Florida Friendly Plant of the Week: American beauty berry or Callicarpa americana. ...more

February 16, 2009

A pair of threatened Florida scrub jays stands watch atop a bare shrub overlooking one of the few patches of scrub habitat left in Hillsborough County. When trouble looms, they will warn the others with an unusual call: pssshhh, pssshhh, pssshhh. ...more

October 18, 2008

When I drove up to the Pioneer Florida Days Festival over Labor Day weekend, I was surprised (and happy) to find a nice plant sale sandwiched between the square dancers and the Civil War battlefield. ...more

September 11, 2008

Mini pineapple Is it a fruit or a faux? This itty-bitty pineapple, a member of the bromeliad family, is actually edible, according to Nature's Pride, a Dutch company that imports and distributes exotic fruits. The mini pineapple plant likes filtered light and will grow to about 2 feet tall. Its tiny fruit gets about 4 inches tall, and has a sweet, tender core. ...more

August 14, 2008

Ask a roomful of readers about Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's "Leopard" and more often than not you'll find a few who will put hand to heart and say it's their favorite book, and a few others who will simply shrug - never heard of it - or ask if it has anything to do with the Visconti movie starring Burt Lancaster (yes, it does). I suppose it's a coincidence that a roomful of travelers will poll in a similar fashion if you ask them about Sicily, the marvelous, maddening island disparaged and adored in "The Leopard": It's either a favorite place, or they haven't even thought of going there. ...more

August 3, 2008

Florida summers are a great time for planting. One good storm can drop 1 to 3 inches of rain, which soaks into the soil and encourages roots to follow. Plants with deep roots will grow up to be drought-tolerant. ...more

May 29, 2008

Florida Department of Transportation officials told the city more analysis is needed before the state agency will authorize the installation of old-style street lights on Tarpon and Pinellas avenues. ...more

May 24, 2008

Liriope Hardy little fellas, these plants are my favorites because they can take a variety of conditions, from sun to shade, watered well or hardly at all. ...more

May 7, 2008

There's something about the holiday season that makes even the most frugal among us (yup, that would be me) a little splurgy. I have all the decorations I need - nay, more - but still my shopping cart pulls toward the garden center. I want ho-ho red petals, fir-green leaves and snow-white blossoms for the front porch, the faux mantel, the patio. ...more

December 15, 2007