I thank God that he led me to study horticulture. I was a senior in high school and planning to be a school teacher when I got a flier in the mail about the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women. My folks took me to see one school where I could study education (God made it rain that day and the place looked depressing) and then to see the School of Horticulture where the sun was shining and it looked like paradise. ...more

November 25, 2009

Gardens dedicated to attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City that were planted this spring were partially successful. The butterflies showed up for visitors at Saturday's first-ever Hummingbird Festival, but the nectar-sipping birds were only to be seen on video at the museum's main building. Visitors had the opportunity to learn about hummingbirds, bats and frogs, as well as tours the gardens and build a bluebird box with members of the Audubon Society. The Pioneer Florida Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Florida's pioneer heritage. For information, visit www.pioneerfloridamuseum.org. ...more

October 4, 2009

Closed in 2005 to make room for construction equipment, Herman Massey Park has been welcomed back in style. ...more

November 19, 2008

Twenty years after it opened, Herman Massey Park was rededicated this afternoon. ...more

November 10, 2008

Perhaps you enjoyed "Snakes on a Plane" as an entertaining movie. But it's a whole lot less fun when it's snakes in your home's foundation, as this reader discovered. ...more

August 24, 2008

Perhaps you enjoyed "Snakes on a Plane" as an entertaining movie. But it's a whole lot less fun when it's snakes in your home's foundation, as this reader discovered. ...more

August 24, 2008

Re: Controlled burns and wild pigs. Mr. Quehl must be new to Florida since he doesn't know what a "controlled burn" is and how it will benefit him in the future. He certainly needs to contact the phone number the editor provided him to gain this knowledge, along with the reason why the helicopters dropped water at the end of the day. ...more

May 10, 2008

intimidating enough that scientists dubbed it Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad. Researchers discovered the beast's bones in Madagascar, yet it seems to be a close relative of normal-sized frogs in South America today. The discovery was published Monday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...more

February 19, 2008

They're Two Of A Kind First, Lauren Danielle Smith was named Miss Congeniality at the Florida Strawberry Festival pageant. Then her identical twin, Kristen Elise Smith, won the queen's crown. "We look so much alike and enjoy the pageantry so much we know that if just one of us makes it, it could have just as easily been the other," Kristen says. plantcity.tbo.com ...more

February 10, 2008

I just have to write this, you see I have met "Rambling Norman A. Cukras" and his wife Ruth on a number of occasions. They are both super nice people. Although I have to admit my sympathies go out to Ruth whenever Norm and I get together, as you see we both just love to talk and we have to see who can top who in the telling tales department. Norm has told me so many things he has learned at the check out counter, Which Ruth has to add, "Maybe he could get something done if he would stay out of the stores." Then I have to see if I can top Norman with a tell I have learned about life, such as I don't call snowbirds snowbirds. I call them frogs... the way I see it they come to Florida to croak. ...more

January 19, 2008