bought from the plant sale.

If you are planting new plants do remember to continue watering them regularly until they are established. We have been fortunate that we've had more rain than usual for March, but it is still the dry season. If we were unable to fertilize our lawns last month it is still OK to do so this month. Before the extreme heat builds remember to do your mulching. Keep the mulch away from the stems/trunks of the plants, though, so that your mulch looks like a volcano with a hole in the center rather than like a mountain with a peaked top. The mulch could harbor insects and/or hold water next to the stem/trunk which would not be healthy for the plant.

Please remember about the maleleuca mulch and/or other mulches that will not encourage destruction of cypress groves. Pine bark, pine needles, moss, etc. are some alternatives to cypress mulch.

For those of you who are new to the club I'm repeating the formula for the Palm Fertilizer that our Club Professional Arborist, Michael Harnden gave to us.

In a five gallon bucket add two pounds of Epsom salts and 1/2 gallon white vinegar and fill with water. Use this for palms and/or for citrus and azeleas. For quick greening you can add 1 tsp. of Miracle Grow.

Community Gardening is something that has been done a lot lately in cities, but we might be thinking about how we could have a community vegetable garden( with plots for individuals) in our area. Elderly people might need to have raised beds so that they could work easier and having a shed for rain barrels for water OR some other source of water would also be necessary.

There are many questions, of course, but just wanted to have lots of brain power focusing on the possibilities that we might have here in Floral City.

I heard that the Junior Gardeners had a fantastic meeting learning all about leaves!! Do we remember about lobed/smooth/simple/compound/alternate/opposing, etc.??? Talk with one of the JR Gardener leaders and relearn what so many of us have forgotten.

Wish you fruitful gardening!

llb