More Garden Area Wanted!

Feb 10 2010
Been looking at seed and plant liner catalogs lately and wishing that I had more areas where I could grow more sun-tolerant plants. Pine trees 30-40 feet tall cast a high shade that’s mostly a bright shade, but it is shade nonetheless. Delphiniums, Azaleas, Foxgloves, and even Gerbera Daisies love the bright shade, but Snapdragons, Marigolds, and Zinnias do not. The latter group wants to soak up as much of the Central Florida sunshine as possible. Also the sunshine helps these mid-to-late summer bloomers to dry after our almost daily afternoon rains which are a result of the East and West sea breezes colliding and causing the afternoon thunderstorms for which the area is so famous and aptly named “The Lightning Capital” of the country.

The vegetables like the sun, but want a break from the heat of the sun, so I’ve been experimenting with cheesecloth shades and moving test pots to different areas to see how they tolerate the varying degrees of shade I have in various areas under the trees.

But I still would like more area to plant and grow more and more stock. I LOVE cut flowers in the house, and I love giving cut flowers to friends and neighbors. I just wish I had more of them all the time as well as those fresh green beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and herbs. I’ll keep reading the catalogs and dreaming of the new and old varieties that will be included next season in My Central Florida Garden.