Don't plant too early because the weather is so nice. Get your soil tested now so you can get your gardens fertilized correctly. You will save money and have a great garden if you know what you need to add to your soil. Be sure to follow the publication from the ag center on how to gather your soil for a test. Don't just do it willy-nilly. That won't be accurate.

Plant pisum sativum cultivars now in 9a (inoculate, it's worth it!). Sow brassica and mustard family seeds. If you don't have hairy indigo for a cover crop, send me an email, I have ten acres of plants in seed.

Well, though technically correct in some things, I am successfully growing oranges, pears, and other things that aren't supposed to grow outside in NW Florida. Also my son has a thriving Apple tree in his yard, also in NW Florida. The soil here is definitely sandy so raised beds to contain your organic matter is probably best. But, the question was what tips for growing in greenhouses in this area. One thing I've been told us be careful of the nitrogen oh feed your plants. This will drain into the soil below and encurage strong roots of previously removed vegetation. I would grow your warm weather veggies that won't grow during the winter months.

Greenhouses are a very welcome luxury in this area because we can put our tender perennials or tropical fruit trees inside for protection. I am just getting started with my new greenhouse and plan to grow mushrooms, summer veggies, and herbs inside during the cold months. When the weather begins to turn spring-like I'll start my seeds in there and get a good head start on growing my summer garden. There are many avid gardeners here who grow tomatoes, peppers, etc... during the winter months.

Hopefully this will offer encouragement to others who want to venture worth into new territory.

Debbie...(0;

<><

How did you get to be in 10a in North Florida? I just moved up here about a year ago, and I will say that the best thing I did was find a group of local gardeners (you can find them on social media or by joining a garden club) and I learned most of what I know from them. I also helped a few of them with tropicals they were trying to grow, since I came here from SW Florida (10a). We can give you general advice, but finding local gardeners or at least a local garden center is your best bet.

I've seen people growing all sorts of citrus here in Gainesville, and I thought they wouldn't grow here either. Maybe not in the panhandle, but here in 9a N. Central, they do fine.

I live in Gadsden County (panhandle) and have two enormous meyer lemon trees and 3 pink grapefruit trees that are so loaded with fruit that one of the grapefruit trees has split in half! I also have satsuma's which are now producing fruit. I have some pine tree coverage which may keep them from the worst frost but even this year with 20degrees, they are doing great.

It depends on the citrus, satsuma oranges are supposed to be the most hardy and can be grown into parts of zone 8 but might need some sheltering. cumquats can be decently hardy too. Meyer lemons are up there but maybe not quite as hardy as those two.

I think you've got your hardiness zone wrong. There's no 10a zone in North Florida.

live in Pensacola and desperately want to achieve a tropical garden. I am presently working on a pond. the surface soil of the garden is pretty good, so in order to get rid of all the sand from the pond area, I dig out the "good" soil from some other areas and put first old leaves, then sand and then the "good" soil. thereby, I hope to effectively get rid of the sand, create a more "hilly" look in the back of the yard. this will make the back look a bit more interesting.

Where I plant, I use a mixture of existing "good" soil, manure, peat moss and perlite; this has been a successful soil mixture for anything and everything I plant.

Now I get to the plants, and here is where I need advice. I love palms and broadleaved plants, and red/pink flowers. Ferns, Brugmansia, all those tall red flowers. Elephant ears. Hosta. And after that, I don't know. Have some "diffenbachia" type plants that I want to use.

What else would you suggest? What kind of palms? I am at a loss. My most tropical plants like papaya, guava and frangipani, I keep in pots. Plan on building a mini greenhouse with a heater (when needed) for them for the winter.

Am I doing right? What other things can I do?

And... those pesky oak seedlings and root offshoots... I am planning on eradicating them (and some unwanted nandina) with brush killer.

I do have a watering system that I am planning to extend, three times a week.

is there a benefit to digging up yucky bog soil for ferns etc? plenty of wilderness around here, and am NOT going to hurt mother nature.

@

keraurduck

For Northwest FL (zone 8ish)

For tropical gardens I recommend making evergreen hedges (or a wall) on the north side, just to increase the protection from winter winds.

I also recommend letting things get full and lush as that really enhances the tropical jungle sort of feel.

All of the following are definitely hardy in your zone and I have personal experience with almost all of them

Understory tree/large narrow shrubs:
- Red Buckeye (one of my favorite natives, leaves are large and give it a tropical look+ has red flowers)
- Florida Flame azalea
- many bananas and relatives are hardy for zone 8
- Coral Bean Erythrina herbacea there is the native one listed or the hybrid Bidwell's Coral Bean which has a longer bloom season. bright red and unique flowers (these love sandy soil)

Palms:
- Cabbage palm of course
- Sabal minor/Dwarf Palmetto (could function as a hedge/shrub "backbone" of a bed)
- Needle palm
- Butia/Pindo palm (edible golden fruit hardiest feather-type palm but silvery foliage might not match the theme)
- Mule palm (hybrid of Pindo and Queen) MIGHT be hardy but I'm not sure, it is definitely the hardiest green feather palm there is

Shrubs:

- Winter Cassia can get tree-like but most likely a shrub for you
- Hibiscus coccineus native Red swamp hibiscus
- dwarf figs, various for foliage interest. 'Brown Turkey' and 'Celeste' both do well here for me
- Red Florida Anise very cool plant, evergreen (not the edible star anise)
- Small-flower Anise 'Florida Sunshine' another native star anise, this one has more chartreuse foliage that brightens up a shade garden (not the edible star anise)

Perennials:

- Coontie cycad (absolute must IMO, prefer native sandy soil I think, adaptable to a lot of different light conditions)
- Red cardinal flower (needs a lot of moisture so good in a swampier spot)
- Spigelia marilandica (another native shade-lover, very unique red flowers)
- Salvia elegans, Pineapple sage. (edible red flowers in fall, lush and tall, benefits from some relief from sun during the day so dont put it in full exposure)
- Salvia blepharophylla shorter red-colored shady sage
- Salvia miniata another red-colored shorter shady sage
- Cannas of course
- Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Cuphea 'David Verity', Cuphea micropetala
- for ferns stick to native species as most others in cultivation are for northern zones or are invasive (like the tuberous sword fern). Christmas fern is evergreen
-Hedychium coccineum (shade)

Vines:
- Manettia cordifolia, Firecracker vine

- Red trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens a native evergreen vine. 'Magnifica' (orange) and 'Major Wheeler' are popular selections'. not aggressive
- Carolina Jessamine, evergreen with very lush-looking foliage but a bit bigger than the other vines

Two other plants I am unsure about for your zone but love are Firebush and Red Firespike, they might work if sheltered from north winds as I hear some people growing them in zone 8b.

Lastly be careful about Elephant ears, many are very invasive. There is the clumping Hawaii series that is less invasive if you must have one. I really like 'Blue Hawaii'.

Keraurduck, have you tried the Tropicalesque Gardens forum? It's for creating tropical gardens outside the tropics. I would also try the Gulf Coast Gardening forum, just from a quick glance I see several members in your area there.

Also, since you live in Pensacola, have you shopped at Pensacola Seed & Garden on Mobile Highway? That guy has been around for a long time and is a wealth of knowledge for this area. Hopefully this helps somewhat.