Free tips to enhance your South Florida yard

Posted by:
Author Patti Roth

Enhance your yard, patio and indoor areas with plants, including native species and edibles. Lots of free information is available for South Florida residents, such as tips on selecting the perfect plants for a particular area. For personalized information, landscaping experts from extension offices in Miami-Dade, Broward & West Palm Beach answer questions via phone and email.

Lots of other useful information is online for free.

Photo: Teresa Mears. Atala butterfly on native coontie plant.

Master gardeners from extension offices in Dade, Broward and greater Palm Beach

Palm Beach County: 561-233-1750, email questions and photos to mgardenfwd@pbcgov.org
Broward County: 954-756-8533, email questions and photos to browardmg@ifas.ufl.edu
Miami-Dade County: 305-248-3311, ext. 228; email questions and photos to vcharpentier@ufl.edu

Other resources include:

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences

Florida-friendly Plant database interactive website for recommendations on perfect plants using such factors as region, sunlight and soil, includes trees, palms, shrubs, flowers, vines & other plants
Florida Friendly program
Vegetable gardening
Edibles
Perfect Plants for Pollinators
“Lettuce in Small Hydroponic Systems”
Strawberries: South Florida is a little hot for strawberries. “The variety most likely to take the heat well is Sensation ‘Florida127’. It will maintain fruit size better in the heat and will not become too dark in color — overripe appearance,” says Vance M. Whitaker associate professor of Horticultural Sciences at UF/IFAS at Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. He recommends planting toward the later days of October, & strawberries start to yield in December.