Hi Everstar and welcome to florida. I live in north central Florida but just wanted to welcome you and say that we are all here to give each other support and answer question if we know the answer.
Felix

Hello, star, and welcome to paradise! As an apartment dweller, I have three suggestions for you. One - subscribe to Florida Gardening. You can do this on line if you like. This bi-monthly is strictly for Florida gardeners, wether they garden on an acre or in pots on the patio. Two - get in touch with your local county extension agent and pick his brain. He'll love you for it and probably load you down with every bit of info you could wish for. And three - never hesitate to ask the good people on this forum for help. You will quickly acquire a whole bunch of gardening friends, any one of whom will have an answer to your question or know where to find it. Even though you will be gardening on your patio, things are truely different down here and the suggestions above will save you a lot of frustration. Cora in Jax

Hi Star
I just wanted to say welcome to the sunshine state. Kick off your shoes, grab yourself a bottle of cold water, and sit down and pull some weeds. LOL.

Hi Everstar! I live just north of West Palm Beach so I'm very close to you. Let me know what I can do to help. Welcome to Florida!

Regina

Welcome everstar, you will find alot of transplants in Florida that come from colder weather and had to adjust also. I am one of them :-) I think the weirdest thing for me was realizing things that do well up North in the summertime is usually a winter plant down here...at least with veggies and fruits.

"I think the weirdest thing for me was realizing things that do well up North in the summertime is usually a winter plant down here...at least with veggies and fruits."

I am laughing at myself a bit for wanting to start planting now when all the research I'm doing indicates that things I want to grow won't do well during the summer months. Oh, well, I suppose I have to practice.

Welcome, It is an adjustment. It's like driving in England, think opposite of how it's done in the north and it is a pretty good guide. For me, when I lived in the North, Memorial Day was planting time. Here it is Halloween. You'll adjust. We all welcome you to our little group. We're a bit nuts, but we have a good time.
Nancy

I still haven't learned my lesson.....right now I have broccoli planted but I'm pretty sure it won't do much as it's already getting warm....I also can't stop myself from buying bulbs....HD just had a sale and I got a bunch for 99 cents....of course they have sprouted but again I don't think I will actually get any blooms.

Welcome!
I'm originally from N. Dak and lived in Minnesota as well so I understand a bit about what you are experiencing. You'll find several challenges to adapting to Florida but the good stuff should make up for it.
Kate

___________

Biggest differences:
- summer lasts WAY longer than you think it will. In June you'll say "Wow this is hot but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. At least the evenings are comfortable." Then in July you'll say "Wow this is hot and I didn't know it could still be 87 degrees at 11pm!" In August you'll just stay in the house. By September you'll be so sick of hot weather that you'll be complaining to all your friends in Minnesota. They will not understand. When the first hurricane is threatening your coast, those same friends will all call you to see if you are OK. In October you'll be asking your neighbors if it will EVER get cool again. And then... and then.... the middle of October comes around and suddenly the weather is glorious. Now you remember why people come to Florida. And it stays pretty nice right up until the middle of June next year!
- Gardening is a year-round process in Florida. You never get a break from it, so don't plant too large a garden your first year. Take it a step at a time. It's easy to get carried away in the winter and spring, then end up hating yourself in July when it's too hot to weed and you are tired of trying to keep everything watered.
- Everything grows faster here so don't plant it as close together as you would have in MN. And don't plant trees or palms too close to the house!
- Mosquitoes! Everyone here will tell you that FL mosquitoes are the worst, but they haven't seen the size of MN mosquitoes! These are hungry but tiny compared to what you are used to.

Lettuce?
In West Palm?
You will have to plant it in January, LOL.
If I were you, I'd think tropical, not vegetable

Kate: I'm a little worried about my first summer. I'm not too fond of hot weather and so I'm afraid I'm going to die. Heh. I'll be planting things on my patio in containers so I can shuffle them around as needed.

bihai: Well, you see, I don't know these things yet. I'm doing research, though. What would you suggest for "tropical"? I'd mostly like to have something that has a fair shot of surviving over the summer; I miss fussing over my plants.

yeah, you're going to hate your first summer. Give most of your clothes to Goodwill and buy all new cotton clothes in light colors. Buy a cute straw hat, the darkest sun glasses you can find, and a comfy pair of slip-on sandals. Get a nice summer dress that you would previously have only worn on a cruise. Drink LOTS of water. Give your dog a serious haircut. Learn to walk as slow as the locals do. It's just too hot to walk fast. Don't worry... by next winter you'll be shivering when it drops down to 70 degrees.

In October, when the weather turns delightful again, you'll be able to plant all the veggies you want.

The advice we most often give new residents is:
- don't plant much the first year. Limit it to one small bed and some containers. Your plan to do containers on the patio is a good one.
- drive around your area and see what you like. Take a couple photos. Then look in some garden magazines and cut out pictures of gardens you like. Find a good nursery - a real one, not a big box store - and ask the people there which plants in Florida will give you that look. Or post the pictures here and gardenwebbers will be happy to share their thoughts too.
- remember that containers will almost certainly need daily watering in the heat of summer. (I think it helps if you use those little crystal water-gel things; not everyone likes to use them though. If you use too many in a pot they can swell so much they'll force the plants out of the pot so try not to use too much!) If you can position the containers where they get some shade, especially in the afternoon, and where they can benefits from afternoon rains they'll be much easier to take care of. They'll also be hungry all the time so plan to use some kind of fertilizer. I like the slow release pellets because I only have to remember to do that every 2-3 months.
- heavy mulching - even in containers - will help them retain moisture.
- unglazed clay pots look lovely but water evaporates from them quickly. Think about using glazed pots (much more expensive) or even plastic ones.

Has anyone told you not to walk barefoot on the lawn??? Fire ants are awful. You'll probably have at least one bad experience with them but put it off as long as you can!

I would not count on doing too much gardening in the middle of summer.....I can't even go outside until the sun goes down... to get my gardening fix in june, july and august I go out when the sun goes down :-)

Hi Everstar. I live in Palm Beach County & there are a lot of places to visit to get plants and/or supplies. My husband & I really like Abel's in Lake Worth. Family-owned and lots of FL native plants. I used to live in N.Dak (Air Force brat) and I don't miss it at all. Listen to everyone about the heat. Drink lots of water, wear cool light loose cotton clothes, big hats and sunglasses. The humidity here will get ya too-- just sucks the energy right out of you.

Beverly

STar - The one piece of advice I wish someone had given me 4 years ago is: Do not assume that what grows up north will do well here. Search the web for plants that grow well here, there is an extensive list (think google) and select from that. Do not assume that because the garden centers sell them, they will grow - their job is to sell - the quicker the plants die, the more they sell. That applies to roses, as well as certain other plants.

Hi Everstar,
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is Love Bugs. You got here after the fall visitation so you'll get your first taste in the April/May spring visit. If you haven't experienced them on a previous visit, they will FREAK YOU OUT! Have had people visit me who wouldn't get out of their car! They only last about 3 weeks, don't bite, but will make a MESS of your car. I keep a bucket of soapy water and nylon scrubber at the carport to clean them off every day.
You can google love bugs for more info.
Welcome,
ron

It sounds like I have so much to look forward to! LOL! I just got a new pair of prescription sunglasses and I have an enormous straw hat I bought in New Orleans during a spring break trip several years ago. Now I just need some sundresses.

Thanks, everybody :)