Christmas Lights in a Florida Garden

What do Florida gardens look like in the winter? We usually can wear shorts on Christmas Day, so our landscapes normally look great in November and December. But this year we've been hit by fluctuating high and freezing low temperature records within the first two weeks of the month.


While my tropical November blooming Panama rose, Rondeletia leucophylla took the frost more seriously than the rest of my garden plants, the cold weather has the sycamore in its glorious fall motif while my sweetgum and other deciduous trees are bare.

When you add holiday lights to your shrubs and palms, you add heat to the surrounding plants keeping them a few degrees warmer. Here's how the Florida Botanical Gardens in Pinellas County keeps warm during this unusually chilly December. Look at everyone in their winter jackets and coats strolling along the festive pathways. You can still see the Florida Botanical Gardens holiday lights through January 2nd.