I itch. As I write this, I am trying mightily to keep from removing my fingers from the keyboard and raking them across the ugly, raised red patch on my shin. Or the one ringing my wrist. Or the one spread across my forearm. Or the one slightly north of my pinkie toe. Or the one shaped like a chain of Caribbean islands two inches from my belly button. ...more

July 27, 2008

QUESTION: "Following some recent heavy rain, I noticed a LOT of tiny bright green weeds suddenly sprouting up through the mulched beds in front of our house. I mean there are hundreds of them. ...more

July 20, 2008

It's 7 a.m. in the marsh, and like some sort of cigar-chomping swamp cowboy, biologist Lindsey Hord is about to reach for something that could cost him a few fingers - or worse - if he's not careful. ...more

July 19, 2008

Pretty or not, if you don't want them, they're weeds. ...more

July 9, 2008

PLANTERS' ALMANAC What To Do This Week Irrigate: Water according to the needs of plants. ...more

June 19, 2008

Mayor Pam Iorio and other officials this morning visited Tampa Fire Rescue Station 14, at Neptune Street and Church Avenue in South Tampa, to tout the firehouse's new "Florida-friendly" landscaping. ...more

May 21, 2008

Dozens of parents gave up their leisurely Saturday to scrub and polish the school that is so much a part of their children's lives. ...more

May 7, 2008

SEBRING — Green isn't the only color cultivated and prized by Highlands County groundskeepers. Eileen Beck, groundskeeper supervisor, oversees a crew of three county employees who trim, plant, irrigate, mow and maintain the 40 county-owned building sites, from nearly end-to-end. "We like to have color," Beck said, "and something is always in bloom." All three municipal libraries, the health department, the courthouse and the Agri-Civic Center are just a few of the rotating stops the crew hits at least once a week, or sometimes twice weekly during the rainy summer months. The landscaping around the sign at the Highlands County Government Center recently got a sprucing up from the crew. Marigolds, croton plants, Indian hawthorns and crepe myrtles, separated by mulch, surround the county marker. ...more

February 10, 2008

Christmas is over. The presents are unwrapped. The decorations are starting to look a little old. Thoughts are turning to New Year's Eve celebrations. ...more

December 28, 2007

Homeowners can haul away the mulch. ...more

December 27, 2007