JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s only the second week of January and we’re preparing for a stretch of warm weather to thaw us out.
With the arrival of warm weather, you may have noticed a few of your plants blooming around the garden.
On Friday, News4Jax spoke with Linda Hertz, garden shop manager at Ace Hardware, about flowers blooming in Northeast Florida, including camellias and even a few azaleas.
“This warm weather has triggered those blooms to set,” Hertz said.
But it’s important to slow down and smell the roses -- not go into full-blown gardening mode around your home.
“The first thing and most important thing is that everyone’s getting a little over-anxious because we’re hitting a little warm spell," Hertz said. "Everyone’s coming in to put weed and feed on their grass and that’s a no because it’s too cool.”
Even though our temperatures have warmed up, the ground is still cool.
“The earth has to be warm in order for those to activate,” Hertz said.
Most importantly, with these warm spells in place, we need to remember to water our plants.
“We need to continue, especially with new transplants, we need to water well,” Hertz said.
If you’re looking to add some color to your garden, there are still a few options you have at your disposal.
“You can plan out your cool weather vegetables, a lot of cool weather flowers,” Hertz said. "There’s no reason to go without some color in the winter.”
Plants, such as fruit trees, are also good to plant this time of year before the real hot weather hits.