I was reading the gardening section of the paper the other day and someone had written in complaining about brown spots on their plant. Apparently, they had a begonia that was a houseplant. As the weather got warm, this person decided that the plant really wanted to be outside. So, they placed the begonia outside in the sun and proceeded to watch the leaves get brown spots. What's up with that? This is Florida, for goodness sake. If a person takes their houseplant out of their normal conditions and puts it outside in 90 degree weather in full sun, what do they expect? It's like taking an ice cube and putting it on the sidewalk. It's going to melt, no surprises there. So what in the world can someone be thinking when they take a plant out of a protected, temperature-controlled environment and place it outside under the Florida sun?

Another example of not quite understanding how plants can be affected by their environment. My husband and I decided we wanted breakfast and visited a restaurant close to our home. As we were paying the bill, the server lamented how the beautiful plants in the planters by the door were not doing well. I glanced outside and noticed the celosia was brown like straw and the coleus was drooping. There were also some other greens, like philodendron in the pots that seemed to be holding their own. She explained that she was doing exactly what the tags that came with each plant told her to do but they just weren't looking very good. I told her celosia was a bit difficult to grow, depending on its conditions, but coleus was as easy for an outside gardener as philodendron is to an inside gardener. It pretty much takes care of itself once established. I began asking her how she was watering, what type of exposure she was providing, etc. First, she plopped a bunch of plants into pots because they looked pretty together but not considering each had its own growing needs. Second, and the biggest factor, she was taking them in and out everyday because she was concerned they would get stolen. The plants were put outside in the sun and heat at 7 AM every morning and brought back into the air conditioned shaded interior every day around 3PM. So, the plants' conditions were changing every day, they were being watered like crazy, and she couldn't figure out why they were dying.

As we all know, Florida can be difficult on plants. But it just takes a little common sense on understanding what could affect a green living thing if its environment is changed and/or if it's placed with other plants that don't have similar needs. If the woman with the begonia had just read a little about it she would have understood what placing it outside in the sun would do to the plant. If the server had really read the instructions coming with the plants or consulted someone at the store, she might have better understood what to place with what and/or not to continually change their conditions. Or, if she's so concerned about theft, she could have opted for silk. It would have still dressed up the place but would have required a lot less maintenance. It's hard not to preach about the best way to care for plants especially since I'm not an expert. But sometimes I just have to shake my head as I walk away and say, what's up with that? Happy Florida Gardening.