You know what our typical garden centers are like in winter: empty, cold and windy. While visiting Florida, my sister and I decided to see what was being offered in December. We found one that had been in business since the 1950’s along a main drag in the Daytona/Ormond Beach area. And wow–it had the most gorgeous Spanish moss hung Live Oak in the yard!
Daytona Beach is in Volusia County which straddles the zone 9a-9b border which means the lowest temperatures are in the upper 20’s. This means that many of our indoor potted plants can happily grow outdoors there. The soil is sandy and quick draining, so succulents do very well. Plants that need a long cold period will not do well, nor will plants that rot in humidity. So, the selection of plants is quite different from those offered in Maryland.
The person we talked to came from the St. Lawrence area way up in New York–that’s zone 4-5! Apparently, the stock as pretty low because if the temperatures drop to the 40’s, they have to cover many of the plant offerings! Also, just like here, there will be plants offered that are better suited to even more tropical areas of Florida and will be finicky in 9b!
Here are some of what was in the nursery for sale the day we visited. **Please use the comments section if you know the name of plants that I have no name or guessed at.**
