Central Fl gardeners?

I just moved to Orlando and wanted to see if there are any other central FL gardeners out there?

polar :)

Hi PolarBear, Welcome th Dave's Garden. I think there's quite a few of us around. I'm in Lutz which is just NW of Tampa. Here's a link to show you all members in Florida, subscribed or not.
Stacey
http://davesgarden.com/memberlist/viewby.php?area=state&arg1=fl

Hi Stacey!

Good to see that there are Floridians here. I have so much to learn about gardening here. I hope to bounce some questions off you guys sometime.

Take care,
polar

Welcome to Florida, Polarbear! Judging from your name, can I assume you moved here from a slightly cooler climate? LOL

Buffalo by way of Atlanta :)

Hi polarbear_77....I used to live in Buffalo. Moved to Florida after the blizzard of 1977. Welcome to DG.

Ok you Fl fellers, I have a question...I'm taking the kids to disney in June(magic kingdom ONLY)for a day and then its off to the beach for a week. Here's my question...What would be the closest beach(west coast) to Orlando? And if distance wasn't a problem, what would be the GREATEST beach for the kids? I've read about Captiva and Sanibel and they sound glorious. But I'm not sure there would be enought to do to keep a 8 and 4 yr old happy for a week. AND 14-15 hrs home doesn't sound very appealing either. Anyway all suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks
Tina

Tina;

Captiva & Sanibel will probably take you 4 hours from Orlando to get there. You can take the east-west expressway from by Disney, get to the east side of Orlando to SR50, and go over to Cocoa Beach in an hour. An 8 year old and 4 year old never get tired of swimming no matter where the water is at. Now I'm gonna reallly really really stress this. Get the highest spf sunblock you can find and make sure EVERYONE uses it. If you don't, your vacation will be over after the first day. The Florida summer sun can be treacherous, especially for those who are not accustomed to it.

OKay, that's the mother in me, done preaching now.

Molly

AMEN to that Molly! Even with FLA tan I still get the top of my shoulders burned if I'm not careful. Of course that's exactly where the bra strap rests...Ouch!
Pati

Hey Polarbear!! Are you all settled in now? It's good to see you.

Hey Badseed! Not settled yet. My first apartment in Orlando was terrible so now I am moving to to a new place next week. I hope to be settled in soon. The good news is my new place has a front yard. No more balcony garden!

polarbear

We did the cocoa beach thing last year and I wasn't impressed with the east coast but I appreciate your input and just to settle your nerves I'm a HUGE fam of 50 sunblock!!! Thanks again

Tina

Tina were you able to contact the members over in the Ft Myers area to help you on vacation things?

Molly

Tina, Head towards Tampa Bay to Dunedin, FL. There are 2 State Parks, Honeymoon Island and Cladesi Island. There are nature trails, etc on Honeymoon and then you can catch a ferry to Caladesi Island State Park. Lovely beaches and fairly empty if you walk away from the bathhouse and ferry docks. Lots of beautiful shells to be picked up, native plants, animals and birds. It is a lovely place!
Info on Honeymoon: http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeymoonisland/default.asp
Info on Caladesi:
http://www.floridastateparks.org/caladesiisland/default.asp
We spend a lot of time on Caladesi at this time of year. This picture was taken from where we sit in the shade of some old Mangrove trees

Thanks again;)