Is it a toucan or a parrot? No, it's a shrub. More precisely, it's a strelitzia reginae . Bird of paradise grows to 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and has bird-like flowers of orange and blue. I'm sure you've seen the blooms before in flower arrangements. They are quite striking and unusual in shape. So why am I mentioning it? I just happen to have one and I need to move it. My mom got on a kick about a year ago where she had to have a bird of paradise shrub in her yard - in fact she purchased two. One is supposed to bloom white and the other orange. At the time she bought hers I also got one that is supposed to have an orange flower and placed it in the front garden where it is lightly shaded. Well, my mom's haven't bloomed nor has mine. Why? It must be the shade and a lack of regular fertilizer.

According to my Southern Living Garden Book this shrub should be planted in full sun with some light afternoon shade in the summer. To encourage lush growth, frequent feedings are encouraged. Mine has gotten neither full sun nor frequent fertilizing and I know my mother's haven't either. My sister recently relocated one of my mom's plants and fertilized it with bone meal. While it is not yet flowering it has perked up and is producing lots of new leaves. Encouraged by her report, I plan to move mine this weekend. Although it gets some sun where it's located, it's just not enough to get that growth thing going on. So I have the perfect sunny locale all picked out and fertilizer at the ready. I'll let you know as soon as I see some new leaves. Happy Florida Gardening.

I don't know about you but one of the things I really miss about living in Florida (and there's truly not much) is not having all those beautiful plants peaking through the ground in early spring. I used to go absolutely crazy in the fall when I lived up north. My husband and I would visit all of our favorite garden stores to find bulbs of every variety. Then I'd come home and proceed to go through all of my garden catalogs and order more. I still remember the year I was so caught up that I ordered over $100 worth of bulbs! Whew. That surprised even me when I sat down and started calculating it out.

Anyway, here in Florida it's decidedly more difficult to grow bulb plants other than the usual native stuff. But I'm willing to try. You may recall my mother gave me some gorgeous tulips for Easter. I mentioned then that while all of my gardening books discouraged it, I intended to force the bulbs for the coming spring. Well it's time and I'm going to do it. I read recently the best way to force bulbs is to make sure all the foliage has died away and the bulbs are dry, then place them in a closed brown paper bag and store in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. After about 3 months, I can plant them in the garden about 6 inches deep in full sun, give them a little bulb food and prepare to be wowed. So, here's to trying. Keep your fingers crossed and, if all goes well, I'll be sharing the flowers with you again in March. Happy Florida Gardening.