Retail Nursery Publications Reference List
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Retail Nursery Publications Reference List

   

Retail Nursery Publications Reference List 1

Dave Palmer2

Introduction

Retail garden professionals face special challenges. One of the challenges is to acquire accurate and timely horticultural information. Another challenge is to communicate this information in such a way as to be understood even by beginning gardeners. Customer loyalty is given to those perceived to be both knowledgeable and professional.

This publication is intended to provide a wide array of resources relevant and valuable to retail garden professionals, whether they are new to the industry or experienced veterans. Types of resources covered in this publication include books, CDs, newsletters and listservs, plant locators, professional associations, trade magazines, and websites.

Books

Your Florida Landscape: A Complete Guide to Planting and Maintenance
With more than 30 faculty contributors, this complete resource covers trees, palms, shrubs, ground covers, and vines. It includes some of the latest, research-based information on topics such as planting site evaluation, mulching, watering, fertilizing, pruning, common pests and beneficial insects. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Landscape & Lawns," and then click on "Books."

Your Florida Guide to Shrubs
Written for everyone from the homeowner with limited gardening skills to the landscape professional and property manager, Your Florida Guide to Shrubs guides the reader through selecting and maintaining healthy shrubs for all landscape uses. The book discusses exotic and native plants and includes a hardiness-zone map and a color-illustrated shrub selection guide. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Landscape & Lawns," and then click on "Books."

Your Florida Guide to Bedding Plants: Selection, Establishment and Maintenance
Learn how to select, plant and maintain over 60 flowering and ornamental plants in your home landscape. The book covers gardening in all growing regions of the state and features step-by-step instructions and photographs to help you plant simple containers or design and plant intricate flower beds and keep them attractive and disease-free. Includes sample landscape plans and a 24-page plant selector guide to help you tailor plants to specific growing areas, seasons and planting sites. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Landscape & Lawns," and then click on "Books."

The Florida Lawn Handbook
This popular guide for homeowners and yard-care professionals features sections on selecting and maintaining lawn grasses; identifying and controlling weeds, diseases, and insects and other pests; and pesticide application and uses. Includes quick-reference tables. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Landscape & Lawns," and then click on "Books."

Pests In and Around the Florida Home (Book or CD)
This handy guide gives the general reader a comprehensive look at insects and other pests that Floridians encounter in and around their homes. Complete habitat and life cycle information for insects that live around food, in fabric and wood, or that bite and sting. A section covering occasional pest invaders, such as rats, mice, bats, birds, and spiders, is also included. Color identification sheets make it easy to identify the pests. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Pesticides," and then click on either "CD-Roms" or "Books."

Vegetable Gardening in Florida
This resource has everything you need to grow vegetables under Florida's unique climate and pest conditions. Filled with color photographs, this book takes you from site selection through the harvest and storage of your produce. Includes planting guides, gardening measurement conversions, and organic gardening information. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Fruits & Vegetables," and then click on "Books."

Your Florida Dooryard Citrus Guide
The most detailed guide about Florida citrus ever published has been updated for 2001. Author Jim Ferguson, Department of Horticultural Sciences, applies expertise he learned working with commercial citrus growers to the specific needs of the home gardener. Dooryard fruit growers can profit from the wealth of detailed information, charts, appendices, and color photographs. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Fruits & Vegetables," and then click on "Books."

Complete Guide to Garden Center Management
Australian retail consultant John Stanley now brings his expertise to a book written for garden centers in the United States. Stanley covers all the aspects of opening and running a garden center: location, financial strategies, displays and merchandising, building a team, making and increasing sales, and Internet marketing. Stanley even includes a chapter discussing whether you should open a coffee shop in your center. If you want to add retail to your business or open a new center, or if you are looking to improve the way you operate your current center, Stanley will show you how, using examples from his consulting work in Australia, the U.K., the U.S., and Europe. See the ANLA website at http://www.anla.org/ . Click on "Publications," and then on "Retail Garden Center Business Management."

Establishing and Operating a Garden Center: Requirements and Costs.
The objective of this publication is to estimate establishment and operating costs for garden centers at two levels of sales, and to specify the general set of financial, marketing and business principles that should be available to the owner/manager of a garden center. A large garden center with annual sales of $1 million is described as well as a smaller garden center with annual sales of $350,000. See the American Nursery and Landscape Association website at http://www.anla.org/ . Click on "Publications," and then on "Retail Garden Center Business Management."

Compact Discs

"Florida Plant Selector"

The "Florida Plant Selector" is designed to help find the right plant for the right spot. Select your specific requirements and you will be presented with a list of appropriate plants from which to choose. More than 600 Florida annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers are represented, with color photographs and detailed information about each plant. Indexed by common and scientific names. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Lawns & Landscapes," then click on "CD-Roms."

"Horticopia"
"Horticopia" is an enormous database of 10,000 plants with 25,000 color photos combined with management, culture and botanical data and tests. Available at http://www.horticopia.com/ There are many different versions and many different prices.

"Tropical Fruits"
Designed for commercial growers, homeowners and county extension agents, "Tropical Fruits" is an interactive, multimedia, diagnostic expert system. Contains the TFRUIT*Xpert diagnostic system and more than 60 extension fruit crop disorder publications, as well as pest and disease management guides. Helps identify disorders of avocado, carambola, lychee, papaya, mango and Tahiti lime. Full-screen color images are available for many symptoms and may help in diagnosing an unknown problem. The user can browse the tropical fruit crop disorder database by common or scientific name for quick access to information about specific disorders. All summary and extension documents can be printed. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Fruits & Vegetables," and then click on "CD-Roms."

"Woodybug"
"Woodybug" is a comprehensive guide to pests commonly found on shrubs. Identification tips, information about pest life cycles, descriptions of damage pests may cause, lists of possible hosts for pests and techniques for pest control are included along with more than 150 color photos. Call 1-800-226-1764 or see the website at http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/merchant2 . Click on "Lawns & Landscapes," and then click on "CD-Roms."

Newsletters and Listservs

"The Retail Gardener"

"The Retail Gardener" is a free quarterly newsletter written specifically for retail garden employees in Florida. It includes the latest news and events in the industry, along with seasonal horticulture information. Contact Dave Palmer at 813-744-5519 ext. 103 or go to the ProHort website at http://prohort.ifas.ufl.edu/index.htm or http://prohort.ifas.ufl.edu/ to subscribe.
"Pest Alert"

"Pest Alert" is a listserv provided by the University of Florida's Department of Entomology. It issues frequent e-mail updates on new and reoccurring pest problems around the state. Subscribe by going to http://pestalert.ifas.ufl.edu/ and following the directions.
"The Weekly Dirt "
A roundup of national retail garden news and issues. http://www.greenbeam.com/ .

Plant Locators

FNGLA Locator

Florida Nurserymen, Growers and Lanscape Association (FNGLA)
1533 Park Center Dr
Orlando, FL 32825-5705
407-295-7944
http://www.fngla.org/
Native Plant & Service Directory

Assn of Fla Native Nurseries
PO Box 434
Melrose, FL 32666-0434
1-877-352-2366
http://www.afnn.org/
Nursery Report

Dade Chapter FNGA
18710 SW 288th St Room 38
Homestead, FL 33030
305-247-9596
http://www.nursery-report.com/
Plant Availability Locator

Tampa Bay Wholesale Growers
5339 State Road 579
Seffner, FL 33584
813-655-1914
http://www.tbwg.org/

Professional Associations

Florida Nurserymen, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA)

FNGLA has a retail garden division.

http://www.fngla.org/

Garden Centers of America

A division of the American Nursery and Landscape Association.

http://www.anla.org/

Trade Magazines

Garden Center Merchandising & Management (GCM&M)

Branch-Smith Publishing
120 St. Louis Avenue P.O. Box 1868
Fort Worth, TX 76104
817-882-4120
800-433-5612
free to the industry
www.greenbeam.com
Garden Center Products & Supplies (GCP&S)

Branch-Smith Publishing
120 St. Louis Avenue P.O. Box 1868
Fort Worth, TX 76104
817-882-4120
800-433-5612
free to the industry
www.greenbeam.com
Green Profit

(specifically for the retail garden industry)
PO Box 9
335 N. River St
Batavia, IL 60510-0009
630-208-9080
free to the industry
http://www.greenprofit.com
Nursery Retailer

Brantwood Publications, Inc.
3023 Eastland Boulevard Suite 103
Clearwater, FL 34621-4106
813-796-3877 fax-813-791-4126
free to the industry
www.nurseryretailer.com
Ornamental Outlook

(Primarily for growers but often has interesting and usable information for the retail industry)
1555 Howell Branch Rd, Suite C204
Winter Park, FL 32789
407-539-6552
free to the industry
http://www.meistermedia.com/

Websites

EDIS (Extension Digital Information Source)

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/

A database of around 5000 University of Florida publications on all topics including horticulture.

ProHort Website

http://prohort.ifas.ufl.edu/index.htm or http://prohort.ifas.ufl.edu

Information and resources specifically for the professional horticulture service industry including sections specifically devoted to retail garden employees.

Featured Creatures

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/

A database of over 1000 insects and other pests. Information includes photos, pest distribution, descriptions of pests and their hosts, pest management, and other references.

Florida Turf

http://floridaturf.com/

Information and publications on the various varieties of turf in Florida along with pests, weeds and other information.

Wildlife Publications

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Wildlife

Many University of Florida publications on wildlife, both native and non-native including birds, mammals and reptiles and the problems they may or may not cause and the laws governing them.

Master Gardener Notebook

North and central Florida: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_BOOK_MG_North_Central

South Florida: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_BOOK_MG_South

An invaluable resource for retail garden employees covering a wide variety of topics such as botany, communications, entomology, fruit crops, houseplants and flowers, landscape, nematology, plant pathology, shrubs and trees, soils and fertilizers, turfgrass, vegetables, and wildlife.

Online Guide to Snakes of Florida

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/onlineguide.htm

This site includes a complete list of the snakes in Florida, a key to identification, and complete details about each.

Guide to Florida's Venomous Snakes

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/Venomsnk.htm

Only six snakes in Florida are venemous: this site details all of them.

Citrus Handbook

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Citrus_Home_Citrus_Culture

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/

A large database containing publications on many aquatic and invasive plant species, complete with pictures and complete information.

517 Landscape Plant Fact Sheets

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/index.htm

680 Tree Fact Sheets

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/index.htm

Palm Fact Sheets

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/palmfact.htm

Palm and Cycad Resources

http://www.plantapalm.com/

Everything you ever wanted to know about palms and cycads. A very good site.

Turf Disease Fact Sheets

http://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/takextpub/FactSheets/pppfactsheet.htm

Plant Nutrient Deficiency Database and Decision Tree

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/nutdef/index.htm

Great key to diagnosing plant problems (you'll need to brush up on your plant terminology)

Dr. Bob Black's Gardening Tips (68 publications)

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/gt/index.htm

Very useful for the retail garden employee.

WoodyPest

http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/

This site offers identification assistance and management information on insects, mites, nematodes and disease pathogens affecting woody ornamentals in Florida. Also available on CD - sold as WoodyBug.

Insect and Nematode Information

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_IN

Topics include beneficial organisms and beekeeping, biting and stinging pests, fruit pests, household and structural pests, identification and services, nematodes, ornamental, turf, and landscape pests, pesticides, pet and livestock pests, and vegetable pests.

Weed Management Publications

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_GUIDE_Weed_Management_Guide

Florida Weeds

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Weeds

Nematode Management Publications

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Nematodes

Plant Disease Management Publications

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Plant_Diseases

Florida Lawn Handbook

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_BOOK_Florida_Lawn_Handbook

Also available in book form.

Featured Creatures

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/

An extensive list (hundreds) of insect and related pests of Florida. Includes biology, habits and control recommendations.

Planting Trees in Landscapes by Dr. Ed Gilman

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/

An excellent resource. Much information and many pictures and links.

Pruning Shade Trees in Landscapes by Dr. Ed Gilman

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/pruning.html

An excellent resource. Much good information and many links and photos.

Tree Selection

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/treeselection.htm

Numerous publications useful for the selection of trees.

Tree Care

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/treecare.htm

Numerous publications useful for the maintenance of trees.

Shrub Selection

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/shrubselect.htm

Numerous publications useful for the selection of shrubs.

Shrub Care

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/shrubcare.htm

Numerous publications useful for the maintenance of shrubs.

Groundcover Selection

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/gcselection.htm

Numerous publications useful for the selection of groundcover.

Groundcover Care

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/careforgc.htm

Numerous publications useful for the maintenance of groundcover.

Palm Selection

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/palmsel.htm

Numerous publications useful for the selection of palms.

Palm Care

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/palmcare.htm

Numerous publications useful for the maintenance of palms.


Footnotes

1. This document is ENH138, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date January, 1986. Reviewed February, 1999. Revised October, 2003. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Dave Palmer, Extension Agent, Hillsborough County Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.


The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.



Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.