{"id":8723,"date":"2022-03-01T15:39:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=8723"},"modified":"2022-03-01T15:39:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:39:31","slug":"gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandale<br>mail@floridanewsline.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can do in our yards, but the weather is often a better guide in determining what we need to do; however, it is useful to know our average last frost date. When I found this website, https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/2p8tv52h,&nbsp; I was surprised to find that in my area, fairly close to the river, it falls between March 1 and March 10. In past years I\u2019ve always believed it was around March 16 \u2013 19, which is quite a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting seeds indoors is a useful and economical way to get a head start on the spring vegetable garden and summer annuals. If the cost of grow lights is too high, perhaps this DIY set up constructed with PVC pipe might suit your budget: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/mpkzmx6x. I use a similar frame, slotting the pieces together without adhesive to make it easy to take down and store. Even a full spectrum led bulb in a simple directional desk lamp can give a houseplant or a few small seedlings a boost without the expense of a fancy system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a compost heap that\u2019s been sitting for a while, now is a good time to check its progress. I generally throw on compostables and hope for the best, but I do aim for a mix of brown and green material and wet it down if dry. After a year or so, I use a large sieve to separate out the crumbly finished material. The sieve is a DIY item, fashioned from a square wooden frame to which is stapled with some wire mesh. It fits over my cart to catch the finished compost. The mesh is small enough to remove most material that hasn\u2019t fully decomposed, and this can either be added back to the heap or spread very lightly under mulch. For more efficient composting methods, check out https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/8d22d83k. In Florida\u2019s heat, an efficiently managed heap can become finished compost in just a few months. Black gold!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both saving seed and checking for plant volunteers save money. In spring it\u2019s easy to spot volunteer seedlings of perennials and annuals if you know what to look for. Last year I planted some wildflowers, so I\u2019ll pull weeds rather than hoe them down, and work around small seedlings until they are large enough to identify. (I think we\u2019re all probably familiar with the weeds lurking in our yards!) When I find wildflower seedlings I\u2019ll either leave them alone, if they\u2019re conveniently placed, or move them carefully into small pots. Once they\u2019re a good size they can go back into a new garden bed, which will mean free flowers for me and sustenance for pollinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of my newer plants have been such a treat. I have some large-flowered rosemary, or scrub mint, <em>Conradina grandiflora<\/em>, a native which resembles a spreading, fine-leaved culinary rosemary. The plants were good specimens to begin with, and they haven\u2019t skipped a beat. One or two began flowering in early autumn and the others followed in profusion. The pale pink flowers are similar to rosemary, but larger. There are still a few flowers in early February. They don\u2019t need supplementary watering and flourish in sandy, well-drained sites. Pollinators love them. (<em>Conradina grandiflora<\/em> is endemic to Florida and endangered; it should only be purchased from a reputable nursery.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Myrcianthes fragrans<\/em>, Simpson\u2019s stopper, is a lovely evergreen shrub or small tree, graced with fragrant flowers and red fruits. Mine are supposed to be dwarf, but methods used in the horticultural trade to produce so-called dwarf plants aren\u2019t always permanent. Recently, with the unseasonably warm weather, they put on some beautiful red-tinged new growth. The last cold snap caused some minor damage, but I\u2019ll wait until after our last frost date before deciding if they need a little pruning: a useful guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A postscript: For information on the importance of helping our insects, see https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/262cws38. While we may not be able individually to have much impact on global climate, we can try to protect the insects that pollinate our flowers and produce, starting in our own yards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can do in our yards, but the weather is often a better guide in determining what we need to do; however, it is useful to know our average last frost date. When I found this website, https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/2p8tv52h,&nbsp; I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[12],"class_list":{"0":"post-8723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns","8":"category-mandarin","9":"tag-gardening"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-01T20:39:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-01T20:39:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/\",\"name\":\"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-01T20:39:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-01T20:39:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\"},\"description\":\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\",\"name\":\"Florida NewsLine\",\"description\":\"The Newspapers Everybody Gets\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\",\"name\":\"editor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine","description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine","og_description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can","og_url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/","og_site_name":"Florida NewsLine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/","article_published_time":"2022-03-01T20:39:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-01T20:39:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@floridanewsline","twitter_site":"@floridanewsline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/","name":"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips - Florida NewsLine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-01T20:39:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-01T20:39:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc"},"description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com The gardening calendar (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/muu6h6me) is a good guide to what we can","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-the-gardening-calendar-and-some-economical-tips\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gardening | The gardening calendar and some economical tips"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/","name":"Florida NewsLine","description":"The Newspapers Everybody Gets","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc","name":"editor","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8724,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8723\/revisions\/8724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}