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Recap of January 2024 First Friday with Florida First Detector For our first webinar of 2024, we focused on mites! As a group, mites are incredibly diverse. There are mites pretty much everywhere. You can find them on plants, animals, people, stored products, soil, water and more! Some mites feed on animals and humans. Some…

Bayard Conservation Area 5324Anastasia State ParkStewardship of Florida’s Public Lands Florida is blessed to have over 10 million acres of state-owned conservation public lands. Various state agencies, including the Florida Forest Service, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Recreation & Parks, the Soil & Water Conservation Districts and other state agencies, manage over 500…

Landscape Matters: Old World Roses When: January 10, 2024; 10am – 11am Where: Online or In-Person, 25 N 4th Street, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034 Registration Link: https://ufl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqcuiqpzMuHNJnqZhrxSEr-h8qT81vhk8l An unequivocal component of gardens is roses. Roses, especially in Florida, can be difficult to maintain. Join the Master Gardener Volunteers at the Fernandina Beach Library Branch (25 N. 4th…

 What do you think about during this time of year? Early winter may carry different associations for some: post-holiday fatigue or relief; another abrupt change in pace at home or at work; or that familiar determination to fulfill a New Year’s resolution or two. Perhaps your friends want to increase the duration of their regular…

Iconic Tree of the East Coast from Maine to Florida When I was a girl, we lived in a small town in Western New York.  Outside my second floor bedroom window was a large tree that I loved.  The squirrels and birds were always in it, and throughout the year, from spring until winter, it…

Urban agriculture is growing food on a small-scale, using venues such as small rooftops, balcony gardens, community grounds, small urban farms and even empty lots of land.  This sample shows how a raised bed food production can yield a variety of crops. Courtesy UF IFAS Photography. While experts tout the benefits of urban agriculture as…

Wild Weeds – Weed of the Month Rabbit Bells Crotalaria rotundifolia Photo by Eleanor Dietrich (Florida Wildflower Foundation)This low-growing wildflower can be found in pinelands, sandhills, and disturbed sandy areas throughout Florida. The small yellow flowers bloom in the afternoon and are only open for one day. They mostly attract bees as pollinators. Rabbit Bells…

The New Year is a great time to make some horticultural resolutions that will benefit any landscape.  Let’s look at some tips, suggestions and strategies that will make your landscaping experience in Southwest Florida the best in 2024 – we can help! Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ for 2024 The overarching “mother ship” of all of our horticultural…

We had some big waves in mid-December, and with that washed up a slew of plastic fragments and bottle caps as well as natural debris such as sargassum seaweed and black mangrove propagules.  However, there was something different on our beaches as well – blobs of a white, waxy material.  This was new to me, and…