Online Seed Sources

Florida gardening sometimes makes purchasing seeds a bit of a plan-ahead activity.  The widest selection seeds are available in the spring from online resellers.  I order a year's worth of seeds and varieties at this time of year...Here are some sources:

Burpee - available online; they have a wide variety of flowers, vegetables and plants - including organic, hybrid and heirloom seeds.  With an easy-to-use web interface, this is an especially great site if you're just beginning.  Additionally, Burpee brand seeds are also sold at The Home Depot in their garden section, however, online has a much wider selection.  

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - all heirloom; extensive collection of many popular vegetables.  Some products have photos, some do not.  Heirloom is fun because there are great varieties that you just can't find at the grocery store.  Case in point:  Chinese Red Meat Radishes and Cosmic Purple Carrots.  

White Flower Farm - they don't actually sell seeds, but they sell sets of plants, potato mini tubers and starters for onion and garlic.  They also have fantastic bulb collections - their tulips are especially great.  Pricey, but everything is top notch quality.  Also note that there is not a ton of selection for zone 9.

Gardener's Supply Company - main competency is in gardening supplies, however they have some plant sources that are worth noting.  Namely, asparagus sets (I will try asparagus at some point - it's a two year commitment), and blackberry canes.  They also offer seed tape for lettuce and carrots - which does make planting a bit easier.

Other sources...your local nursery, generally they carry various seed selections and can recommend when to plant.  I bought Ferry Morse seeds for my cherry tomatoes from my nursery this year.  Will let you know how those work out - they don't sell online.  

Parrot Tulip Love

Quick Update on the Tulips....

I'm definitely doing this again next year!  How to make Tulips grow in FL?  See this post...

For less work bulbs:  Southern Bulb Company  (and yes, spring bulb planting does exist so check it out)

Lettuce Toss It

Do you find yourself having to toss lettuce because it's limp, dead or rotting in it's own juices in the fridge? It's a problem I encounter more often than I'd like, but not right now! Why?...because in 9b, it's lettuce growing time!  Here's what's happening in the backyard right now:

It's even prettier than the Fresh Market!  This time of year, say goodbye to your overpriced store bought brand and hello to lettuce straight from the garden!  It's cool season here in 9b and leaf lettuce is extraordinarily easy to grow and just as easy to harvest.  You don't need a whole lot to get going:

1. Seeds
2. Soil
3. Sunshine
4. Water

It sounds like a kindergarten class, but that's because it really is this easy!  The best part about having your own endless supply of lettuce in the backyard is that it's always fresh, you pick-as-needed and you never end up having it go limp in your refrigerator!

To get started, determine where you want your lettuce bed.  You can grow this in a pot.  If you're going that route, I'd recommend a plastic trough to aid in water retention.  A longer width would be good so it can be fully sown.

At our house, we have a 4x4 raised bed plot; you can kind of see the boundaries here.  It's from a kit purchased online about 3 years ago.  Knowing what I know now, I'd recommend simply making one from pre-cut pieces of lumber from your local Home Depot.  You just need it to be a box shape - don't need to over think it.  For inspiring raised beds, you can also check out these pictures here and here.

If you go down this route, you can fill these raised beds with a combo of soil; I've got Black Kow, Potting Soil and Top Soil mixed in mine.

The planting of lettuce is really easy and basic.  If you're in a raised bed, make a shallow row by making an indentation (use your hand, use a stick, whatever) carefully sow seeds along row, cover and water gently.    For a pot or trough, sprinkle seeds evenly around container, cover with dirt and water.

It doesn't take long to grow, and with leaf lettuce you have a constant supply.  I'd recommend against a head lettuce, at least down here.  Leaf lettuce is easier and you can pick it off and it will grow back.

If you're planting now in 9b, I'd also recommend that you go with a heat-tolerant variety.  Burpee has a great heatwave blend.

Best of all, home grown lettuce is the perfect thing to throw in your forgotten salad spinner!

The Tulips are Blooming!

Not such a novel thing for those in zone 8 and above; but down here in zone 9b, it’s quite a feat! So, how did a central Floridian come up with these beauties?

By forcing them. Tulips need winter to come up in the spring.  My 150 total count of tulips wintered for 5 weeks in the crisper drawer.

Giving up valuable fridge space was a debate, with the holiday season approaching (they entered the drawer mid November) I wasn't sure I could afford the space.   I also didn't want the hubby to mistake them for onions or garlic, but he's not much of a drawer digger or cook so no tulip soup ever transpired.  Luckily,  one less crisper drawer through the holiday season didn’t end up being an issue, and I’d say the result was worth the wait!

How to force Tulips:


~  Make sure you order in the fall (bulbs aren’t available year round and you need to winter them 
     pretty soon after they arrive)


~  Choose a reputable online dealer; you’re not going to find tulip bulbs anywhere in retail stores in 
    FL; I ordered mine from White Flower Farms.


~  Make sure you have dedicated space for wintering them; they can’t get wet while sitting in their 
    drawer. 


~  Chill time:   I wouldn’t cut it shorter than 5 weeks of “winter” – I have another batch that were 
    planted with 8 weeks of "winter".  More than 10 weeks may be a little too much "winter", plus you 
    need them in the dirt outside before we get into consistent weather that tulips consider hot (80+ 
    degrees).

Two options for planting: Direct in Ground or Potted

Direct in ground: make sure you dig deeply. These bulbs need around 6” of soil/mulch mix on top of them. Expect them to take about 3-4 weeks to begin to surface. They can be planted pretty close together as close as 4-5 inches apart, but not two in same hole, if digging individually. Once you place bulb in hole, pack the dirt down. I dug 50 of my small holes, set in the bulbs, covered them, and then walked up and down on top of where I planted them to really tamp the dirt down.

Potted: you need to have at least 3” of soil underneath the bulb for root formation. You can plant very closely together (within a quarter inch of each bulb) but no closer. Cover bulbs completely; 2" of soil on top of bulb is sufficient.  Potted tulips will begin to surface more quickly than in ground, about 2.5 weeks or so. If your pots are inside, be sure not to over water them as you don’t want the bulbs to rot. The soil should be damp, but not muddy or dripping. A good watering method for indoors is to add a few ice cubes to the dirt every other day or so, letting them melt into the soil.