Current Issue
Feburary 2013 / March 2013 | Get Ready for Spring Color

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- Jon George shares seasonal portraits of garden design tailored for our North Florida climate in each issue of the Landscape Calendar written for local magazine Home - Living in the Heart of Florida.  Check out each issue to learn secrets of how he and his staff create colorful landscapes any month of the year. You may contact his staff for questions at cottagegardensinc@yahoo.com.

December 2012 / January 2013

Start the year right with the perfect plants for the season

Abundant rains and plenty of sunshine make this a great season of growth for our area. Get planting now for months of blooming color to chase away the wintertime blues.

Spring mix: Try combining delphiniums, petunias, nasturtiums and verbena for a riot of bloom, as featured in front of this home in Gainesville (left page). Grouping plants en masse eliminates weeding and makes a bigger color impact.

Blooming Trees: North Central Florida gets just enough chill to plant dogwoods, plums and oriental magnolias—all a welcome sight in early spring before other plants begin to bloom. Try drip irrigation to keep the root zones moist.

Spring Annuals: Nothing beats the color of a big bed of snapdragons (top right) or blanket flwers (bottom right). Plant now for instant results.

Perennials: Try this new Gerbera Daisy (center) named ‘Nikki’ with long-lived foliage that tolerates more heat and cold than others and continues blooming year after year.

Jon George is the owner of Cottage Gardens, Inc., a Gainesvillebased landscape design and installation firm.Jon has been gardening in North Central Florida for more than 30 years. You may contact his staff at www.TheCottageGardener. com or at cottagegardensinc@ yahoo.com.