Our survey of palms available at Richard Lyons’ Nursery continues with a look at species being grown in 3-gal. containers: Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, commonly known as the Paurotis Palm, is one of the dozen palm species native to Florida. Its home is the Everglades, so in cultivation it likes copious amounts of water. A palmate species,…
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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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