For the love of gardening.

I’m from five generations of Florida farmers and my garden currently resides in hardiness zone 10, along the coast. My hope is that this blog will bring you answers, awesome ideas and help your garden flourish!

Florida Gardenista was grown from my love of gardening. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved getting my hands in the dirt and working with plants. There is something magically soothing about being in the garden.

 
 

One thing that I can almost always rely on in conversation with strangers is plants.  Its so funny, I can be in an awkward situation, bring up gardening and Voila! we are now instant plant buddies.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How it Began

A few years ago, I started taking photos of my garden and sharing them with friends and family on social media.  Everyone seemed to love it! I’d receive direct messages with folks telling me it was the highlight of their day and how it always made them smile, no matter how crappy their day was treating them.  My plants were making other people happy too!

One day a good friend and coworker brought in a troubled plant and begged me to help her.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with the sick plant, but I wanted to help. So I started doing my research and brought her plant baby back to life.  Soon after, several others started bringing me their plant issues.

This is how Florida Gardenista was born.

Follow the Passion

In 2018, I started thinking more about my passion for gardening.  I wanted to improve my knowledge and share with those who also love gardening.  The summer of 2018, I applied for the UF/IFAS Master Gardening program and was so excited to be accepted into the 2019 class!  

The UF/IFAS Master Gardening program was such an eye opening experience.  The course was so informative and helped me grow my garden knowledge and resources.  It’s from this opportunity that I began writing.