Milton Gardens of Northwest Florida

Milton Gardens of Northwest Florida Shows the Public what will grow in Northwest Florida. After several more meetings, the plans were drawn and a Garden Committee Chairman was selected. After Prof.

Milton Gardens’ History

The Milton Gardens are located within a 3-acre area of the PSC Milton campus that was cleared in 1995 for the construction of greenhouse, shade house and nursery production facilities for the University of Florida teaching program. The hours open are from Dawn to Dusk

In the Summer of 1997, four Master Gardeners, (Mary Ann Frazier, Richard Cook, Dorothy Wallace and Sonya

Robinson), Extension Agent Dan Mullins and UF Professor, Rick Schoellhorn got together informally to dream about turning a large, unused piece of land behind the PSC Milton campus into a Public Flower Garden. The on campus garden was conceived to generate information on plants best suited to NW Florida, to introduce consumers and industry to new crops and evaluate their performance in our harsh temperatures and to provide an onsite classroom for the Horticulture students. For one year, under the guidance of Jeanne Blage, 33 Master Gardeners cleared, amended, planted. mulched, and maintained the original 12,000 square feet gardens. In that first year, Master Gardeners donated over 600 hours of work!!! Schoellhorn left, Prof. Jamie Gibson took over. Now the Gardens are under the direction of Prof. Mack Thetford, who was one of the original designers of the “woody plants” sections! The first Open House was on July 16, 1998. Jeanne Blage then turned over the Chairmanship to Sonya Robinson. Ann Jeffcoat is our present chairman of volunteers. The facility has since become a destination within Northwest Florida and a very popular location for many garden clubs, horticulture study groups, homeowners, visiting scientists and school classes to visit, study or photograph. Master Gardeners and other volunteers physically maintain the Gardens. Each Monday morning they meet at 8 am under the direction of Dr Mack Thetford, to weed, prune, plant, etc. Many hands make the workload light. MUCH help is needed to maintain the Gardens. Working in the Gardens is also educational

08/30/2022

MAGIC!!!

Good article!!
07/14/2022

Good article!!

The Issue Tropical milkw**d (Asclepias curassavica) has been in the news recently. It can be a host plant for Ophryocystis elektroscirra (OE), a parasite of monarch butterflies (Danus plexippus). Boiled down, milkw**d is a host plant for monarchs which carry the OE parasite. The butterfly deposits O...

I HATE this w**d!!
07/12/2022

I HATE this w**d!!

Typically, this time of year many homeowners are tackling a variety of w**ds in their landscapes. One of those w**ds may very well be the invasive and aggressive w**d known as Dovew**d (Murdannia nudifflora). Dovew**d emerges when average temperatures reach 65-70 degrees daily and germination contin...

Mexican Petunia – sterile or non sterileDid you know…. Mexican Petunia (Ruellia simplex C. Wright) comes in a wild non-s...
07/12/2022

Mexican Petunia – sterile or non sterile
Did you know…. Mexican Petunia (Ruellia simplex C. Wright) comes in a wild non-sterile variety? Very invasive and a BAD plant to use in you landscapes because it invades areas with seed and/or rhizomes making it very difficult to rid your landscape of this plant.
There is also a sterile, non-invasive Mexican Petunia that has been developed at UF. To me the plant is a better choice because it gets taller, larger flowers per plant, and the plant itself is bushier. The names of the sterile Mexican Petunia plants are ‘Mayan Purple, ‘Mayan White’ and ‘Mayan Pink’. They should be able to be found in your local nursery/store.
After you get the Non-sterile Mexican Petunias out of your landscape either by digging the plants and the rhizomes out and/or you can use an herbicide. You may have to apply the herbicide more than once to be sure the wild ones are gone. Collect all the remains of the plants, including the roots and rhizomes and destroy either by burning or into trash bags to be sure they do not get into our natural areas.
The UF publications will give you more information.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep468
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep498

University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU), administers....

SO sad to read this!!
06/28/2022

SO sad to read this!!

Tropical milkw**d, Asclepias curassavica, has been spreading invasively throughout Central and South Florida for many years, disrupting native ecosystems and harboring excessive amounts of the OE parasite that is burdening Monarch butterfly populations. Recent studies have also shown that its presence in North Florida and further north interferes with successful monarch migration - trapping this tropical species in areas susceptible to freezes.

With the mounting evidence of the detrimental effects of tropical milkw**d, many organizations involved in monarch conservation, such as the Xerces Society and Monarch Joint Venture, have begun recommending against planting non-native milkw**d - even going so far as to recommend NO milkw**d if native species are not available.

Though supplies are limited of native species, we would recommend that it is better to be without milkw**d than to buy or sell tropical milkw**d. Likewise, if you have it in your yard or notice it in natural areas - please consider removing it. While it may feed our monarchs in the short term, it is harmful to the species as a whole in the long term.

Read about the problems with Topical milkw**d, native milkw**d species that could be planted instead, and where to find them in our new blog post by FNPS Director of North Florida Programs, Lilly Anderson-Messec

PLEASE READ THE BLOG ARTICLE;
http://fnpsblog.blogspot.com/2021/06/tropical-milkw**d-is-harmful-to.html?m=1

04/28/2022

Chayote is a heat-loving, tropical vegetable, perfect for Florida’s steamy summers! It is closely related to melons and squashes, but the growth habit is very different. These vines love to climb! Look up and see the light green, pear-shaped fruit. Chayote vines climb and require support. Learn more about the characteristics and care of this climbing vegetable on Gardening Solutions: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/vegetables/chayote.html

Photo credit: Tia Silvasy

04/25/2022

It’s time to plant your May crops! Florida gardeners can plant boniato, gingers, tropical spinaches, sweet potatoes, chayote, and more. You can find a text-only version, and all the info you need to get these plants started, on Gardening Solutions: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/plant-of-the-month/what-to-plant/what-to-plant-in-may.html

This is the newest edition of our Edibles to Plant infographics. The 3rd edition is more accessible to persons with disabilities and corrects minor errors in the 2021 edition that readers were kind enough to bring to our attention. If you have an older version of this infographic saved, we suggest replacing it with this updated and more accessible version.

Address

Pensacola State College 5988 US Highway 90
Milton, FL
32583

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Milton Gardens of Northwest Florida posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category