Everything needed to plant a home garden, plus every vegetable, fruit, root grown throughout the tropical latitudes, history, nutrition and homeopathic uses for these fruits and vegetables.

I began composing this work several years ago after realizing there wasn't a practical guidebook on how to create a home garden in a tropical climate. Raised on a farm in the Eastern US. I didn't realize until years later, we'd lived an organic, natural lifestyle. During my life, I've lived and worked in many tropical and sub-tropical areas: the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia. I always had a home garden for fresh herbs and vegetables, and fruit trees. Initially, information came from acquaintances, neighbors, and friends. Usually, useful information only came when a garden disaster struck. When luck smiled, with a good crop, I never asked questions. I studied grow box construction and attended every government and agri-business course on specific fruit and vegetable courses that I could attend. I inquired at libraries, agri-shops, government offices, and the Internet to locate free gardening lessons. These courses provided knowledge on using garden chemicals safely. Over the years since the original Caribbean Home Garden Guide was published, I learned about many new, different, incredible healthy vegetables, roots, and fruits and more time-proven, common sense gardening techniques to get the most from garden labor. Most importantly, I never stopped loving the garden. It has become my best money saving hobby that helps me stay in good health in retirement. Whether in heat or mud, the process of growing my own food directed me to other questions and more answers. Wiser, more experienced garden people and the Internet has been the best information sources for the majority of the crops.

In this revised and updated 2nd edition of Florida Gardener's Handbook, gardeners in the Sunshine State are handed all the know-how they'll need to grow a lush, productive garden. The environmentally sound growing info for both edible and ornamental plants found here is your green thumb map to success. With profiles of more than 300 plants proven to thrive in Florida's unique climate, including shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, vegetables, fruits, tropical plants, lawn grasses, and more, you'll be able to select the best plants to create a beautiful landscape or a high-yielding edible garden. Helpful charts highlight sun and shade requirements and offer clear and concise plant variety information. Month-by-month care and cultivation guides are offered for each plant group, guiding your journey—even if you're a first-time Florida gardener. Authors Tom MacCubbin and Georgia B. Tasker, along with pro gardeners Robert Bowden and Joe Lamp'l, address the many challenges of Florida gardening, including a changing climate and saltwater gardening information. The how-to methods for planting, pruning, watering, fertilizing, and much more are rich with information essential to Floridians. This comprehensive and extensive guide is the best resource for growing in the Sunshine State. Whether you live in Nassau County, the Florida Keys, or somewhere in between, the Florida Gardener's Handbook has you covered. Florida Gardener's Handbook is part of the Gardener's Handbook series from Cool Springs Press. Other books in the series include Midwest Gardener's Handbook, Carolinas Gardener's Handbook, Northwest Gardener's Handbook, and many others.

Showing a wide spectrum of West Indies gardens, from a tiny garden in an urban backyard to spectacular places designed by renowned landscapers, this book provides a fascination and passion for tropical gardening with a lively touch and detailed research. The texts are lightly translated to French, making it a bilingual book for a wider audience. The gardens on display here includes the Montreal Gardens on St. Vincent, Diamond Gardens on St. Lucia, and Hunte's Gardens on Barbados. The final chapter demonstrates ideas for flower arrangements using tropical flowers and step-by-step instructions of three flower arrangements done by fine flower designers from Grenada, with their original comments.

The warm climate and generous rainfall of the Caribbean islands, together with rich soils, provide excellent conditions for growing a great variety of plant life. Columbus discovered that the indigenous peoples of the region were successfully growing an extensive range of plants and crops, and successive settlers of many cultures have introduced their familiar species. There are few places in the world with as great a diversity of plants as found in today`s Caribbean. This book tells the reader how to acheive the best results by learning more about the plants and how to grow them in particular situations. It covers all aspects of Caribbean and tropical gardening. It discusses climate, soils, drainage and irrigation, feeding, pruning and propagation. A chapter on landscape introduces the basics of garden design, and shows what to grow where. The section on plant competitors focuses on pest, disease and weed control in a tropical context. Iris Bannochie won the Gold Medal on three occasions at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, and was awarded the Gold Vietch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1977 for her contribution to tropical horticulture.