Now is the Time,
Kerby's is the Place

February 13, 2014   

 
Joey and his sister Melissa
taking a break in the yard.
This past weekend I was going through old pictures, looking specifically for old gardening photos. My family pictures are on slides, so it takes a while to look through the boxes of slides, especially compared to today's digital photo albums. It sure  was fun searching though. Growing up, we had such a cool garden and it was neat to see it in the old photos.  We had a little bit of everything: pecans, peaches, apples and citrus, a large veggie garden and all sorts of flowers (note the gorgeous amaryllis in the picture). Looking through the old photos, it was easy to understand why I love to garden. How about you? Why do you garden? Maybe it is for beautiful flowers or delicious fruit. Chances are, the reason is like the old Chinese proverb says: 'He who plants a garden, plants happiness'. Because that's what getting out in the garden is really about isn't it? No matter what your favorite plant is, the reason is always the same. The garden makes you happy.

 
Lots of cool stuff is arriving at Kerby's, including these fun garden statues.
 We are very happy that some gorgeous weather has arrived. And with this great weather come lots of cool plants. There is way too much stuff coming in to list it all here, but I'll try to give a few highlights: new pottery, tropical palms and beautiful hibiscus, fruit trees, azaleas and fun stuff for patios. Kerby's is definitely starting to fill up with the beauty of spring. Plus don't miss the workshop this Saturday at 10am on Cold-Hardy fruit trees. You'll learn all about fruits that grow in Florida and that don't need protection during the winter. Come on out and find your happiness in the garden, whatever it may be.




Happy Gardening,
The Kerby's Nursery Family


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In This Issue

Featured Plant

Low Chill Fruit Trees

Upcoming Events
Sat, Feb 15th at 10am: Cold-Hardy Fruit Tree Workshop

Veggie Plants are in

Click for Spring
Veggie Gardening Info

 

Spring Bulbs
Are In
Caladiums, Amaryllis, Blood Lily, Gladiolus & More

Click for Bulb Info

 

Click to See
More Beautiful Plants
at Kerby's   

Featured Plant
 
Avocado Trees
$49.99
10" Pot

The Avocado
Persea americana
 
They are the key ingredient in guacamole, and they're delicious cut fresh on sandwiches or as part of a salad. What fruit is it? It's the avocado. There are lots of great varieties that grow well in the Seffner/Brandon area, including some cold hardy selections like: Joey and Pancho. Both of these varieties can tolerate temperatures as low as 18 degrees. And of course there are tried and true (and delicious) varieties like Lula and Brogdon. Come check out the new avocados and all the cool fruit trees on the Fruit Walk at Kerby's

Low Chill or Dormant Fruit Trees

So you live in Florida, where it's warm and tropical and you think there is no way that you can enjoy some of the fruit trees that our northern friends love? Think again! You can grow apples, peaches, nectarines, plums and pears here in our area. Kerby's carries varieties that are cultivated especially for this area, so they are capable of fruiting. Keep reading for more information behind why these trees are called "Low-Chill" or skip ahead to a list of the trees available at Kerby's.

 

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, plums 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 near 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 these cool fruit trees in our area, but you have to select the right varieties. Kerby's makes it easy, by only carrying varieties that are capable of fruiting in this area. Below are the varieties in stock as of 2/10/2014:

 

Peaches: Flordabelle, Flordaprince, Flordawon, Flordagrande, UF One, UFSun, Tropic Snow

Apples: Anna, Tropic Sweet, Golden Dorsett, Ein Shemer

Pears: Hood, Kieffer, Pineapple, Flordahome

Plums: Gulf Ruby, Gulf Gold

Nectarine: SunRed


Come check out all the fruit on the fruit walk and plant something delicious. Hopefully we'll see you this Saturday at 10am for the Cold Hardy Fruit Tree Workshop.
  

  

Upcoming Events

Workshop: Growing Cold-Hardy Fruit Trees
Saturday, February 15th at 10:00 am

There is nothing better than picking fresh fruit from your backyard tree. And it's even better when it is a cold-hardy tree and you can sit back and relax during the winter. From apples, peaches and nectarines to persimmons and figs, we'll talk about delicious fruits that are easy to grow and are hardy too. 

 

 


Workshop: Spring Vegetable Gardening
Saturday, February 22nd at 10:00 am

Healthier, tastier vegetables are easy to grow, and in this workshop, you'll get all the information you need to get your vegetable garden going this spring.

 


Miniature Gardening
Saturday, March 1st at 10am

Come learn all about creating a cool mini garden. They are easy and fun for everyone. This workshop will be part learning and part demonstration. Kerby's has a variety of pots, mini-plants and accessories for sale, as well as mini-gardening planting kits. So, if you'd like to create a garden of your own, come a little early to pick out plants, pots and accessories and then you can plant it during the workshop, with help from Kerby's.

 


 

Spring Fling
Saturday, March 8th

Spring is the time for getting out in the garden and Kerby's wants to celebrate. Join us for our annual spring fling, where the blooming flowers of spring are the stars. From 10 to 4 on the hour, we'll have gardening mini-workshops on some of your favorite topics to give you a refresher on everything you may have forgotten over the winter. Come on out, learn a little, stroll the boardwalk and enjoy the beauty of spring.

 

 

 

 

Workshop: Hardy, Low-maintenance Landscaping
Saturday, March 15th at 10:00 am

Come out and learn how to create a gorgeous landscape design. It's easier than you think! We'll talk about tough plants, easy plants and beautiful plants. Plus we'll show you how to add accents and pottery to give your garden the extra spark.

 

 

 

 

 

Workshop: Growing Tropical Fruit Trees
Saturday, March 22nd at 10am

There are so many amazing tropical fruit trees that can be grown in central Florida. At this workshop, we'll give you our best tips and tricks for growing and caring for tropical fruit trees. We'll also show you all of the amazing variety available in our area. After the workshop, we'll sample a few so that you can see how delicious they really are.

 

 

 

Workshop: Butterfly Gardening
Saturday, March 29th at 10am

Bring on the butterflies! Butterfly gardening is a fun way to get everyone involved in the garden. Plus the plants that butterflies love are beautiful to us too. Come out to this workshop and learn the best way to attract butterflies to your garden. 

 

 


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Kerby's Nursery
2311 S. Parsons Ave.
Seffner, FL 33584
(813) 685-3265
www.kerbysnursery.com


Store Hours
Open Seven Days a Week
 Monday - Saturday,  9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday,  11:00am - 4:00pm