Florida Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition: All You Need to Know to Plan, Plant, & Maintain a Florida Garden - Paperback

by Tom Maccubbin (Author), Joe Lamp'l (Author), Georgia Tasker (Author)

In this revised and updated 2nd edition of Florida Gardener's Handbook, gardeners in the Sunshine State are handed all the know-how they'll need to grow a lush, productive garden.

The environmentally sound growing info for both edible and ornamental plants found here is your green thumb map to success. With profiles of more than 300 plants proven to thrive in Florida's unique climate, including shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, vegetables, fruits, tropical plants, lawn grasses, and more, you'll be able to select the best plants to create a beautiful landscape or a high-yielding edible garden. Helpful charts highlight sun and shade requirements and offer clear and concise plant variety information. Month-by-month care and cultivation guides are offered for each plant group, guiding your journey--even if you're a first-time Florida gardener.

Authors Tom MacCubbin and Georgia B. Tasker, along with pro gardeners Robert Bowden and Joe Lamp'l, address the many challenges of Florida gardening, including a changing climate and saltwater gardening information. The how-to methods for planting, pruning, watering, fertilizing, and much more are rich with information essential to Floridians. This comprehensive and extensive guide is the best resource for growing in the Sunshine State. Whether you live in Nassau County, the Florida Keys, or somewhere in between, the Florida Gardener's Handbook has you covered.

Florida Gardener's Handbook is part of the Gardener's Handbook series from Cool Springs Press. Other books in the series include Midwest Gardener's Handbook, Carolinas Gardener's Handbook, Northwest Gardener's Handbook, and many others.

Author Biography

Tom MacCubbin, writer of the Plant Doctor column for the Orlando Sentinel, has been helping gardeners throughout Florida for over 40 years. He is the television co-host of Central Florida Gardening, gardening consultant for Central Florida News 13, and 25-year co-host of the Better Lawns and Gardens radio broadcast across 24 Florida stations with his wife, Joani. With Cool Springs Press, MacCubbin is the author of Month-by-Month Gardening in Florida (2006) and Florida Month-by-Month Gardening (2014), and is co-author of Florida Gardener's Handbook (2012) and Florida Getting Started Garden Guide (2013). He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in horticulture and is currently an extension agent emeritus with a full professor equivalent at the University of Florida. Better Lawns & Gardens: betterlawns.com/newhome.asp

Joe Lamp'l (aka joe gardener(R)) is one of the country's most recognized and trusted personalities in gardening and green living. With over 30 years of real-world growing experience, Joe was the host of Fresh from the Garden on the DIY Network, where he taught viewers how to grow vegetables from seed to harvest, with each of 50+ episodes dedicated to an entirely new crop. Currently, he is the creator and Emmy-winning host of public television's Growing a Greener World, which has aired for 12 seasons (200 episodes) and is still going strong. The program airs in 96% of the US and in numerous countries.

Joe has been an on-air contributor for NBC's The Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and The Weather Channel. His podcast, The joe gardener(R) Show, is the #1 most-listened-to gardening podcast in the country. His conversations with professionals, book authors, plant breeders, and others in the green industry and gardening world are downloaded by millions of listeners every year.

As the founder and "Joe" behind the successful brand joegardener.com and the Online Gardening Academy(TM) he has created an ever-growing network of resources dedicated to all things gardening. His videos and blog posts are viewed by hundreds of thousands each and every month, and his comprehensive online courses encourage and inspire a growing number of students to become better gardeners in their own backyards. Joe and his family live on a small farm just north of Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia Tasker is a Master Gardener and has earned a certificate in commercial tropical botany from Florida International University. Tasker is an avid orchid grower and photographer.

Expert gardener and horticulturalist Robert Bowden is the executive director of Orlando's beautiful Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens. He is a frequent guest on local and national television shows for gardeners. He travels extensively in the United States and Caribbean talking about growing vegetables, perennials, tropical and sub-tropical plants, and flowering vines, trees, and shrubs.