For a number of years now, Florida citrus has been pummeled by disease. Citrus canker appeared first, only to be supplanted by a newer scourge, citrus greening. Orange production alone cratered from a peak of 244 million 90-lb. boxes in 1997-98 to 68.36 million (or 68.75 million, depending upon the source) in 2016-17. But for…
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As a follow-up to last week’s article, Richard Lyons’ Nursery would like to make a couple of additional recommendations in the wake of Hurricane Irma: As to palms, plant more. As to Ficus benjamina, plant fewer. Palms appear to have weathered Irma quite well in comparison to broadleaf trees. The explanation in most cases is…
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Just about everyone in southeastern Florida was able to breathe a sigh of relief after Hurricane Irma left the area. Its 11th-hour course change allowed us to escape a devastating direct hit, and our homes were largely left intact. However, many of our trees suffered greatly, even though officially they were battered by ‘only’ tropical…
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We’re already well into the 2017 hurricane season, and so far southern Florida has been spared. But recent reassessments by the various tropical weather monitoring entities have led them to predict a higher probability of storm activity than they originally foresaw. Consequently, if you still have some preparations to make, we at Richard Lyons’ Nursery…
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As has been stated in this space periodically over the past several years, Richard Lyons’ Nursery has ceased selling citrus. That’s because of the continuing incidence of citrus greening (or Huanglongbing), a disease that so far has no cure. A news story published May 31 in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune focuses attention on the subject in a…
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