Gardening in the Tropics

Zone 6a Girl Transplanted to Zone 10a

Good evening, everyone!  Mr From Farmhouse to Florida and I are on our way to Iowa for a family wedding!  I got a little behind in my writing so I hope you don’t mind that I am sending out this post from the Fall of 2020.   I think you will still enjoy it!

It seems very strange to be writing a post about planting with annuals when it is October!  Even after a year in Florida, I am still adjusting to gardening in the tropics due to the differences in the growing zones. The USDA has the country divided into various growing zones based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones.  The zones range from 1a (Alaska)  to 13 b (Puerto Rico).   The zones help gardeners determine which plants are most likely to thrive in which locations.

When I lived in Illinois and Ohio, I was living in the hardiness zone of 6a.  Several of my favorite plants were considered tender perennials, meaning they would need to be brought inside during the winter.  By being brought inside, they could survive the cold winter.  When spring came, they could be taken back outside.  During the winter, their growth would definitely slow down .  Examples of tender perennials that I particularly love would be scented geraniums , lemon verbena and rosemary.  Several varieties of rosemary have been developed over the years that are considered to be winter hardy.

Now that I am living in Southwest Florida, I am considered to be living in zone 10a.  Southwest Florida is considered to be tropical.   Are you familiar with the old saying “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!”  ?  Before we moved to Florida, I was sure I wouldn’t be bothered by the heat and the humidity.  After all, I had spent the last 4 1/2 years standing next to a 550 degree pizza oven and the summers in Illinois are humid. How bad could it be?

BAD….. the humidity is AWFUL!!!!! It is humid almost 365 days a year in Florida.  I am still figuring out a way to deal with the humidity.

The humidity doesn’t just affect humans, it can affect the plants too.  I now understand one of the reasons the plant tags on geraniums sold in Florida say “grow from Fall to Spring”.  The humidity can cause the geraniums to get a disease called botrytis blight or gray mold.  I lost about 1/2 of my geraniums due to the botrytis blight.  I am hoping they do better now that it is Fall in Florida.

Fall in Florida

Fall in Florida is certainly different than Fall in Illinois!  We were still experiencing heat indices in the triple digits as recently as last weekend!  People don’t decorate outside with real pumpkins till much later in the season.  My little white pumpkins seem to be holding up well .  I think they might actually be in the gourd family instead of pumpkins. Maybe that is why.

When are Annuals not Annuals

One of the big benefits  gardening wise of living in Zone 10 a is that a number of the plants that were considered annuals in Illinois can actually be considered perennials here!  I am super excited to see how well my personal favorite, Diamond Frost does this fall and winter.  Diamond Frost is a Proven Winner plant.  Its scientific name is Euphorbia.  The picture below was supplied by Proven Winners.

Diamond Frost can be planted in containers or directly into your landscape although I personally have only used it as a container plant.  I first became aware of Diamond Frost about 8 years ago when I had my flower shop, Petals & Porch Posts.

After looking for Diamond Frost for months in Florida, I finally found two planters that contained it when I was back in Illinois recently.  You can read more about that here:

Unable to find it in the local garden centers in Florida, I did find it on line and finally ordered some over the weekend.  It arrived late yesterday via 2 day Fed Ex shipping.  I ordered it directly from Proven Winners and it came from the same greenhouse in Michigan that I had ordered things from when I had the flower shop.  It felt like old home week!

In addition to the Diamond Frost, I  also ordered 4 petunias.  Petunias!  In late September… weird , right?  Even though we have been down here a year now, this is technically my first opportunity to see how things grow in the fall in Florida.  Last year we did a lot of traveling and I didn’t really buy any plants until December or later.  Back to the petunias…  The picture below is of Black Cherry Supertunias by Proven Winners.  The photo was supplied by Proven Winners.

The petunias look more red in the picture but when they arrived, they had more of a purple hue.  They are still pretty but I was a bit disappointed in the color.  Dave says I worry too much about that type of things…. Hello!  I am a designer…. we worry about things like color and proportion.

The color difference isn’t quite as noticeable in the picture.  The plants are in the 4.25 in container that Proven Winners calls the Grande.  They were individually wrapped in a sleeve to protect them during shipment.  They came in tall box and packed well.  The box was marked that it should be kept upright and I think Fed Ex did a good job.  There didn’t appear to be any damage to the plants and not much soil had been displaced.

I used one of the petunia to replace the celosia that had been in the center of one of the pots I brought back from Illinois.  I wouldn’t have been able to see out my back window if I left the celosia in the planter so I cut it down before I came back from Illinois.  The trip is stressful enough without not being able to see out the rearview window!

Doesn’t the petunia look like it is floating in a cloud of pure fluffiness?  Diamond Frost sort of looks like baby’s breath.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had transplanted the geraniums that had been in these two matching pots.  I washed and sanitized the pots and then filled them not quite 2/3 full with fresh potting soil.  The planters do have holes in the bottom so that excess water can drain thru the soil and not collect in the bottom of the pot.

After gently removing the plants from their pots and carefully loosening the roots, I placed them in the pot at a slight angle so that they were resting on the lip of the container.  I used two Diamond Frost and one petunia in each pot.

The addition of enough potting soil to cover the roots was the next step.   After carefully arranging the stems of the Diamond Frost to help cover any empty area , the pots were then watered thoroughly before being placed in the vintage wire planters in the lanai.

Update as of Nov 28, 2020

Almost 2 months later, this is how the patio pot looks!

Updated February 13, 2021

After 2 more months, the planters are still looking good!  Especially the one sitting on the ground!