Art in Bloom Garden Tour - Philadelphia Flower Show and Longwood Gardens March 7fh - 10th 2025

Photos from 2022 Philadelphia Flower Show and Longwood Gardens. Photo credits: Teresa Watkins

The ultimate flower show in North America. Come with me on A Magical Garden Tour 2025! Here are photos from my 2022 Philadelphia Flower Show. What an experience! Find out more on Art in Bloom https://bit.ly/4fe9m62

The Philadelphia Flower Show has been named the best overall event in the world by traditions the International Festivals and Events Association. The event’s spectacular displays and inspiring designs highlight upcoming floral trends, not to be missed. Included are trips to Longwood Gardens and Jenny Rose Carey's private Northview Gardens https://bit.ly/3SVKoif

Friday, March 7 - Monday, March 10, 2025

Four Days – Three Nights https://bit.ly/3WPpBxZ

These highlights are just a few of my 2022 PHS photographs. So many beautiful flowers, displays, and vignettes. Don’t miss this exciting event.

Teresa's Design Tip - Succulents That Are Summerproof

This tropical landscape with a luscious walk to the front door was installed a year ago. While succulent plants may look small, they do fill in at an easy-going pace, worthy of patience without sweat. The final photo (August 2024) is what the succulent garden has grown into a year later, and they will only get bigger and better.

Why should all the neighbors and passers-by get the pretty curbside views? My client’s office faces out towards the street and now, she has a lovely view of her garden from inside while watching all the bird activity since the landscape was installed. Win-Win!

Check out my article on how to grow succulents in The Family Handyman.

Proverbial heartbreak. It was painful to drive through the HOA and see the scars and evidence of incorrectly planted trees. Criminal. There were over 15 trees that were installed by a landscape company that was paid for their unprofessional installation. Was there not one person who knew how to plant a tree properly?

Before working with a tree company, find out if they are certified tree arborists or knowledgeable landscapers who can correctly plant a tree.  Always take delivery “packaging” off a tree’s root ball.  This includes burlap, metal baskets, plastic, straps, wires, and anything rubber. Don’t listen to the comments of “nurseries won’t guarantee the tree if we take the basket off” or “the burlap will decompose.” If the tree is not healthy enough to take the wire basket off, it’s not healthy enough to plant. And it takes years for burlap to decompose and your tree may not survive long enough for it to rot.

Don’t risk it and certainly don’t pay for it.

University of Florida/IFAS publication on planting a tree correctly.

Martha Stewart: Teresa Weighs in on How Much Water Your Lawn Needs

Landscape designer and water conservation expert, Teresa Watkins explains how to tell if your turf needs to be watered. Check out Teresa’s advice on Martha Stewart..

Teresa's Plant of the Month for August

I first laid my eyes on crocosmia in Scotland about ten years ago. I fell in love and began to research immediately. Much to my amazement, these native African beauties will grow in Florida zones 8 – 10!

 The vibrant, red crocosmia featured in the photo is my favorite and the variety is called ‘Lucifer.’ (If you’re concerned about its name, balance your garden out with plenty of Angel wing begonias, Angelonias, and Angel’s trumpets.) You don’t have to be concerned about pests; these easy-care flowers have few issues. Plant in full sun, at least 5 hours, moist, organic but well-draining soil, with a pH of 6 to 8. They are tolerant of salt-spray. This is an excellent flower to attract hummingbirds and other gardeners. They are easy to be a pass-along plant.

 For more information: https://bit.ly/3SyGeNd

Lizzie's Garden Adventures

Who knew turkeys naturally like to sleep on the ground? Not me, obviously!  

After 4 months of beating myself up trying to build & create a proper bedding for my older rafter of turkeys, I learned they are happy sleeping on the ground. They like to roost in trees at night but move to the ground to sleep, if they feel safe. This realization brought me comfort instead of anger in that I created a safe environment for them to slumber, naturally without trying. 

Remember, life can be a joyful journey. Enjoying all moments is up to YOU! 

Get updates through “Lizzie Said What” socials. 

What To Do In Your Backyard in August

Central Florida

Average temperatures  High 92    Low 74

Rainfall 7.69 inches

(https://weather.com)

August plantings

 Vegetables:

Cantaloupe, collard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lima bean, okra, pepper, pumpkin, snap bean, southern pea, squash, tomato and watermelon

Flowers:

Amaranthus, angelonia, begonia, black-eyed Susan vine, blue daze, butterfly weed, bush daisy, cat's whiskers, celosia, chrysanthemums, coleus, coneflowers, coreopsis, crossandra, dusty miller, firespike, gaura, golden globe, gomphrena. heliconia, hibiscus, impatiens, kalanchoe, Justicia, lantana, marigold, melampodium, moon flower, pentas, periwinkle, plumbago, porter weed, portulaca, purslane, roses, salvia, Stokes aster, sunflower, torenia, tropical sage, and zinnia.

Herbs:

Anise, basil, bay laurel, cardamom, chives, Cuban oregano, cumin, dill, ginger, lemon balm, lemon grass, Mexican tarragon, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, sweet marjoram, thyme, and turmeric.

Bulbs type plants:

African iris, agapanthus, amaryllis, blood lilies, bulbine, canna, crinum, crocosmia, day lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lily, kaffir lily, Louisiana iris, society garlic, star flowers, rain lily, tuberose, and walking iris.

Vegetable & Fruit Care

·       Warm winters encouraged growth & fruiting of mangoes and lychee, prune after harvest.

·       Check pineapples: fruits are ready when fragrant and  turn yellow to orange.

·       Feed bananas and figs monthly but lightly; keep moist and mulched.

·       Give grape, apple and peach plantings a summer feeding. Follow label instructions.

·       Many gardens have filled with summer weeds; remove and lightly till the soil for planting.

·       Enrich sandy soils and old garden sites with organic soils, organic matter and manure.

·       Test soil acidity and adjust the pH if needed before planting in ground and in containers.

·       Remove plastic from solarization after treatments and plant immediately.

·       Transplants started in July should be ready for the garden during mid to late August.

·       Plant quick growing warm season vegetables mid-August through early September.

·       Seeds of melons and pumpkins must be planted during early August.

·       Grow vegetables in large containers with a good potting soil if you have limited space.

·       Give tomatoes an extra-large container and keep them moist to prevent blossom-end rot.

·       Groom and feed herbs monthly; shelter container-grown herbs from the daily rains.

·       Mints in containers that stop growing may only need dividing and more fertilizer.

·       Clean containers between crops and add  fresh potting soil.

·       Plant flowers that attract pollinators among vegetables to obtain better fruit set.

·       Where possible, plant nematode-resistant vegetable varieties.

·       Open wide, 8-inch or deeper holes in nematode infested beds and fill with fresh pest-free soil or organic compost.

·       Begin staking or trellising taller growing crops when young.

·       Mulch new plantings to conserve water and promote better plant growth.

·       Feed sweet potatoes monthly and check for ready-to-harvest potatoes after 100 days.

·       Feed citrus with ¼ pound of citrus fertilizer per inch of trunk circumference.

·       Apply a minor nutrient spray and insecticide to citrus at each flush of new growth.

Lawn Care

·       Mow lawns higher to encourage deeper roots during droughts.

·       Sharpen dull mower blades.

·       Lawns may appear yellow green by mid-summer; apply an iron treatment where permitted.

·       Sod webworms have been feeding in lawns; apply a natural control if needed.

·       Set up an inexpensive rain gauge or clean pet food can to keep track of rainfall on your yard.

·       If you’re lucky to have consistent rainfall, turn off irrigation systems during rainy periods; lawns can go several days without water.

·       Allowing your lawn to wilt a little between waterings helps deepen the root system.

·       Raise or replace pop-up sprinkler heads that don’t reach far enough above the sod.

·       Fill bare areas with sod, plugs or seed to take advantage of the good growing weather.

·       Wait until Fall to sod shady areas to prevent decline due to excessive moisture.

·       New lawns are susceptible to fungal problems; apply a fungicide to help reduce decline.

·       Have problem turf samples diagnosed at your local University of Florida Extension Office.

·       Mushrooms are common in lawns after rains; no need to remove them. Smelly mushrooms are often called stinkhorns; they should be considered poisonous.

·       Handpull weeds that are filling bare spots and overgrowing good grass.

·       Consider another ground cover for hard-to-maintain and problem turf areas

Landscape Care

·       Landscape plantings that are growing too high during summer can be pruned by 1/3  to keep in bounds.

·       Avoid trimming sheared plants back to the same height; allow a little new growth to remain.

·       Thin out any shrubs close to house to provide good air circulation.

·       Don’t let vines climb trees and shrubs; train them to arbors and trellises.

·       Pruning time is over for azaleas, camellias and gardenias that are forming flowers buds.

·       Give palms a break; with sterile tools, only remove the dead fronds and old flower heads.

·       Complete pruning of poinsettias, bougainvillea, queen’s wreath, and wisteria by month’s end.

·       Weeds grow out of control during summer; remove to prevent seeding and more weeds.

·       Renew mulch to keep it at 3” – 4” high to control weeds: keep mulch back to expose flare at base of shrubs.

·       Summer rains can cause container plants to decline; check for proper drainage.

·       Replace annuals and perennials with heat-tolerant selections.

·       Do not count on summer rains to water new plantings, most need daily hand watering of one to two gallons for the first month.

·       Slow-release fertilizers will cost less and feed landscape for several months.

·       Many shrubs & flowers need a summer feeding; fertilize where permitted.

·       Palms need fertilized with 8-2-12 +4Mg and application of all micronutrients.

·       Feed crape myrtles where permitted  and remove seed heads to continue summer blooms.

·       Yellowing and leaf drop of crape myrtles is often due to a fungus but usually ignored.

·       Edge walkways and drives to keep the landscape attractive.

·       Stake newly-planted small trees and shrubs that might be affected by wind.

·       Caladiums may start to decline by month’s end which is normal.

·       Trim both declining flowers and foliage from perennial beds.

·       Divide bromeliads, Shasta daises, day lilies and other landscape perennials.

·       Dig gladiolus bulbs to store in dry peat moss or allow them to remain in the ground.

·       Transplant palms and sagos.

·       Start poinsettia cuttings in early August.

·       Pinch the tips of chrysanthemums in early August to grow well-branched compact plants.

·       Feed water lilies and bog plantings in home water gardens monthly.

Foliage & Houseplant care

·       Time to prepare foliage plants for fall; reshape and trim to encourage new growth.

·       Transplant root bound and poorly drained foliage plants.

·       Check for mealy bugs, scales and mites; control with natural soap or oil insecticides.

·       Take cuttings of your favorite plants.

·       Feed all foliage plants with a slow-release fertilizer where permitted.

·       Indoor plants accumulate dust like furniture; rise with water or a mild soapy solution.

·       Move light-starved plants outdoors to a shady location.

·       Enjoy orchids and bromeliads indoors when in bloom, then move then outside to the shade.

·       Divide clump-forming foliage plants like Spathiphyllum and Sansevieria.

Teresa's Design Tip for July - Clover and clover, over and over.

PHOTO: WIRYONO PRASETYA UTOMO / GETTY IMAGES

Landscape design is changing so rapidly, cities, counties, and HOA’s have to be open to new ideas. This last week visiting and leading a group garden tour to Ireland with Art in Bloom tour company, I am glad to see first-hand reinforcement for my growing belief in native and certain non-native annual and perennial weeds, are healthy for the environment, pollinators, and people. The native weeds, or should I just say weeds in Ireland, are beautiful and low-maintenance, and encourage native insects, pollinators, and wildlife to the benefit of our world. I feel this is important to see the beauty of our natural world.

Check out my recent interview  on Martha Stewart on microclovers as a possibility for your yard and  look for my beautiful weeds of Ireland in my August newsletter.

What To Do In Your Backyard in July

Yellow Cloudless Sulphur butterfly, Phoebis sennae, on Ixora coccinea.

 Average temperatures High 92  Low 73 

 Florida Rainfall 7.15 inches

 What to plant:

 Vegetables: Boniato, calabaza, cherry tomato, okra, Southern pea, Seminole  pumpkin, sweet cassava, roselle, sweet potato and yard-long bean; start transplants of eggplant, peppers and tomatoes from seed in mid-July.

Flowers: Angelonia, ageratum, begonia, blue daze, bush daisy, butterfly plant, bulbine, cat's whiskers, coleus, crossandra, false heather, fire spike, gaillardia, ginger, goldenrod, impatiens, Joseph’s coat, lantana, marigold, melampodium, Mexican petunia, Mexican sunflower, moon flower, ornamental sweet potato, pentas, periwinkle, porter weed, portulaca, purslane, salvia, sunflower, torenia and  classic zinnia.

 Herbs: Anise, basil, bay laurel, chive, dill, ginger, lemon balm, Mexican tarragon, mint, oregano, sage, sweet marjoram and thyme.

 Bulb-type plants: Achimenes, African iris, bulbine, caladium, canna, crinum, crocosmia, day lily, eucharis lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lily, peacock ginger, society garlic, spiderwort, rain lily and walking iris.

Lawn Care

• July is a good time to fill in bare or now weedy spots in turf left by drought or pests with plugs or seed. 

• Always get a soil test from UF/IFAS before fertilizing.

• Summer fertilizer applications are prohibited in many areas. Wait till October to fertilize.

• Application of an iron-only product can be substituted to help lawns green up.

• Determine the proper height for your lawn type; grasses are mowed at different heights.

• Mow once or twice a week to keep lawns at their proper height after normal growth.

• New lawns can be established from seed, sod or plugs

• Mow in a different direction at each cutting to prevent ruts

• Avoid mowing when the lawn is hot and dry to prevent damage from mower wheels.

• If temperatures are over 85 degrees, do not use herbicides. Dig up and remove weeds.

• No need to irrigate is yard receives 2” of water a week.

• Water lawns 2x a week if there is inadequate rainfall.

• Trim overgrown shrubs and turf grass hiding sprinklers to ensure proper watering.

• Walk yards once a week to check for turf pests.

• Lawn moths can arrive anytime now; control sod webworms when chewing damage is noted.

• Chinch bugs have been active in St. Augustine lawns; control at first sign of turf decline.

• Check for mealybugs, billbugs and nematodes in zoysia lawns and treat as needed.

• If less than 5 hours of full sun or under trees, do not plant turf.

 Vegetable and Fruit Care

• Very few popular vegetables like the heat and rains; many home gardeners rest their gardens.

• Do control weeds in and near the gardens that flourish with the rains.

• Consider soil solarization during summer as a way to bake pests out of gardens.

• Start tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds for mid-August transplants.

• Make sure all gardens have daylong full sun exposure and a nearby water source.

• Add organic matter to sandy soils and old garden site to have them ready for planting.

• Local compost, manures or commercial garden soils are good sources of organic matter.

• Use only composted manures or till manures into the garden 90 days before planting.

• Test the soil acidity of planting sites and adjust the pH as needed.

• Remove declining crops to help eliminate pests before the next plantings.

• Seldom is it worth continuing lingering tomato, peppers and eggplants into fall.

• Feed summer vegetable plantings monthly or use a slow release fertilizer as instructed.

• Many herbs struggle during hot wet summers; groom, feed lightly and keep a bit dry.

• Locate or order seeds for late summer planting; place them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

• Give fruit trees and shrubs a mid-summer fertilizer application.

• Select fruits you like to grow and add them to the landscape; make sure they stay moist.

• Apply insecticide and minor nutrient spray to citrus trees at each flush of new growth.

• Keep figs moist, feed lightly and maintain a mulch to avoid summer fruit drop.

• Prune blueberries when the harvest is over; also check and adjust the soil acidity.

• Remove declining stems from black blackberries to allow new growths to restart the bushes.

• Give fruit trees light trimmings as needed to direct growth.

In Your Landscape

• Weeds grow as well as desired plants; pull, hoe or chemically control as needed.

• Summer rains can stimulate lots of new growth; perform timely pruning as needed.

• Use of hand pruners to selectively remove stems or stem portions is the best way to trim plants.

• Lower limbs can be removed from trees that interfere with traffic or work.

• Groom roses to remove faded blooms, tall stems and declining portions.

• New trees, shrubs and ground covers can be planted; do keep the root balls moist.

• Pruning time for azaleas and camellias is over; continue to prune gardenias and bougainvillea.

• No need to prune crapemyrtles except for suckers at base or crisscrossing branches.

• Remove 4- to 6-inches of new growth from poinsettias to encourage compact growth.

• Prune hydrangeas to remove old flower clusters and reshape plants when the blossoms fade.

• Hang orchids from trees and feed every other week for best growth and flowering.

• Use easy to maintain container gardens as accents for entrances, porches and patios.

• Feed outdoor container plantings every two weeks or use slow release fertilizer as labeled.

• Daily rains may not completely moisten container gardens; check frequently for water needs.

• Maintain mulch layers at 2 to 3 inches with trees and shrubs.

• Delay transplanting established in ground trees and shrubs until late fall or winter.

• Mushrooms are common during the rainy season; remove them if children or pets are present.  Divide and replant perennials including shasta daises, gerbera, bromeliads and many bulbs.

• Trim seed heads from spring flowering annuals and perennials; save seeds for replanting.

• Root 4- to 6-inch tip cuttings from shrubs and perennials.

• Feed water gardens monthly and remove declining foliage and blooms.

• Feed new and established palms every other month or use a slow release fertilizer as labeled.

• Many palms are declining due to diseases; sterilize pruners between palms to prevent the spread.

• Leave as many green fronds on your palms as possible to keep them vigorous and healthy. 

• Prune hedges when the new growth reaches 6- to 12-inches or allow them to grow naturally.

• Mosquitoes are a concern when working in the landscape; use Mosquito Bits and Dunks B/T in bird baths and bromeliads.

• Empty water from pots, old tires and similar containers to help reduce mosquitos. 

 House and foliage plants

• Consider low light container gardens for long lasting indoor foliage displays.

• Use foliage plants in shady areas of patios, at entrances and along walkways.

• Groom and divide indoor plants to keep them attractive.

• Trim overgrown house plants; use trimmings for cuttings.

• Transplant root bound foliage plants into larger containers.

• Make sure new containers and established plants have adequate drainage.

• Feed home and outdoor foliage plants with a slow release fertilizer as instructed.

• Check for summer pests of mealybugs and scale insects; control with natural sprays.

• No need to put rocks, gravel, at bottom of containers.

• Ask a friend to care for your plants during vacation or move them outside to a shady spot.

Unnecessary and Wasteful Mulch Practices

I see excessive applications of mulch on many properties. Mulch loaded up in volcano mounds or applied when it isn’t necessary. Landscapers should know that the proper mulch height is 3” – 4” around shrubs or trees. It should be laid down in a ring around the base of the shrub or tree and not mounded up against the trunk. A good way to know if you have used mulch correctly is that you will be able to see the flare at the bottom of the shrub or tree. If the tree is completely straight in the mulch, it is wrong. With your hands, pull the mulch away till you can see the flare or even the first roots.

Organic mulch should only be reapplied when the mulch has decomposed down to 1” – 2”.  Add enough to bring it up to 3”.  The time frame for replacement is 1 – 2 years depending on the mulch material. Pine straw decomposes the fastest, and small pine bark lasts the longest.

Landscapers tend to reapply (and charge for) new mulch every spring or change annual beds. No need. Remove annuals by hand and scrape mulch to side. Add new annuals and then reuse the mulch. Check to see if new mulch is needed in landscape beds before asking landscape companies to mulch.