Neighborhood Gardener December 2025 – Florida Master Gardener Volunteer Program

The Neighborhood Gardener

December 2025

Close look at poinsettia plants in a green house, you can see dark veining in the red petal-like bracts.

December 12 is National Poinsettia Day | Sign up for our e-newsletter

Fragrance Gardens

Small creamy white flower with waxy petals much like a magnolia flower but in miniature — Banana shrub (*Magnolia figo*)

Scent is one of the strongest human senses, and fragrant plants can add a new dimension to your landscape. With some thoughtful planning, it’s not hard to create a fragrance garden full of Florida-Friendly plants. You can foster a sensory experience that can rejuvenate, inspire and even calm those who venture into your fragrance garden. Florida is blessed with so many divinely-scented plants, the hardest part might be choosing what to grow. This expanded article on Gardening Solutions lists some popular fragrant plants that grow well in Florida.

Beneficial Insects

A comically small jumping spider with fuzzy front mouth parts that resemble a bushy mustache. — Technically not an insect; still beneficial.

Insects sometimes get a bad reputation, but of the millions of insects worldwide, less than 1% are considered pests. In fact, most are beneficial to the landscape and people, and even perform functions that foster healthy plants. Beneficial insects prey on pest species, pollinate plants and recycle nutrients by breaking down dead plant material. Their presence can reduce the need for pesticides and serve as a vital component of integrative pest management (IPM). This new Gardening Solutions article lists a few friendly insects you might actually want in your garden.

Passalong Plants

Two white iris flowers with inner pale purple petals and yellow markings at the throat. — African iris is very easy to share.

A Southern gardening tradition, passalong plants are easily propagated, often unavailable at a retail nursery, and “passed along” to other gardening friends. Each holds a story of where it came from and the loving hands that grew it. Many old varieties, such as heirloom vegetables, are available only as passalong plants from other gardeners, who have often cultivated them for generations. Florida-Friendly passalong plants include irises, daylilies and ornamental gingers. Gardening Solutions has more great plants to share with friends and family.

Wendy’s Wanderings

I was enjoying Thanksgiving with family and friends when I mentioned that growing up, we would head out to a U-pick sweet corn field and gather fresh ears for our holiday meal. “Pick corn in November?” they asked, incredulous. That’s when I remembered — not everyone grew up in South Florida, where winter meals still include freshly picked vegetables and a holiday pie made from calabaza squash rather than pumpkin. Florida offers its own set of holiday traditions, shaped by our unique climate and plants.

Plant of the Month: Pineapple Guava

Pineapple guava flowers have white waxy petals practically hidden below a profusion of bright red stamens tipped with yellow pollen.

If gardening were an Olympic sport, pineapple guava might be a gold-medal contender for best all-around shrub. With attractive silvery foliage, unusual flowers and edible fruits, this shrub hits all the marks. Also called feijoa, pineapple guava (Acca sellowiana) can be grown throughout Florida. It is especially suited for coastal gardens because it tolerates salt spray. Some people liken the flavor of its egg-shaped fruit to that of guava, while others say that it’s closer to a minty pineapple.

We Want Your Feedback

FFL Extension agents speaks with home gardens in their yard.

We’d like to hear from you! We want to continue creating content that is helpful to our readers. So we’ve come up with some questions to find out what you want to learn and topics that interest you. This anonymous online survey should only take a couple of minutes, and we appreciate every response! Please take this short survey about your horticulture education needs.

Watch: How to Make a Magnolia Wreath

Title card from video reads How to Make a Magnolia Wreath

Deck the halls with boughs of magnolia! In this video tutorial on our YouTube channel, our statewide coordinator Wendy Wilber takes you through a step-by-step guide to creating a wreath using local foliage from this Florida native.

December in Your Garden

Beet plants growing in a field with big ruffled leaves atop burgundy-colored stems.

As much of the country settles in for winter, Florida gardeners can finally enjoy the outdoors. Plant cool-season vegetables like beets (pictured), Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots and celery. Keep the flower beds cheerful with winter annuals like petunias, pansies and snapdragons; South Florida gardeners can add begonias, alyssum and geraniums. If freezes do come, avoid pruning or cutting off any damaged plant material until new growth appears in spring. Be prepared for next year’s garden by getting your soil tested.

For more month-by-month gardening tips, check out the Florida Gardening Calendar. Three different editions of the calendar provide specific tips for each of Florida’s gardening regions—North, Central, and South.

What’s Going On?

If your Master Gardener Volunteer program or Extension office is having an event, be sure to share it with us.