The Glory Days of Florida Gardening

September in Florida might be likened to late winter in the North.  There is a day in February or March when the temperature, for the first time in months, gets high enough to venture outside without donning stifling layers of clothing. There is also a new fresh smell in the air that, to the avid gardener, is a wakeup call to begin a new season.

Here we have that same calling, although it is a bit more subtle, and it occurs at a different time of year.  There is a day in late September or October when the temperature and humidity drop to a level where you can actually make it from the house to the car without breaking a sweat. Though we don’t totally disregard our gardens in the summer, it is almost as rare to see an active gardener in July as it would be to see one in January in Maine.

Read the entire article in the September 2000 issue