Gardening
The Kerby's Nursery E-Newsletter
January 16, 2020
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An Early Spring
by Joey Bokor
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It's the time of year where you should be dreaming of spring. Planning your next garden project and wishing for warm weather. But every time I look around, all I see is spring. Have you noticed the trees starting to bloom around town? I was driving along Bruce B. Downs the other day and every single golden trumpet tree planted along the median was beginning to erupt with golden color. After I noticed that, I paid more attention here in our local area and sure enough everywhere you look there are bright golden flowers starting to emerge.

Then, as I strolled around my backyard, I noticed that many of my fruit trees have started to put flowers on. A new grapefruit tree is loaded with blooms. I've been waiting for two years for flowers on my white sapote and sure enough it is covered. And the showiest of the bunch is our mango tree. Every branch seems to end with a big flower cluster. I tried to tell all these trees that it isn't spring and that they should wait a little bit, but they aren't listening to me.
And you really do have to look at the calendar to convince yourself that it is just the middle of January. The temperatures outside are unusually warm and all the plants are reacting to it. And I tell you what. If they want to grow, flower and fruit a little early, I'm all for it. No sitting inside dreaming of time in the garden, we can just get out and do it.

If you are loving these warm days and want to get outside and enjoy your garden, come see us. All sorts of cool plants have arrived including some rare finds like string of hearts, string of dolphins and birkin philodendrons. Follow us on instagram or facebook to keep up with new arrivals. And if you are still planning your spring fun in the garden, check out the events page, where we've posted the seminars and events for spring. It's going to be an amazing year in the garden and if spring wants to start a little early, we are okay with that.



Happy Gardening,
The Kerby's Nursery Family

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The Weekly Special
Peaches, Apples and Pears - 10% Off
Plant low-chill fruits now while they are dormant to get a head start on your backyard fruit forest. This week only save 10% on all sizes of peaches, apples and pears.
Reg. Price - $59.99 to $99.99, Expires 1/23/2020

Many fruit trees love tropical weather. Long, sunny days with lots of warmth. There are some fruit trees, however, that actually need cold weather in the winter to flower and fruit properly. Not all of them will grow in Florida because we don't get cold enough, but there are certain varieties of apples, peaches, nectarines and pears that are cultivated especially for this area, and those are the only varieties that Kerby's carries.

At Kerby's you'll hear the staff say Low Chill Fruit Trees and you'll probably wonder what in the world they are talking about. Apples, peaches, pears and nectarines belong to a group of fruits called Low Chill or Dormant fruit trees. These fruit trees require cold weather in order to flower and fruit properly. What they really need is a chance to go dormant. It's pretty obvious that up north, with lots of cold weather, trees have plenty of time to go dormant in the winter. This is when they store energy for a spring flush of flowers and fruit. In Florida, it doesn't always get that cold. In order to enjoy these types of trees, varieties that don't need a lot of cold weather are required.

That is where the term Low Chill comes from. To get fruit from these types of trees in our area, they must have a low-chill requirement. Chill requirement is the number of hours below 45 degrees F that a tree needs in order to go dormant properly. Our local area typically receives anywhere from 200 to 300 chill hours on average. So the fruit tree you select should be in this range. (You can push the bounds a little in either direction; 200 to 300 is a historical average for the entire bay area. Seffner, Brandon, Valrico and Plant City are typically a little colder.)

The bottom line is that you can grow fruits like peaches, apples, pears and nectarines in our area, but you have to select the right varieties. Kerby's makes it easy, by only carrying varieties that can deal with our milder winters. So come on out, enjoy the early spring weather and find something delicious to plant.



New Arrivals
Golden Trumpet Tree

A Stunning Spring Show
15 Gallon Pot - $139.99
String of Dolphins

Leaves look like Dolphins
6" Pot - $37.99

Birkin Philodendron

Striking Leaf Variegation
6" Pots - $39.99

Kerby's Nursery

2311 S. Parsons Ave.

Seffner, FL 33584
(813) 685-3265
www.kerbysnursery.com


Store Hours

Monday - Saturday
9am - 5pm
Sunday
11am - 4pm