I saw that and wondered if it was one of you. A great help as was the article on lightning too.

I just want to know if there is a reason not to plant all the perrenials now. Should I wait until March so they don't have to deal with the cold their first year. How cold will it get in December for the watering?

Cold Hardy Perenials
 

Cold hardy perennials can go in now, but according to Month-by-Month by Tom MacCubbin there are some cold sensitive perennials which would do better by waiting to plant until March or April, these can be kept in pots and just bring them in to the garage when we are going to have a freeze, then plant them out early in the new year after all chance of a freeze is over and that gives them a year to get used to being in the ground. They may always die back in the winter, but their roots will be strong enough to come back when the ground warms. I bought two beautiful hibiscus last fall at Lowes for $10 a piece and kept them in pots until the early spring, now they are huge - 6ft tall. They will die back, but their root system is good so they will come back.

December is just beautiful here and you will have no problem watering all year. We do not get frost into the ground, only the surface will freeze, so watering is never ever a problem. In fact when we have had a heavy frost usually in the middle of January into early February I run the irrigation on the plants - you'll see that the citrus and strawberry growers run their irrigation all night during a freeze.

If you are concerned about gardening here just use your computer to search for information on your plant. There are loads of great informational sites.

Guess I am wondering because I have had several opinions from landscapers. I don't want to have to cover anything. I was advised to wait perhaps until March but if I can get everything in now...as long as I don't have to cover them...I would prefer to get the bones in so I can have fun in the spring with "color".

It is almost always better to plant anything in the fall so the root system has an opportunity to establish before the summer heat.

So if I plant by November 15, am I still in "the fall"?

Yep.

If I do the basic bones of the landscaping, will I have to cover anything if it frosts? I am weighing if there is any advantage to planting now versus March i.e. getting them established earlier before their growing season, letting them rest over the winter, or do I have more work to do if I plant now (covering them), losing them, etc.

Annuals. How long for them? Petunias?
 

My impatiens which I planted very early in the year were blooming beautifully for several months and I watered them faithfully...because I do know impatiens. They liked the shady spot where I planted them....and then with the same care, temperature and treatment, they upped and died.

So...I guess they do have a beginning and end, the annuals here.

How abut petunias? My begonias are still hanging in there.

Dear shcisamax.....There are so many types of landscape plants, shrubs and trees we can't offer much advice without knowing what exactly you are wanting to plant.

You need to find out if your particular plant choices are cold hardy, marginal or tropical varieties. Start with finding out what their botanical or common names are, and perhaps we can offer advice from there.

As was posted, many cold hardy perennials can be safely planted now.
Have you more info to share?

Will Hostas grow in the shade in Florida?

Hostas
 

I have never been able to grow them. Many of the plants from the northern states will "grow" here, but they do not flourish or last like they do up north. I actually have grown a Florida daffodil, believe me it is not worth the trouble, it will flower for maybe two years, after that it sends up plenty of leaves, but less and less bloom. I used to love hollyhocks and had collected seeds from all over Europe which had grown and reseeded all over my northern garden, here they were a disaster. I had the biggest green leaves and no flowers, it was like a monster growing in the garden. It's the same with Foxgloves, another plant which flourished and reseeded itself every year, I bought a couple of plants, they looked wonderful in the garden and then just sort of wilted away and disappeared.

It's rather like us trying to grow semi- or tropical plants in a northern climate, you may keep them alive by bringing them in and out, but they do not flourish as they would here.

It's really a matter of trial and error. I have been here six years and I am still in the "trial" stage. I get pleasure from gardening, but it is just not the same --------- on the other hand it's great not to have an early frost and lose everything in early September like I did in NH!

Gracie, this may help. (hope the link works) If you can connect, keep scrolling down until you see a table showing all the annuals, when to plant and when to remove. It's a neat table from U of Fla Extension, broken down into Florida regions.

CIR1134/MG319: Gardening with Annuals in Florida

I will be putting in loropetalum, viburnum, plumbago, roses, bottle brush, standard loropetalum, seinisis (sp?) and weeping bottlebrush, foxglove, camelias, cypress pine ? I am pretty sure the regular bottlebrush will make it but I was advised to wait til spring for planting the weeping variety. Any comments?

Only plant I would be worried about is the bottlebrush - the rest you should be good to go.

Gracie - impatiens will probably reseed here so you may be suprised come spring. Petunias and begonias should be winter hardy - if we continue to have nice weather I would cut them back and see if they hang in there for the winter.

Anyone cover or bring in their sensitive plants last night?

Not cold enough
 

Not cold enough to cover plants yet, I still have orchids hanging from branches of my myrtle and they are cold, but fine. Anything below 32 degrees is when you might need to be concerned.

Saw frost on the rooftops - might be a little chancy.

We're picking green beans from our garden... delicious. Lettuce is looking good. Peas are coming along, as are carrots.