Ginny Stibolt
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Ginny Stibolt
@ginnystibolt.bsky.social
3.4K followers 2.3K following 860 posts
I'm a naturalist, botanist, gardener, and award-winning garden writer. I live in NE Florida with my husband. My website has links to my 7 books & 200+ articles: www.greengardeningmatters.com
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#SaveOurForests b/c they clean the air, produce oxygen, sequester carbon, & provide habitat, but the recycling of water is probably the most important as shown in this graphic.
Read my article for more details on major cycles of trees & forests: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2019/02/tran...
Diagram comparing rainfall & evapotranspiration in a landscape with lots of big trees with one with only a few small trees. The one with big trees has more evapotranspira &rainfall and absorbs more water.
November 28, 2025 at 8:22 AM
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#Thanksgiving2025 I used roselle with some added fruit juice to make Florida "cranberry" sauce with roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), a surprising crop where the harvest is the calyx (a flower part) instead of the fruit that tastes like cranberry.
greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2021/11/rose...
Photo of a bowl of what looks like cranberry sauce and a spoon being held with some of the sause. The rim of a white bowl has collection of black drawings of people's heads. All are wearing hats. There are drawings of some buildings or flowers between the people's heads.
November 27, 2025 at 8:14 AM
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#Thanksgiving2025 The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)is a morning glory species that is native to Mexico, Central & South America. Many Thanksgiving feasts include this vegetable either as a savory roasted vegetable or a sweet sweet potato pie. Read: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2025/02/morn...
Photo of 3 sweet potatoes with a plain white background. One has an end cut off exposing its orange interior.
November 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
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#Thanksgiving2025 As we sit down to our feast this week, we also should also give thanks to the early farmers who created useful crops from wild plants. Wild mustard has been transformed over the centuries.
Diagram/drawing that explains that Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, & kohlrabi are all derived from the same plant, Wild mustard (Brassica oleracea). Top text says, “6 vegetables that are the same plant. Over hundreds of years farmers have been breeding on plant, Brassica oleracea, into dozens of different varieties. These six vegetables you can find in the grocery store are actually all the same plant.”
November 25, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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#Thanksgiving2025 Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is one of many culinary herbs in the mint family. These plants produce aromatic chemicals to help to fight off leaf-eating predators, but these properties also add flavor & aroma to our cooking. Read: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2017/12/holi...
Photo of rosemary with its bilateral pale lavender flowers & dark green needle-like leaves.
November 25, 2025 at 7:53 AM
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#Thanksgiving2025 Seminole pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata), native to Mexico, was in Florida when the Europeans arrived. The shape is variable. The butternut squash is a cultivar of this plant, which has been bred to have just one shape. Read: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2017/09/end-...
Photo of several pumpkins of various shapes including those with long necks & more flattened. The colors range from orange to tan & greenish in a wide pottery bowl on a granite counter with a living room in the background.
November 24, 2025 at 8:49 AM
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#Thanksgiving2025 While we're thinking about food, keep in mind that locally produced food is better for our only planet: there is less waste. We included a whole chapter on food in "Climate-Wise Landscaping." I wish you and yours a wonderful and safe holiday season" www.climatewiselandscaping.com
Photo of a white bowl full of freshly harvested food including curly, red-leaf lettuce, flowering basil, sugar-snap peas, & carrots-both orange and red. Text says, "IX Food Every pound of food you grow offsets up to two pounds of greenhouse gases."
November 23, 2025 at 1:54 PM
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The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), a native of Mexico, is the most popular potted plant in the U.S. despite the fact that more than 90% are sold in just a 6-week period. They are NOT poisonous to us or our pets. Read my article for more details: www.sky-bolt.com/garden/poins...
Photo of a blooming poinsettia with red bracts. There a drops of water on the bracts.
November 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM
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#Coffee: The average person gets an impressive 41 miles/gal. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psycho-active substance in the world! Early humans discoved & appreciated caffeinated plants. Learn why coffee plants & a few other plants produce it.
greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2023/07/why-...
Photo looking down on a white mug full of coffee with cream. Text on the coffee says, "The average human walks 900 miles per year and drinks 22 gallons of coffee. This means that the average human gets 41 miles per gallon."
November 20, 2025 at 11:46 AM
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#Thanksgiving2025! Thank a green plant next week. Everything on our dining room tables depends entirely on green plants & their ability to create sugar from carbon dioxide & water through photosynthesis. When we absorb sugars one way or another through respiration, it’s the exact opposite reaction.
Text says, "Plants store energy from the sun and remove carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis: (C6H12O6 is a simple sugar) 6CO2 + 6H2O (Energy from sun) = C6H12)6 + 6O2 And the equal and opposite chemical reaction that sustains almost all of life is Respiration: C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6CO2 + 6H2O (Energy for Life) Photo on the right shows a squash plant with big yellow flowers and a striped zucchini squash being held by a hand to show scale. Caption for the photo: "This tiger squash stores energy from sun through photosynthesis. When we eat it, we gain energy through respiration."
November 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
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#AMomentinNature was this morning's lavender & gold sunrise clouds here in North Florida. In times of stress, we can find peace when we appreciate Nature's beauty.
Photo of a sunrise landscape with trees silhouetted in the foreground. Puffy clouds are mostly lavender with bright gold highlights at the bottom. Pale blue sky is in the background.
November 19, 2025 at 3:07 PM
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#Bluesky with Bluebirds & a ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata) perched on a snag. Ball moss is an epiphyte (air plant) related to Spanish moss. Dead wood (snags, stumps, & logs) provide habitat, especially for birds.
For some habitat science, read:
greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2024/08/snag...
Photo of 3 small birds in the morning light perched on a forked dead branch. A globe-shaped ball moss is growing from the dead branch near the fork. Blue sky is the background.
November 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
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To inject a bit of fun, I used this as the author photo on the back cover of my peer-reviewed book “Adventures of a Transplanted Gardener.” #AFloridaGothic is a photo of me & my husband in front of our house. Click here for more info on the book: upf.com/book.asp?id=...
A photo imitating Grant Wood's classic "American Gothic" painting. To the right is an unsmiling old man, wearing round, wire-rim glasses, a black formal jacket and a white shirt with a stand-up collar, is holding a garden fork. To the left is an old woman with her brown hair pulled back is wearing a green flowered shirt and is holding a large basket filled with cut flowers and crops such as peppers, a cabbage, parsley, & dill flowers. In the background is a white house with 3 dormer windows and a front porch. Text says, "A Florida Gothic"
November 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
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Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is in the mint family (Lamiacaeae). Appropriately, the genus name is Greek for "beautiful fruit." It's a bird-friendly shrub native to the SE states from MD - TX. Can you spot the Mockingbird & Cardinal?
greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2020/03/for-...
Photo of a beautyberry shrub with clumps of irridescent purple berries and slightly druping ovate leaves. There is a Gray Mockingbird perched in the shrub in the upper right corner of the photo, while a Cardinal is perched in the shrub at the lower left of the photo. Palmetto fronds and large trees are in the background. Text says, "2 birds in the bush..."
November 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
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#AMomentinNature this morning was appreciating the beautiful burgundy fall color of this female winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) with fruit. It’s a pollinator-friendly & bird-friendly, shrub that is native to all of eastern North America. Read: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2024/07/wing...
Photo of the top of a shrub with a bunch of burgundy wrinkled berries in the center. The compound leaves radiate out from the fruit. The leaves are mostly burgundy tinged with green. The stem between the leaflets also has leaf material to either side: the "wings." Text says "Winged sumac Rhus copallinum"
November 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM
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#AMomentinNature this morning was the sun shining through the bushy bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus) in our front yard. I'm not sure which of the 3 varieties it is: maybe (A. glomeratus var. glomeratus). It's native from Massachusetts down through Florida & in southern states out to California.
Photo of a flower head of a grass with the sun shining through it. The grass is tan and the fluffy seeds are exposed. More grasses, mowed area and wooded area are out of focus in the background. Text says, "Bushy bluestem grass (Andropogon glomeratus)"
November 15, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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Sustainable gardeners say, "YIMBY: Yes! in my backyard" when it comes to increasing habitat including butterfly gardens and wild spaces. #PlantMoreNatives to replace lawns with bird & butterfly-friendly habitat.
Photo of an orange & black monarch butterfly on a flower spike with lavender flowers with many narrow petals. In the background are more of the same flower spikes, a grassy meadow, & a wooded area. Text says, "YIMBY"
November 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
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I do a lot of trench composting under & between my wide planting rows. The buried scraps between two newly planted rows a few years ago yielded some squash sprouts, which are edible, but slightly bitter.
Read my soil enriching article for details: greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2019/08/prep...
Photo of a hand holding 3 sprouts with more showing in the pine straw mulch. Text says, "Trench composting yields acorn squash sprouts"
November 14, 2025 at 12:04 PM
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This ridiculously inaccurate ad has been coming up in my FB feeds. My note to them, "The sunflower is insect pollinated, so its pollen is too heavy and sticky to float in the air to cause allergy reactions. Use a ragweed photo instead. Also, you misspelled pollinator."
Advertisement screen capture. Text says, "The winner is... Extra Strength (blocked out) prevents the release of histamines that cause allergy eyes. #Bringiton #Allergies #Spring #Outdoor #Allergyseason #eyes #Eyeallergies #Floers #Gardening #Pollen" Photo of a woman with dark hair wearing a red & white dress facing a large sunflower. Text on photo says, Itchy allergy eyes vs the pollenator"
November 14, 2025 at 11:57 AM
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#PlantMoreNatives! Our peer-reviewed book, "A Step-by-Step Guide to a Florida Native Yard" provides easy-to-follow guidelines to convert your yard into one that's filled with natives. Landscape drawings make it easy to visualize the various aspects of converting a yard.
upf.com/book.asp?id=...
3 diagrams of a small yard with a house. The top text says,"Create a plan for a landscape that's authentic to Florida with 'A Step-by-Step Guide to a Florida Native Yard." The first one shows a completed landscape with text "Assess your property Creating an overall plan is the funpart of the process and working to the plan will save time and money in the long run" The 2nd one shows the landscape marked with a grid and only a few sections planted. Text says, "Work in sections For both time and budget resons, many people find that it works best to focus on one project at a time." The 3rd diagram shows the yard with a study of the water flow. Text says, "Improve drainage You can inprove the evapotransportaion rate by increasing the leaf surface areas in your landscape."
November 13, 2025 at 12:24 PM
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#AMomentinNature was watching this Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) working in the shallows. We are not separate from Nature, but are part of it. Getting out in Nature can relieve our day-to-day stress. Breathe deep!
Photo of a blue-gray bird with a 2-tone beak wading in rippling water. Greenery reflected in the water.
November 13, 2025 at 12:09 PM
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#GrowMoreFood! Broccoli seems to take forever for the 1st head to form, after harvesting, leave the plant in place. Side shoots are quickly formed & they are sweeter. Keep cutting them off (but not the leaves) so the plant will produce them until the weather warms up. Side shoots are the main crop.
Photo of a vegetable garden showing 2 broccoli plants. One with a a main flowerhead ready for harvest and the other where there are several small heads surrounded by stiff broccoli leaves with lighter green veins. Curly parsley is on the left side growing in the next row. Two pale green lettuce plants are to the right of the broccoli. A building is in the background.
November 12, 2025 at 12:22 PM
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#VeteransDay Thanks to all the veterans for their service, including my husband, a retired Air Force intelligence officer.
Red poppies honor all veterans in the US on Nov. 11 to mark the end of World War I & also the beginning of the anti-fascist movement. “In Flanders fields the poppies blow…”
Close-up photo of a red poppy. It has overlapping red petals and a dark brown center. Out of focus greenery in the background.
November 11, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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In my presentation tonight at University of North Florida in Jacksonville I'll explain how & why public gardens around the world have become more bird-friendly & how these less formal gardens have made a huge difference for people, businesses, & local communities.
www.eventbrite.com/e/ginny-stib...
Photo of a yellow bird with a black cap and balck wings perched on a brown flower head. Various greens are out of focus in the background. Text says, "American Goldfinch Spinus tristis"
November 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM
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It's been a mast year for oaks here in FL. Every few years oaks produce more acorns than normal to ensure that some will grow into trees. If the production was the same each year, then wildlife populations would expand to consume all the acorns. greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...
Photo of a lawn with lots of brown acorns. Text says, "Oaks provide amazing ecosystem services their acorns & more..."
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM