Sunny Days: Growing Sunflowers
August 21, 2010
Sunflowers not only make the garden beautiful but can also be used to bring the beauty of outdoors inside.
It may be towards the end of summer, but you can still plant sunflowers and enjoy them during the fall. In north Florida, try to complete sunflower planting by the third week in August. Depending on the variety, sunflowers will bloom about 55 to 75 days after planting – 60 days is a good average. Some sunflowers are sensitive to day length and may yield shorter plants and earlier bloom when planted in late summer. This corresponds to the reduction in daylight hours as summer progresses toward autumn.
To begin, choose cultivars that fit your landscape. There are now more sunflowers than just the seed bearing giants that many gardeners are familiar with. Just take a look at the gardening catalogs.
Sunflowers can be broadly divided into two types: those grown for production of edible seeds and those grown as ornamentals and cut flowers. Most gardeners will be interested in the ornamental sunflowers, also known as Helianthus annuus.
Sunflowers come in heights ranging from less than one foot to ten feet and also come in a wide range of flower colors. While brilliant yellow will always be popular, you can also choose from creamy white, bronze, mahogany, rusty red, burgundy and orange. Some types produce flowers with more than one color. The center disk of the sunflower also adds to the display and goes through color changes as the flower matures and seeds form.
Sunbright, Sunrich Lemon, Sunrich Orange, Soraya and Moulin Rouge are some that are recommended for Florida.
For best bouquet results, choose cultivars that are pollen-less to prevent pollen from shedding onto a tablecloth or other flowers in an arrangement.
If you want to grow sunflowers for the delicious, nutritious seeds, make sure you choose varieties bred for seed production, such as Mammoth Russian – also known as Mammoth, Russian Giant and Gray Stripe. These tall-growing sunflowers produce a single enormous flower at the top of the plant. To grow a really big seed head, apply general-purpose fertilizer when the flower head begins to appear. Just be sure to place them so that you can stake them if necessary.
Sunflowers are true to their name, they need to be grown in full sun. Prepare a sunflower bed as you would for planting most vegetables. They tolerate heat and dry conditions and almost any soil type. The pH preference is 6.5 to 7.5 and the addition of composted organic matter is beneficial.
Plant seeds about one-quarter inch deep directly into a prepared garden bed. It’s common to plant sunflowers into landscape beds, and many gardeners include a row of sunflowers in spring and fall vegetable gardens. After sowing the seeds, water the bed well and thesun water it as needed to keep the soil moist – even lightly every day if the weather is dry.
Sunflowers should be harvested in early morning before 10:00 a.m. It is best to cut the stems and place them in warm water right away for best results.
The versatility and variety of today’s sunflowers offer something for almost every garden and gardener. If you haven’t tried this plant lately, give it another look.
Theresa Friday is the Residential Horticulture Extension Agent for Santa Rosa County.
EA Pounds Sparta; Heaton’s Blue Devils Have Mixed Night
August 21, 2010
In Friday night Alabama football action, Escambia Academy trounced Sparta, and Escambia County High School had a mixed preseason opener.
Escambia Academy 39 Sparta 0
The Escambia Academy Cougars shut out the Sparta Warriors 39-0 Friday night in the Cougar’s AISA season opener.
The Cougars’ Wesley Steadham had two touchdowns — from 12 and 34 yards out — and 115 yards on 10 carries. Jaylen Henry picked up 124 yards on 15 carries, including an 8-yard touchdown dash. EA had a 4-yard touchdown run from Clayton Dees, and Jacob Fields had a Cougar end zone recovery on a Warrior fumble. Another Sparta fumble was picked off by Robert Whatley who headed straight for the end zone.
Coach Heath Gibson’s Cougars will be on the road next week against Clarke Prep at 7 p.m.
Linden 21
Escambia County High 6
Escambia County 6 Hillcrest-Evergreen 0
The Escambia County High School preseason coaching debut for Mark Heaton was mixed. The Blue Devils fell to Linden and beat Hillcrest-Evergreen 6-0. Heaton is the former Northview High School offensive coordinator. Last season, he was head coach for J.U. Blacksher in Uriah, Alabama.
Viewpoint: ‘Twas The Week Before The Primaries
August 21, 2010
‘Twas the week before the primaries, when all through the state, every creature was stirring, especially candidates.
There was stirring in the polls too, though which direction they were going changed from day to day – and poll to poll. One showed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum and Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Kendrick Meek, two familiar faces in Florida politics, could be stirring in their tougher-than-expected primaries with new-to-the-scene opponents who have spent millions of dollars to wrest the respective nominations away from them.
A Quinnipiac University poll showed both men surging to leads over their largely self-financed opponents, with McCollum leading former Columbia Healthcare/HCA CEO Rick Scott by a 44 percent to 35 percent margin, and Meek leading by 35 percent to 28 percent over Jeff Greene. Less than three weeks ago, McCollum trailed Scott by nine points and Meek was behind real estate mogul Greene by 10 points.
Momentum changes all the time. But the same day, a Sunshine State News poll showed Scott still holding a narrow edge on McCollum, 44 to 42 percent. Explain that.
While you’re at it, explain last week, when a Mason-Dixon poll showed McCollum leading Scott 34 percent to 30 percent in the GOP gubernatorial primary, with a five percent margin of error. Or days later, when a St. Petersburg Times poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs had Scott ahead by a 42 percent to 32 percent tally, with the margin of error at 5.9 percent. A Florida Medical Association poll by The Tarrance Group had McCollum up 44-40.
For those keeping score, in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Mason-Dixon showed Meek ahead by 14 points against self-funded Greene while the Ipsos Poll had Greene up by 4.
By week’s end, no one was sure which numbers were most accurate as the candidates head into the home stretch. The cause for the disparity was likely that some polls were surveying registered voters; some polls were counting only “likely” voters.
Convention wisdom says likely voter surveys are typically more accurate, unless of course, an unlikely number of voters show up at the polls. Put another way, your guess is as good as your favorite pollster’s.
There was little doubt however that the hotly contest primaries could have unintended beneficiaries, however. Independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist and presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink maintained leads of all their possible opponents.
Quinnipiac University’s survey of general election matchups showed Sink, who once trailed McCollum by double-digits, now leading 31-29 percent in that hypothetical matchup – within the poll’s 3 percentage point margin of error. If Scott becomes the GOP nominee, Sink holds a 33-29 percent advantage, with independent Bud Chiles drawing support from 12 percent of voters.
Looking ahead to the November Senate race, Crist led former House Speaker Marco Rubio 39-32 percent, with Meek gaining 16 percent. If Greene wins next week’s Democratic primary, Crist gets 40 percent to Rubio’s 32 percent and Greene’s 15 percent.
Crist’s numbers were buoyed by a stunning level of support from Democratic voters. Crist, who broke with the Republican Party in April, pulled more support among Democrats – 45 percent – than either Meek or Greene, who drew 36 and 31 percent respectively. But that’s probably not a surprise to anyone who witnessed lawmakers’ reactions to his last few State of the State addresses, when the loudest cheers came from the back of the room.
SINK’S NOT WAITING FOR THE RESULTS
Like the rest of us, Alex Sink will find out Tuesday who she will be running against in the fall. But she did not wait this week to get started campaigning for the Governor’s Mansion, naming her running mate earlier than expected and launching her first television commercial.
Sink tapped former state Sen. Rod Smith to join her on the ticket, hoping the tough-edged, ex-prosecutor from Gainesville would help her courting conservative voters. Sink had been expected to wait until after the primaries were over to make her choice, but she said this week she wanted voters being inundated with television commercials to know they had “a choice” in the governor’s race.
And hoping to make that choice clear for them, Sink released an ad attacking both McCollum and Scott for the harsh GOP primary, with impersonators of Scott and McCollum arguing in a classroom to illustrate the point.
“Don’t know about you, but I’ve had just about enough of politicians attacking each other,” Sink said over the argument in the commercial. “I’m Alex Sink, and I’m ready to attack Florida’s challenges.” After detailing a few of her campaign promises, Sink closes the ad by saying “the fight I’ll be having as governor is for you.”
However, the state Republican Party signaled this week it’s just as ready to pick a fight with Sink. Republican Party of Florida Executive Director Ronnie Whitaker criticized Sink for appearing at a Miami fundraiser with President Barack Obama, but not taking pictures with him.
By contrast, Meek’s campaign, which has sought for weeks to show that Obama’s administration was not quietly supporting Gov. Crist in the Senate race, couldn’t wait to show pictures of the Miami Congressman with Obama. Just in case anyone missed the news that the president and Meek stopped for sandwiches after the fundraiser, Meek’s campaign E-mailed pictures to supporters.
Elsewhere in politics, a couple of high-profile national Republicans got involved in the decidedly low-profile attorney general’s race. Former Alaska Gov. and Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin endorsed former Hillsborough prosecutor Pam Bondi on her Facebook page, which carries more weight than when most people click the site’s “like” button. Former Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson quickly countered with an endorsement from former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is speculated to be considering a run for president like Palin.
The odd man out, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, must be waiting to hear back from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
CANNON GOES TO BAT FOR REDISTRICTING
In non-political news – that is still very political – House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon took to the Supreme Court to defend the Legislature’s attempt to blunt a pair of ballot measures that could threaten the Republican Party’s grip on the Legislature and congressional delegation.
In a rare move by an elected official, Cannon, who is also a lawyer, appeared before justices to argue in favor of keeping proposed constitutional Amendment 7 on the November ballot. He said the measure is needed to assure minorities can maintain representation in the Legislature and Congress when voting district boundaries are redrawn in 2012.
The high court seemed divided on the issue though. Newly installed Chief Justice Charles Canady noted that there was no law that banned a constitutional provision that might be vague or confusing and questioned whether the court even had the authority to prohibit the people from considering an amendment because it is ambiguous.
But Justice Peggy Quince voiced concerns throughout the argument that voters might not know the relationship between the amendments, specifically that Amendment 7 was meant to either counter or add to the other two proposals.
“They’re going to read 5 and 6,” she said. “They’re going to read 7. And my goodness, will have no idea that 7 really is there to negate or explain or do something about 5 and 6. And it just seems to me that we really do the public a disservice if we put these kinds of amendments on the ballot that don’t even make reference to the fact that there is something else that’s there that is related to them.”
Elsewhere, new Public Service Commissioner Ronald Brisé was publicly sworn-in to the panel and Gov. Crist got seven names to replace two other commissioners whose applications for re-appointment were denied by a panel of lawmakers. The PSC Nominating Council selected a term-limited senator who was overlooked for two recent openings, Sen. Lee Constantine, and the former executive director of the panel, Mary Bane, who was in charge when PSC staffers sent off-the-record cell phone messages to utility employees during rate increase hearings.
Other finalists included former Missouri Public Service Commissioner Connie Murray, Senate Communications, Energy & Utilities Committee legislative analyst Kevin Wiehle, West Palm Beach assistant city administrator Eduardo Balbis, former Tampa assistant city attorney Julie I. Brown and James S. Baumstark, an engineer who previously worked for Progress Energy.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The candidates – and the polls – were all over the place in this final full week of campaigning before Tuesday’s primaries, and a candidate for governor who has the luxury of not having serious primary opposition kicked off the general election in earnest.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Likely voters are usually a more accurate gauge, unless you have a lot of people who come to the polls who normally don’t vote,” Lance deHaven Smith, Florida State University professor who studies polling and public policy, summing up the ambivalence of the week’s polling.
FHP: Jay Wreck Causes Minor Injuries
August 21, 2010
A Friday afternoon wreck in Jay left two people with only minor injuries.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Roy D. Kelley, 66, of Brewton turned into the path of a 1999 Ford driven by Durlyn Y. Farish, 59, of Jay. Kelley, who was northbound, was attempting to turn across traffic onto Alabama Street, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Kelley and Farish received only minor injuries in the crash. Kelly was charged with an improper turn, according to the FHP.
Church Seeks Copy Paper Donations For Molino Park
August 21, 2010
Highland Baptist Church is collecting paper for Molino Park Elementary School.
The church, a Molino Park Elementary Partner in Education, is accepting donations of reams of white copy paper.
“Due to budget cuts, they are in great need of donations,” said Pastor Brian Calhoun. The church will also hold a special worship service at 10:45 a.m., Sunday, August 22 to pray for school staff members and students as they prepare for the new school year.
Rain In The Forecast
August 21, 2010
We are expecting scattered showers and thunderstorms this weekend. Storms that do form will be slow movers, dropping one to two inches in an area while nearby communities receive no rain.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Saturday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 96. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Sunday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Monday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Monday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Tuesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
- Tuesday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Wednesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 92. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Wednesday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Thursday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Early Voting Continues Through Saturday
August 20, 2010
Early voting ends Saturday in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties for the August primaries.
There have been 4,847 early voters as of Thursday in Escambia County, while 3,529 had voted in Santa Rosa County.
There are four early voting locations in Escambia County:
- Supervisor of Elections Main Office, 213 Palafox Place 2nd Floor
- Supervisor of Elections Annex, 292 Muscogee Road, Cantonment
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
- West Florida Genealogy Library (former Tryon Branch Library), 5740 North 9th Avenue
And there are two early voting locations for Santa Rosa County residents:
- Elections Office (behind McDonalds on U.S. 90, Milton), 6495 Caroline St., Suite F
- South Service Center (one block east of the zoo on U.S. 98), 5841 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze.
Early voting hours are 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in both counties on Saturday.
Josiah Paul McElhaney
August 20, 2010
Josiah Paul McElhaney was the infant son of Joshua and Melissa (Wiggins) McElhaney and the little brother of James and Maevree. Josiah’s little earthly body was very sick, but now he has a perfect, whole, Heavenly body and for that we are so thankful. No suffering, just total peace in Jesus. We praise God for the comfort, strength, and peace that only he can give. God is so good to let us have this time with Josiah, for he has so impacted our lives now and forever.
Josiah’s short life has left so many people missing him and longing for that day we can once again hold him. His grandparents are James and Judi McElhaney, and Gary and Judy Wiggins, great-grandparents are Mable McElhaney and LeeRoy and Lois Wiggins as well as many uncles, aunts, cousins family and friends.
Born on Monday August 16, 2010, at 3:27 a.m. he was loved by his family then at 5:15 a.m. he was welcomed into Jesus’ arms. Waiting to meet him were his great-grandparents Cecil McElhaney, Mildred Howell, Lamar and Mary Rawson, and Bob Howell.
We thank God for our family, church family, and many friends for supporting us through prayers and labors of love during this journey. We also would like to thank the Baptist hospital staff and Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home for the services and compassion each provided.
A private graveside service will be held at a later date.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Atmore, Ala., is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers a fund has been set up in Josiah Paul McElhaney’s name at United Bank of Atmore, AL.
Susan June Powell
August 20, 2010
Susan June Powell, 61, of Flomaton, died Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at her residence after a brief illness. She was a native of Ipswich, England, and a long-time resident of Escambia County. She was a homemaker.
She is survived by two sons, Kenny Powell II of Flomaton and Kevin Powell of Century; one daughter, Donna Carman of Houston, Texas; one brother, Richard Fenn of England; and four grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held for Mrs. Powell at a later date with Williams Memorial Chapel funeral home in charge of arrangements.
Two Injured In Highway 4 Crash; One Airlifted
August 20, 2010
Two people were injured in a single vehicle accident east of Jay Friday morning.
Regina Bradshaw, 30, of Milton, was westbound on Highway 4 about 7:25 a.m. when she fell asleep and lost control near Pitnic Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Her vehicle left the roadway, clipped a utility pole, hit a culvert, and traveled over a driveway before striking a ditch embankment. The distance from where she left the roadway to where her 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe came to rest was almost 400 feet, according to the FHP. Troopers said the vehicle overturned two complete times, ejecting Bradshaw.
Bradshaw was airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola in serious condition. Her passenger, Kevin Nelson, 19. of Pace, was transported to the hospital by ambulance with serious injuries.
The accident is still under investigation by the FHP. Troopers said charges area pending against Bradshaw.
Pictured above and below: Two people were injured in this single vehicle accident east of Jay Friday morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
