Florida Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition

This is a great, modern guide to growing all kinds of fruits, veggies, trees, shrubs, vines and more in the many climates of Florida. I appreciated the updated, sustainable advice about topics like conserving water and better lawn options. It's filled with recommended plants with very detailed growing information and lots of photos. Well recommended.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

This is such a wonderful, resourceful book! It's so helpful to learn about gardening in Florida. A place I intend to more to very soon.

The Florida Gardeners Handbook is the perfect reference for those in extremely warm or tropical climates.. It includes tricks and tips to help many types of vegetation thrive whether it is annuals, perennials ,tropical foliage and grasses,trees,shrubs or maximizing your home vegetable gardens yield. I find it most on eminent that they mention more than 300 types of commonly found plants and have advice for all. This book is a must have for all Florida gardeners and would make an amazing gift at holiday time or birthday time for the gardener in your life.

Florida Gardener's Handbook is the second edition of a resource-dense classic southern garden favorite by Tom MacCubbin, et. al. Originally published in 2012, this second edition is due out 13th April 2021 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint. It's 240 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a well organized and accessible guide to the special challenges and benefits of growing in Florida from heat, salty gardens, building up soil, potentially invasive species (most have been removed from the second edition), long/staggered growing seasons, and more. The authors are experienced southern gardeners and it shows. The book is arranged chiefly by chapters by plant profile: annuals, bulbs, fruit & nuts, fruit & vegetables, lawns, ground covers, perennials, shrubs, trees & palms, tropical plants, and vines.

Plant profiles contained in the book are arranged alphabetically by category and each profile includes a color photo, culture/growing icons for light water and other growing needs, botanical and common names, colors, native ranges, peak growing and flowering seasons, and, importantly, habit/size. There are numerous tables which are full of suggestions for planting times by USDA zone (broken down by north central and southern Florida).

The authors have included a number of useful appendices including a glossary, bibliography for further reading, cross-referenced indices for botanical and common names, and a good overview over invasive plants, and troubleshooting tips for taking care of pests common to Florida gardens.

These regional guides are very useful and specific to the areas for which they're written. This is a very good resource for southern gardeners and was a good choice for an update and re-release. The photography throughout is lush and very clear and colorful.

Four and a half stars. This is a niche book and is recommended for the specific zones and region for which it was written.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Florida Gardener’s Handbook is an excellent reference book on plants that grow well in Florida, from vegetables to landscape plants including grass, tree, shrubs, vines and more. I have been gardening for 35 years in Florida and found material of interest for both experienced and not so experienced gardeners. A must for gardeners new to the state.