Thanks Llinda for the info. I'll try to go to your plant sale.

Also Hazeltine Nurseries in Venice, (Tamiami Trail or I-75 to River Road) http://www.hazeltinenurseries.com

If you're interested in tropical fruit trees, there are a couple of great nurseries out on Pine Island, Tree House and Fruitscapes. I've bought a BUNCH of trees from Tree House over the years. Their selection is fantastic. Fruitscapes is a newer business that opened since I last visited the island. I'll check it out next time.
Closer to you there's a nursery, where I've bought quite a few fruit trees at reasonable prices. It's located WAY off the beaten path. It's located on a cul-de-sac called Panther Court off of Hillsborough. It's called something like D&M Nursery. The guy's name is Don, and wouldn't you know it, I've misplaced his business card AGAIN! Grrrr.....

Hi, I'm a new homeowner in the area (Deep Creek to be specific). I'm having the house landscaped and would like to have some fruit trees put in as well. Could anyone tell me what fruit trees grow the best in the area? Second, what variety of oranges, for eating, grow the best. Thanks!!

I can not give suggestions, but I can let you know that currently getting any kind of citrus is a gamble due to the Citrus Greening disease. There is a fair chance that if you get an orange it could contract the disease between planting and your first crop, which would then taste bitter rather than sweet. That said, I got a mandarin, lemon and lime tree four years ago, since then the mandarin and lemon contracted the disease (and were destroyed), but my lime is still healthy. Before spending your money on citrus, check your area for other citrus plants. If the leaves look green and healthy, you might be safe. If many look like they are yellowing, probably better to avoid citrus until a cure is found.

Would you believe I am moving to the Port Charlotte/ Punta Gorda area. AND, I am looking at Deep Creek as well. Amazing how gardeners find each other,

if your loking for palms Cortez on 41 just south of mcdonalds in charlotte harbor (port charlotte) has great prices. its not fancy by any means. theres a place in Englewood on 776 on the leaft headed SOUTH ALSO that good actualy there 2 places I forget the names after having moved to east county 5 year ago

Thanks Michael, my landscaper has six palms in the plan. I'm good for palms for the time being. I'm primarily concerned about fruit trees. I'm a little bummed about the comment above about the citrus greening disease. I'm going to have to do some research about that and decide about the fruit trees.

I live in Deep Creek about 30 years now, Navel oranges are the best eating and grow well, however we don't plant fruit trees anymore, we had all kinds yrs. ago when we lived in PGI but they are a lot of work, we did not need in our retirement. We did all our own landscaping, but did have a big bed put in by a nursery out back, around our big oak tree and orchid trees and yrs. ago Powells put in our 2 Orchid trees, we've known them for 36 yrs. now, nice folks. We have a garden club here, and they actually presented us with their 1st. ever Christmas lighting prize, which was a nice surprise to us, as we did not know about the new contest. This is our 2nd. home we built in Deep Creek and have always done our own landscaping, never went with builders grade. But just FYI Deep Creek is considered Punta Gorda, it's all about zip codes.

Yes, I know, it's all about zip codes! I'm retired as well and have problems walking, that's why I went with a pro landscaper. It's certainly isn't cheap but I'm looking forward to the job. It starts right after Christmas. I'm using Craig's Landscaping. I'm a little bit spooked right now since I read the comment above about the Citris Greening disease. I'll have to look into it and see how to prevent it. Right now I'm busy trying to get the house in shape. Exterior painting is next on the list. The folks that owned the house previously did zero maintenance while they were in it. Thanks for the tip on navel oranges, I'll keep that in mind when I start looking!!!

I'll have to look into it and see how to prevent it.

If you can figure that out, you'll probably win a Nobel prize. :)

I did not mean to scare you off of citrus, but you should be aware of the risk. It would be a shame to buy 6 trees and have them all succumb to the disease in a year or three. And while citrus might be an iffy fruit at the moment, there are many other fruits we can grow in Florida, especially down where you are. Look into tropical fruits as an alternative.

Good idea, I will.

The best palm trees to grow here are Foxtail palms self cleaning, cold tolerant, beautiful and grow to about 30' Queen palms or Coccus Plumoses (the old name) get foot rot disease, are hard to keep pruned, the huge pods can be dangerous when they fall, and do not tolerate cold well, we got rid of all of ours. Chinese fan palms are lovely in landscape as well as Pigmy date palms.

Yes, in our design are foxtails, Pigmy date and others. I'll have to take a look at the Chinese fan palms. Thanks!!

Royal palms are actually my favorite palms, but, I've been told we are not quite far enough south. They are very susceptible to cold and occasionally it freezes in our area. I was very disappointed to hear this.

You may want to get a second opinion on that. I know sometimes 30 minutes driving can make a difference in what we can plant, especially in this place, but you look to be fairly close to Cape Coral/Ft Myers and there are LOTS of Royal Palms there.

I'm north of there and was told anything above the bridge into Punta Gorda was an issue. So less than 30 minutes in my case makes a difference. There are some that have survived but lots of failures.

im sure the warm canal water keeps mine and the neighbors safe

Dir, can you grow Bismarkia up there? Very impressive specimens can be seen dotting some Fort Myers-area skylines. Maybe not a real fast grower, but you get a lot of plant-I really like the contrast offered by these things, with their silvery-blue hue against the bright green of everything else. I also appreciate seeing the glaucous saw palmetto-Serenoa repens blue form- used in landscaping across the peninsula's southern reaches. Maybe that plant could be incorporated into a screen or larger planting bed. Another native plant that is also a great landscape plant is the coontie-Zamie floridana-also a critical plant for a certain type of rare butterfly. That native plant is related to yet another great plant in the Zamia genus, the "cardboard fern"-Zamia maritima, which gets larger and is truly an impressive and highly useful landscape plant.

+oM

Tom, I learned a couple years ago that while the Coontie can be grown across much of the state, the Atala Butterfly only occurs around the Miami area.

Yes, I've seen some nice Bismarkia's in the area. They are pretty impressive.

the Atala Butterfly only occurs around the Miami area.

Not now:

From:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg347

So it does appear in some areas on the west coast. If coontie extends its range again, the atala may also.

Very cool to hear. I had asked one of the researchers at UF while visiting the Butterfly Rainforest hoping my Coonties would one day be visited and she told me about the Miami area being the range.

I live on the coast near Port St Lucie. When I first moved here back in 1998 I never saw any anywhere, but lately they've become relatively common, so I think that as more people are using coontie for landscaping, they're moving back up the state.

I'm new to the area. I've had some landscaping done around the house and brought in Fox Tails, dwarf Christmas palms, Date palms, a Bismarki and a few others. Can I use a general palm fertilizer I.e., Miracle Grow, Jobes spikes, etc? And, has anyone had any experiCe, success with them??

You need a special palm fertilizer that contains both manganese and magnesium, neither of which is found in our soils and are critical for palm health. All the big box stores sell palm fertizer, and it isn't too expensive.

Yes, and I know the Miracle Grow at least, for palms does have both., I just wasn't sure how they performed vs the other brands.

Just as a follow up to my comment about Craig's a Perfect Turf Landscaping, the job turned out just fantastic!! They were as professional as could be. The job took about 8 days and they were there everyday at 8Pm and worked until 5 every day. They put in gorgeous palms and plants that were guaranteed. In fact, they did end up replacing one Foxtail and 5 Crotans out of a total of 6 palms and 60 plants. The entire job including curbing turned out fantastic. I would highly recommend them!

Also to the person that recommended Bismarks, I agree, they are one of my favorite palms and a had a pretty good size Bismark put in the back yard. I can't wait to watch it get larger in the coming years!

If they haven't already been mentioned, please check out Oak Farms Nursery on rte 776 in Englewood and also MRT Nursery further north on rte 776, right around the Venice/Englewood border.

Awesome info here! Thank you everyone.

I just moved to Port Charlotte, and need to check out the MG program. Time to take it in Florida.... I already did in Oklahoma.

Moni

Hi all! I'm a little confused with the tomato growing season down here. In Buffalo, tomatoes, peppers and other veggies go in this weekend Memorial Day weekend). And August-Sept is harvest. When my Dad lived in Titusville in NE Florida, I seem to remember two growing seasons but my memory on that is a little hazy. I want to put in some tomatoes and peppers. I have a couple raised beds courtesy of the previous owners. When do the tomatoes go in here in Port Charlotte?? Thanks all!!

Still looking for help on the tomato growing season in and around Port Charlotte!! Thanks !!

I am in zone 9b and my tomatoes are ready for the season

Silvia

Are you familiar with the U of F's vegetable gardening guide? It has planting info for all areas in FL;

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021