North Florida Month-to-Month Gardening Guide   April 2007  by Nancy George

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With all this fabulous weather we’ve had, I hear us all saying, “Thank goodness it’s spring”!  The days are longer now, and we have time in the evenings to enjoy the outdoors.  While you are basking in the sight of beautiful blooms, don’t forget to please your other senses by including fragrance and sound.  Choosing plants for their scent and hanging wind chimes and the sound of bubbling water will add another element to the pleasure of being in the open air.  (Pictured:  Jasmine)

What to Buy / Plant

To add more fragrance to your garden look for trees and shrubs like Chionanthus known as fringe tree or grancy graybeard, banana shrub, magnolia, gardenia, citrus, pittosporum, viburnum, tea olive, mahonia, mock orange, piedmont azalea, witch hazel, spicebush, sweetshrub, some angel’s trumpet, and cestrum nocturnum commonly called night blooming jasmine.  Purchase annuals and perennials such as tuberose, pineapple lily, phlox, and white flowering tobacco known as nicotiana alata.  Plant vines such as honeysuckle, many jasmine (especially the true jasmine polyanthemum), clematis, moonflower, and purple passion vine.  (Pictured:  Piedmont Azalea)

Prune/ Propagate

Prune azaleas now that blooms have faded.  Remove sucker growth from the bottom of trees.  Keep hedges and screens tidy.  Direct growth of new and established vines and espaliers.  Leave fading bulb foliage to yellow so it can store energy for next years show, tie in a knot or secure with a rubber band.  Propagate daylily, perennial gladioli, walking iris, sedum and other plants that produce proliferations.

Water / Fertilize

When rainfall is sparse you must be a thorough waterer.  Plants are actively growing, breaking dormancy and pushing new growth.  Maintain good moisture levels in the top 8 inches of soil.  All new plantings should be top dressed with a slow release granular fertilizer. Fertilize perennials, young trees, shrubs and any chlorotic plants.  *(The yellowing of normally green plant tissue because of a decreased amount of chlorophyll.)

Houseplants

Move houseplants that were over wintered inside to a shady location outdoors; remember to turn regularly for even growth a practice known as panning.

Edibles

Direct sow seeds into the soil, water regularly so they will germinate.  All warm season vegetables can be planted, include melons and berries.

Pests

To get weeds out by the roots, pull or hoe just after watering.  Mulch beds 4”- 8” thick before warm season weeds germinate. Use corn gluten meal as a natural way to prevent weeds from seeding.  If problems with rust, leaf spot, scale or mealy bug are present, apply natural neem oil.  Use diatiomacious earth or Bacillus Thuringiensis a beneficial bacterium for caterpillar or worm problems.

For Fun

Make a wind chime.  Look for items that will create a nice sound when they strike, for example seashells, bells, beads, hollow bamboo, copper pipe or stones.  Drill, or if the items are thin, poke a hole with a nail.  Pull a piece fishing line through each hole, and tie a double knot.  For objects such as stones, wrap with string a few times around and then glue.  Determine the length of your cords to ensure some interaction.  Attach the free end of each length of cord or line to a metal ring, small branch, or driftwood.  Drill holes, double knot the line, or secure string with a dab of glue.  Hang, and hear the wind.

 

Fringe Tree		Banana Shrub		Magnolia
Gardenia		Citrus		Pittosporum
Viburnum		Tea Olive		Mahonia
Mock Orange		Piedmont Azalea		Witch Hazel
Spicebush		Sweetshrub		Angel's Trumpets
Night Blooming Jasmine		Tuberose		Pineapple Lily
Phlox		Nicotiana Alata		Honeysuckle
Clematis		Moonflower		Purple Passion Vine

 

This article originally published on April 2, 2007.

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