And the Winners Are...

And the Winners Are....

Happiness Farms, Inc. Caladium Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who left a comment entering Happiness Farm's fabulous giveaway of two $63 gift certificates.

The two lucky gardeners chosen...by the old-fashioned method of reaching into a hat and pulling out two slips of paper...are

Joseph Evans who said
" I have been in Florida full time for 22 years now
and one of my first visits was to see the caladiums in Lake Placid.
One of my favorite variaties is the lance leaf kind in the Florida sweetheart and the rosalie."

and

Amy Parnell who said
"It is definitely difficult to choose one favorite Caladium variety, but I think I have to go with Miss Muffet Dwarf. Beautiful!"

Note: The winners must claim their prize within 14 days of this date in order to be eligible to receive the gift certificate.

Congratulations Joseph & Amy! If you'll both email me your mailing address, I'll get those gift certificates in the mail.

Also, it would be great if you both would both email photos of your new caladiums in their full glory to me this summer, and I'll post them for all to see. It would be fun to see your results.


And, once again a BIG thank you to Happiness Farms, Inc. for their generous giveaway, and to Ashley for all your help.

Happiness Farms' Spring Caladium Giveaway

It's that time of year again for Happiness Farms' Spring Caladium Giveaway to two lucky gardeners. 

Last year's two lucky gardeners were Siesta Sister and Kay from My Garden Path. You can see which caladiums they chose and how they used them in our Caladium Happiness post. I can't wait to see who will win this year.

~ ~ Happiness Farms' Spring Caladium Giveaway ~ ~

Happiness Farms is generously giving away TWO, yes TWO $63 gift certificates. Two lucky gardeners will be able to use the certificate toward the purchase of any variety or varieties of caladium bulbs of their choice. Entering this giveaway is super easy...here's how:

1. Visit their website (click here: Happiness Farms, Inc) and choose your favorite variety (yes, I know it will be hard to choose just one).

2. Return here and leave a comment sharing your favorite caladium variety. 

It's that simple! 

The winner will be announced Friday - April 6th, 

so be sure to leave a comment by Thursday the 5th at Midnight to enter.

A big THANK YOU to Happiness Farms for their generous giveaway...best of luck to everyone!

Catching Up...

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Pinterest a new social media site where you can create boards and pin (a virtual pin board) anything you see on line that inspires you or that you want to remember for future use. It's totally fun and extremely useful!

Central Florida Gardener now has a Pinterest account where I'll pin everything useful I can find related to Florida gardening including photos of bloggers gardens, so that everyone can see how beautiful Florida gardens are. A link to all photos posted are credited back to the original owners blog or web site. You can find it at: http://pinterest.com/cenflagardener/. Check it out and join in by creating your own account.

You can also find Central Florida Gardener on Facebook now at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Central-Florida-Gardener/197232317050577. Another fun site for keeping up with Florida gardeners. Hope to see you there!

In addition...here are 7 more Florida garden blogs I've come across lately. If anyone other Florida garden bloggers have a blog that's not included in our blogroll, please email me at cenflagardeneratgmaildotcom, so I can include you, too. Enjoy!


A Tale of Two Gardens - One central Florida woman's quest to find a blissful balance between a manicured suburban front yard and the Florida backyard habitat of her dreams.

John Starnes' Urban Farm -  John Starnes writes for Florida Gardening magazine and offers vegetable gardening classes at his home in Tampa.

Gardening Adventures - Brittany who lives in Tampa is a young mother who is building a better life for her family by gardening organically.

Gardening for Newbies - Another young mother who's connecting with Mother Earth and learning how to garden.


Florida Native Plant Society - Learn more about native plants on their blog.

The Budget Gardener - This Boynton Beach gardener shows that you don't need a load of money to create a garden.

Northeast Florida Gardener - Ted Barrett keeps an online journal of his Northeast Florida garden.

Do you have a Florida-Friendly Landscape?

Have your gardening practices changed in recent years so that you're more conscious of the Florida environment and your impact on it?

The University of Florida Extension Service has worked diligently in the past decade to educate gardeners through The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN) Homeowner Program on good sound practices that can help all of us lessen our impact on Florida's environment and beautiful waterways.

So, let's see how you're doing. Do you follow the 9 Florida-Friendly Landscaping Principles?

1) Right plant, right place
2) Water efficiently
3) Fertilize appropriately
4) Mulch
5) Attract Wildlife
6) Control Yard Pests Responsible
7) Recycle
8) Reduce Stormwater Runoff
9) Protect the Waterfront

Not sure? Well, you can find out by using the FYN Official Yard Recognition Checklist to see how you're doing. And, if you'd like you can even have a county FYN agent or Yard Advisor visit your home to determine if your garden is eligible for Gold or Standard recognition. And, if your garden qualifies as a "Florida-Friendly Yard" you'll receive a certificate and a sign to display in your yard.

To get started explore their interactive 'home' for to learn more about the 9 Florida-Friendly Landscaping Principles.

Nanette O'Hara's yard in the Tampa Bay area has been recognized as a Florida-Friendly Landscape. You can read more about  the transition of her small yard on her blog Bay-Friendly Landscaping.  If anyone else has had their yard recognized or should it be recognized in the future, please contact me so I can add a link to your blog to inspire others to work towards this goal.


For more inspiration enjoy the U of F photo gallery of "Florida-Friendly Landscapes."

Other Florida gardeners who have "Certified Florida Yards" are:

Hoe & Shovel

Garden Pest - Chilli Thrips

A relatively new species of thrips ~ ~ Chilli Thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood ~ ~ that attack a wide variety of plants in Florida are becoming more prevalent. Some of their favorite plants are: Begonia, Citrus, Hydrangeas, Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine, Indian hawthorne, Snow Bush, Azaleas, Camellias, Golden Dew Drop, Verbena, Crape Myrtle, Geranium, Coleus, Variegated Pittosporum, Plumbago, Marigold, Victoria Blue Sage, Viburnum, Roses and many varieties of vegetables to name a few.

Unlike the common thrip, Chilli thrips can be found on the axils of leaves or curled leaves and leaf litter. Affected plants will have brown and/or rolled leaves and distorted flowers. This is a tough insect that can do a lot of damage very quickly.

Infestations are easier to control if you discover them early and treat immediately.  Fortunately, there is a  product called Conserve Naturalyte which contains Spinosad ~ a  naturally occurring soil dwelling bacterium ~ that can be used to control the thrips. Remove all damaged flowers and apply the product only as needed as it can be toxic to bees until it has dried. Otherwise, the product has shown very low toxicity levels to other critters. Natural enemies include lacewings and ladybug beetles.

Good luck in treating infestations should you discover any on your plants or vegetables.

Some New Florida Garden Bloggers

It's always a pleasure to discover some more Florida garden bloggers. Our list on the sidebar has now reached 100! That makes me happy to see so many Florida gardeners blogging. But I must say I'm sorry to see that a lot of gardeners don't post on a regular basis. I know, I know...everyone's life is busy these days and it's easy to get sidetracked with more important things.

But, I must confess that I thoroughly enjoy communicating with other Florida garden bloggers, seeing photos of their gardens, sharing ideas and learning a thing or two, as well. So, I'd like to encourage MIA Florida garden bloggers to resurrect their blogs so we can all see what's going on in their garden...maybe, at least one post a month...pretty please. :-)

Now, here's some more Florida garden blogs:

The Budget Gardener lives in Boynton Beach and you can watch his progress as he "transforms his huge water hogging St. Augustine lawn into a sub-tropical edible paradise" while trying to stay within a budget.

The Shabby Gardener (love that name) gardens on 1 acre in the city of Zephyrhills.

Ask the Plant Guy Craig Morell who is the horticulturist at Pinecrest Gardens, former site of Parrot Jungle.

Julie in Palm Beach county blogs about succulents and other hobbies in A Succulent Life.

Jeanni gardens in the pretty little town of Lake Helen and shares her love for roses on her blog Roses and Gargoyles.

Clermont gardener Fred Sommer chronicles his garden experiences on his blog Sommer Gardens.

Jim and Stephanie Carcano owner of Ridge Plants ~ ~ a native and Florida-friendly perennial nursery ~ ~ in Lake Wales shares lots of information on their Ridge Plants Blog.

Here's three more blogs that looks very interesting ~ ~ An Old Soul! Thank Eli for letting me know about your blog and also, Mr. Florida from the U.K. blogs about his Florida Garden and Bill (a native Floridian) who blogs about growing vegetables on his Fresh from the Garden blog..

If you're Florida garden blog isn't listed on the sidebar, please leave a comment and I'll gladly add it!

Caladium Happiness

Back in March of this year, we hosted a caladium bulb giveaway from Happiness Farms, Inc. Two lucky Florida gardeners each won a $55 gift certificate to buy caladium bulbs of their choice.

As promised we're checking in with them to see their pretty caladium displays.

SiestaSister ordered John Peed...a pretty red variety outlined in green, and she maximized their use by planting them in various locations around her garden. I think you'll agree with me that she's created some beautiful and colorful tropical vignettes with her caladiums.

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NanaK at My Garden Path gave me permission to download these photos of the caladiums she ordered from Happiness Farms. She ordered a box of mixed colors and planted the care-free bulbs at her church for some much needed color.

The combination of colors and patterns blend beautifully together and add a nice punch of summer color to an otherwise green landscape. 

You can see more pictures of her caladiums and read her post entitled: Happiness Farms Spreads Much Happiness here.

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For hosting the giveaway, Happiness Farms, Inc, offered to send me a box of caladiums of my choice. Here's a photo from my garden of Miss Muffet. I spread mine around in various pockets throughout the shady areas. They definitely brighten up a dark area with their beauty.

Thank you to Happiness Farms, Inc. for spreading so much happiness around!

Coming up on August 26th and 27th is the 21st Annual Caladium Festival in Lake Placid. Click here for more information.