Believe it or not, southern Florida is beginning to cool down, at least statistically. Our region has endured a very warm summer; we seem to have had temperatures 3-5 degrees above historical averages for months. However, the day-night mean temperature for mid-October should be 80°, down from 85° during the July-August peak. While we are…
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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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Bauhinia is a large genus — more than 500 species — of trees and shrubs native to both the Old World and New World tropics. Typically, their leaf pairs are arranged in a butterfly wing, or back-to-back, configuration. Therein lies an interesting piece of folklore: Among Aboriginal Australians, it is common for spouses to be…
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