coleus, crossandra, kalanchoe,
nicotiana, portulaca, and
zinnia.
MARION COUNTY GOVERNMNT
Table of Contents:
Caliente Colors: Cool Plants for
Hot Weather
Timely Gardening Tips
“What’s Bugging You?”
The Florida FriendlyLandscape™ Challenge
Managing Chinch Bugs on
St. Augustine Lawns
June Calendar
Published by Norma Samuel
University of Florida IFAS
Marion County Horticulture Agent
Timely Gardening Tips
for MARION COUNTY
by Master Gardener, Jo Leyte-Vidal
Have you been to the garden
centers lately? Color is
everywhere with flats of
annuals. Before you load
your cart with your favorites
check the following:
Does the plant have a label
with a name and care
instructions?
Did you choose a plant
with more blooms than
buds?
Does the plant have more
than one stem?
Did you check that the
plants are not root bound
and are white and firm?
After you put these lovelies
in the ground be sure to
water, mulch, and dead head
regularly. Some annuals
easily planted now are
celosia, coleus, crossandra,
Monthly Newsletter
June 2011
Caliente Colors: Cool Plants for Hot Weather
by Anne Lambrecht, UF/IFAS Marion County Master Gardener
Pretty soon it’s going to be too hot to garden comfortably except in the morning or early evening. The
heat and humidity can be overwhelming. Just think of what your plants are going through! Lucky for us,
there are some really nice, hearty, colorful and drought tolerant plants that we can plant now to last us
all through the hot summer. These easy to grow plants won’t quit once they are properly planted and
established. They are distinctive but common and can all be purchased at any nursery.
Penta (Pentas lanceolata) – these old Victorian pot plants, are huge butterfly attractors, and used as a
bedding or container plant. The six inch wide clusters of small, starry florets are deep red, white, pink
or lavender. Each little flower has five petals; that’s why it’s called “penta”. Pentas do extremely well in
hot weather. The taller, red pentas attract butterflies more than the other colors.
Salvia or sage family – long, tall spires of blue, red, purple, or white trumpets, salvias are another major
butterfly attractor. Salvias can range from less than a foot to up to five feet tall, the tall ones being best
suited for the back of the garden bed. The native salvia, scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea) blooms red almost
all year long. Others bloom in the fall or spring when the evening temperatures are lower. They will
reseed after flowering. Prune after flowering to maintain their shape and size. With time, the stems can
become woody but do not prune into this woody growth. Some great examples of salvia are Mexican
sage, black and blue salvia, Brazilian sage, common sage, and indigo spires. Several culinary salvias grow
in Florida: sage (Salvia officinalis), Greek sage (S. fruticosa) and pineapple sage (S. elegans). Pineapple sage
smells like Juicy Fruit gum!
Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) – one of the most drought tolerant plants with such happy little flowers
that reseed themselves all over the place – in the cracks of your sidewalk, in the middle of the garden
bed, anywhere where it’s hot and dry. They grow in low mounds and their flowers have flat, fivepetaled disks of pure white, pink, red, sometimes with a darker “eye” on top of their glossy green
foliage. They like it hot! Interesting kinds are Heatwave, Pacifica, Stardust Series.
“Daisy” Family – any flower that looks like a daisy will do well in our summer gardens. Flowers
including Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan), butter or star daisy (Melampodium paludosum), native Spanish
needle (Bidens alba), Gerber or African Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii), coneflower (Echinacea purpurea),
sunflower (Helianthus species), Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) are all great summer performers.
Once established, many of these daisy-like plants are perennial in our gardens. Many will re-seed.
Some, like the black-eyed Susans and cone flower disappear over the winter and reappear in the spring.
Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) – also called purslane and related to the wild, edible purslane. Each of
the delicate, crapey little flowers of the moss rose bloom once during the day. They are low-growing,
perfect for rock gardens, edging and for spilling out of containers in hot, dry locations. The single or
double flower comes in red, orange, yellow, magenta, white and combinations of colors. The succulent
foliage is airy and whispy. Another popular variety, (Portulaca umbraticola) has flat leaves and flat single
flowers.
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) – one of the easiest and useful culinary herbs you can grow, basil is also a great
butterfly attractor with flower spikes of small white or pale lavender mint-like flowers. The plant is
rounded and shrubby with highly fragrant foliage of dark green, dark purple or green with purplish veins.
Pinch the tops of the plants to prolong the season for when the flowers appear, the leaves seem to be
Page 2
Caliente Colors: Cool Plants for Hot Weather
by Anne Lambrecht, UF/IFAS Marion County Master Gardener
(continued from Page 1)
Timely Gardening Tips for
MARION COUNTY
by Master Gardener, Jo Leyte-Vidal
(continued from page 1)
kalanchoe, nicotiana, portulaca,
and zinnia.
Mid June is the best time to
treat your bahia lawn for mole
crickets. There are sprays and
granules available, just be sure
to follow the label instructions.
If your St. Augustine lawn is
showing some yellowing treat it
with an iron supplement, not
fertilizer. Adding fertilizer in
the summer will stress the
grass since it is already growing
very rapidly.
Gaillardia can tolerate the heat of summer
smaller. Sweet basil is the most popular for cooking but there are other flavors, including
licorice “Siam Queen” and lemon basil (O. citriodorum). “Spicy Globe” is basketball shaped. There are
many purple or burgundy kinds. The best for butterflies is “African Blue”. This one, however, is
“sterile” and will not reseed, so you must take a cutting in the fall for next year before the frost
kills it.
Caliente days mean caliente nights which means don’t water at night! Reset your sprinklers to begin
their cycle at 4:00 am, and ending by 10:00 am. The reason is this: when nights are hot and humid
and water stays on your foliage for prolonged periods of time, conditions are perfect for fungus and
disease to settle in.
Source: Tough Plants for Florida Gardens by Felder Rushing
What’s Bugging You?
by Urban Horticulture Agent, Norma Samuel
Find out what local residents are calling in about
A gentleman brought in a plastic bag of about a dozen strange looking larvae that he found
crawling on his kitchen floor for identification.
The larvae were identified to be those of the soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). The adult fly are
black, about 5/8th of an inch long, and resemble a wasp. The larvae are usually found in moist
areas feeding on decaying material. They can be found indoors in kitchens and bathrooms. It
has been reported that when consumed in contaminated food they cause myiasis (an infection
within the body). For more information on the soldier fly visit: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in830 and
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg226.html.
Soldier fly larvae
Source: Laura Jesse, Iowa State University
Page 3
Monthly Newsletter
The Florida-Friendly Landscape Challenge Class
Kathleen Patterson, FYN Program Coordinator
Do you wonder why some plants thrive while others struggle to survive? Are you tired of
fighting insects and disease? Are your utility bills too high? Are you tired of mowing, pruning
and mowing again and again? If so, then this class is for you! Mark July 12 and 14, 2011,
6-9 pm, on your calendar now!
The FFL Challenge class is designed to reduce the time spent maintaining your landscape. We
will show you how to save water, reduce maintenance costs, improve the visual appeal of your
landscape and save you money. This two part class discusses the nine Florida-Friendly
Landscaping™ principles. In addition, we have a hands-on workshop to show you how easy it
is to install micro-irrigation in your planting beds, how to set your irrigation timer correctly,
how to monitor your turf grass for water needs and …… how to choose the right plant for
the right location.
Our landscape challenge gives you the opportunity to design a landscape based on site
conditions; choose your plant materials and install them for ease of maintenance. And we will
award prizes for the best design. Prizes include gift cards for Lowe’s and Home Depot,
gardening products such as free mulch, KOR water bottles and much more. We are also
giving away free rain gauges to everyone! And…we will be awarding free site visits (one
hour yard evaluation performed by Master Gardeners of Marion County FFL Team) to five
lucky winners!
Copies of each of the four modules will be provided along with other materials that are
designed to make your landscape more enjoyable. Master Gardeners will be available to
answer your questions and we have an awesome inventory of new gardening books available
for sale. Space is limited so you must pre-register. All the pertinent details can be found on
the flyer attached with this newsletter.
We are expecting a large crowd, so make haste and reserve your spot now! This is an
Interactive program with plenty of hands-on activities so come out and have some fun with the
Florida-Friendly Landscape Team!
Items below are
available for
purchase at the
UF/IFAS Marion
County Extension
Service. Please come
to see these
environmentallyfriendly products.
UPCOMING
LECTURES/EVENTS:
Educational seminars and events are
presented by UF/IFAS
Extension Agents and or Master
Gardeners.
JUNE
Annual Crape Myrtle Sale
June 18, 2011
7:00am-11am, or until sold out
McPherson Complex
2011 Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars for our
Fall Vegetable Garden Expo
September 10, 2011
9:00am-1:00pm
Page 4
Managing Chinch Bugs on St. Augustine Lawns
by Urban Horticulture Agent, Norma Samuel
We are now experiencing extremely high temperatures which are favored by southern chinch bugs,
the most difficult-to-control and damaging insect pest on St. Augustine grass in Florida. Start to plan a
defense against southern chinch bug, Blissus insularis, before they destroy your lawn. The nymphs and
adults feed on plant fluids within leaf sheaths, down in the thatch, resulting in dead areas in your lawn.
Not all brown grass is a result of chinch bug damage. Correct identification is necessary for any
control measure to be effective. During heavy infestations chinch bugs can be found by parting the
grass at the margin of the injured areas and closely examining the thatch and base of the grass. They
may even be visible crawling over sidewalks. Immature chinch bugs are about the size of a pinhead
and are bright red with a white band across the back. Adult bugs are 1/5” long, dark brown to black
in color and have white wings. If you crush a chinch bug between your fingers, it will have a typical
stink bug odor.
The other method often used to check for chinch bugs is called the flotation or coffee can technique.
To do this, cut both ends out of a coffee or similar size can and sink the can two to three inches into
the soil at the edge of the yellowish area of grass. Fill the can with water. If chinch bugs are present,
they will float to the top of the water in a few minutes.
If you do not find chinch bugs on your first attempt, repeat the test in several areas. A common
mistake gardeners often make is to check in dead areas for chinch bugs. You will not find them in
those areas since they have already sucked the juices from those plants and have moved on to
greener pastures. Therefore, make your test in green grass adjacent to brown areas. To make
testing easier, moisten the soil prior to conducting the test or place a piece of board across the top of
the can and drive the can into the soil by hitting the board.
Cultural practices may influence the susceptibility of St. Augustine grass to chinch bug damage. Rapid
growth resulting from frequent applications of water soluble nitrogen fertilizers may increase chinch
bug survival, development time, and the number of eggs that can be laid rather than help plants
outgrow any damage. Responsible use of a slow release fertilizer is a recommended cultural control
measure to reduce pest population build-up. Another cultural control measure is mowing grass at
recommended height, three to four inches, to prevent thatch build-up. Insecticide treatments can
also bind to the thatch layer, instead of reaching soil dwelling pests.
Chinch bug management is currently dependent on insecticides. Insecticides with active ingredients,
Bifenthrin, Carbaryl, Cyfluthrin, and Permethrin are recommended for control of chinch bugs. Be
sure to read and follow label instructions before applying any pesticide to your lawn.
Foundation for the Gator Nation
An Equal Opportunity Institution
Chinch bug adult
http://bugguide.net/node/view/47695