Has anyone found any really good books on shrubs and trees for planting in Florida, please?
We have planted several Palms in our front garden out there, but we are always on the look out for shrubs that are good for the soil and weather conditions out there to add to our collection[msnsmile2]
Tom MacCubbin is a local agronomist in Central Florida and has written several books on plants, shrubs, trees etc that flourish. His books can be found at Barnes and Noble booksellers of which one is located on Sand Lake Road just up from Lake Buena Vista.
Unfortunately, one has to factor in the matter that some plants may be suitable for Central Florida but not specifically suitable for short term rental villas. First, they really must be drought resistent as only the management company will be looking after them during the intervals between your visits. Other plants that are popular locally should be avoided because of hazards not known to guests or visitors. Oleander is very popular as a landscape plant but is highly toxic to humans and should never be planted around pools or other areas where children might play.
Thanks Seminole[msnsmile2] I will ask my husband who is still at our villa doing some paint work to look out for Tom's books on his next shopping trip.
We have an irrigation system installed so watering should not be a problem. Our palms are certainly thriving[msnwink]
Good shrubs we've found are hibiscus, bottle brush and also sago palms do well. The hibiscus tend to die back a little when there's any frost but a sharp pruning soon brings them back to life in the spring and they flower non-stop.
blott
Before you plant a lot of Sago Palms read below.
Do you have Sagos that are turning white underneath with the bottom leaves going brown. If so get your MC to act now. I have put an extract from a gardening web site below, however they are not telling the full story.
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The sago, however, does get scale insects, which are often in the form of small white (sometimes fuzzy) bumps. These can be treated with a horticultural oil spray such as Ultra-Fine Pesticidal spray or Volck oil. Three or four treatments spaced about 7 to 10 days apart are usually needed to take care of heavier infestations of these stubborn scale insects. Also, you could use a soil drench of Bayer Tree and Shrub Insect Control which is a systemic that will be taken up into the plant sap and protect the plant that way. Be sure to follow the directions on the label.
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The story continues as follows, we noticed this on our sagos and then went for a walk and saw that every sago in our area was the same. None of the local experts knew what it was and said just spray with a pesticide.
I managed to find out the full story through The Biological Control Laboratory in Gainesville. It seems that this particular type of leaf miner was introduced to the Miami area 10 year ago when some Sagos were imported from Asia. It has been spreading slow north and arrived in the Orlando area ago 2 years ago. It has no natural enemies in this area and so has spread quickly.
The fact that it is quite hard to kill also helps it. As well as showing on the leaves it will attach itself to the roots up to two feet away from the plant. They multiply quickly so if you don't kill them all then 3 to 6 months later they are all back. Also if you kill them and your neighbours don't you can get reinfected. They do have one problem and that is they kill the plant they live on.
Once attached they have a hard white coating over the top of them and put suckers into the leaf to remove the sap. The ONLY way to really kill them all off is to use a good systemic controller like 'Orthene'. You must drench the underside of every leaf, get it all into the plant trunk and at least a 3ft radius round the base. You need to have this done at least three times about 6 weeks apart.
We saved our sagos doing this while we have seen a number of people replacing theirs.
Regards DaveL
Dave Lewis
Karen,
Try this web site www.leugardens.org
They are an authority on Florida plants.
Mike.
Thanks Blott, Dave and Mike.
We do have a couple of Sago Palms, so I will get my husband to look out for these scale insects. They sound a bit like something we had on our cacti her at home a couple of years ago.
Mike, I have book marked the Leu Gardens website. We must visit Leu Gardens sometime, it sounds like a realy nice place[msncool]
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