Florida Gardening Month by Month

That the small region of South Florida is unique in the entire continent of North America is an idea that thousands of residents, as well as floods of newcomers, often take years to understand. Its uniqueness is apparent at once in its climate; more slowly, perhaps, in the rare and wonderful nature of its plant material, by now a bewildering horticultural mixture of native and introduced tropic plant varieties and species. People have been forced to learn that gardening here, if not approached with an understanding of these unique conditions and materials, is doomed to failure. The author of this book, Nixon Smiley, with his years of experience as a garden editor, with his writings put to test in his own garden, and with his association with scientists as director of the Fairchild Tropical Garden, has received the increasing attention of residents and newcomers alike - people whose eyes have been opened to the horticultural wealth of South Florida. This revised edition of one of Smiley's most successful and valuable books comes, in a new, improved, and up-to-date form, as an answer to the demands of hundreds of would-be or experienced gardeners. [From the Foreword by Marjory Stoneman Douglas]