Florida gardening is a piece of cake for green thumbs but may give you the wrong kind of butterflies if your thumbs happen to be of a different color. Heard often is the excuse, "Oh I just don't have a green thumb" or "If I touch it, it will die." These pat answers given by those who generally consider themselves 'unlucky' when it comes to Florida gardening or most likely any other type of gardening are suffering from the misconception that growing beautiful healthy plants is some mysterious gift sprinkled like fairy dust on certain blessed individuals while they themselves are sentenced to go about reducing plants to fire fodder all their lives. In reality, those who do possess a green thumb - meaning those who are consistently successful at growing plants are neither born that way nor have they had a visit from the flower fairy. They have simply learned the "secret" of growing beautiful healthy plants and if you would like to learn this secret please rush $19.95 to Florahome USA,... JUST KIDDING. Florida gardening or any other gardening simply requires doing one's homework. Plants, like people have certain basic requirements such as food, water and sunlight with the amounts of these elements needed determined by the amounts generally received in that plants particular native habitat. If there was a formula for growing healthy plants it would be to replicate as nearly as possible the plant's native environment. This is why many in Florida and elsewhere have begun to use native plants in their landscape. Florida gardening however still requires knowing just where in Florida the plant is actually found growing in the wild with habitats in Florida varying greatly from one location to another. Even within ones own yard, conditions vary from soil type to the amount of sun a certain area receives. It should be evident by now that having a green thumb has a lot more to do with a willingness to work than fairy dust and those said to have one most likely have earned it. If you're really serious about turning your thumbs green, here are some good resources to get you started.
Florida Friendly Gardening 101 - also available here to download, these are the basics every Florida gardener should know. Learning these valuable lessons will not only keep you from dumping your money into a poorly dug hole, but will teach you environmentally safe gardening practices.
Native Butterfly Gardening - attracting the NICE butterflies. If you're in the Gainesville area, be sure to see the butterflies at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Also check out Butterfly World in the Florida Gardens list under Coconut Creek, FL.
Here's a good video to give you a better understanding of fertilizer. One additional tip to remember is the old admonition found in the bible concerning moderation. Two of the biggest mistakes people make with plants is either killing them with neglect or killing them with kindness. Those who are said to have a green thumb tend to follow the middle road giving their plants only as much food, water and light as they need - no more and no less.
Florida Gardens List - True green thumbs learn from other gardeners and the gardens listed here display Florida gardening at its very best - butterflies and all!
