If anyone is interested in checking it out, the bat rehab, conservation, and education organization (Tampa Bay Bats - formerly the Florida Bat Conservancy) I am part of will be at the USF Plant Sale. I highly recommend stopping by the table :)

Will do derby. What is the best road to access the plant sale or will they have signs, not really too familiar with the university.

Darren

I actually don't know having never been there myself. I will probably not be at the festival this time either (disappointed). I am going to have out of town company that weekend so I couldn't volunteer to help man the table.

Darren I always go south on I275, east on Fowler, left on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and then first right onto Pine Drive. The entrance to the sale is on the left and there are several large parking areas on the right. Park as close to the entrance as you can as you will be loaded down with plants when you leave, if you are like me! I sometimes have to make several trips or nab one of the golf carts to carry my stuff!

Grrr.... I hate living in northern Lake County! Every time I see a festival/sale (with the exception of the recent Wings and Wildflowers) I would end up spending more in gas than I would in plants! The same goes with all the Native Plant nurseries. I swear, I'm going to lay down the money, take a Master Gardener class at UF and start up my own Native Plant nursery here! Tampa really isn't all that far from me, but I just couldn't afford the gas to make the trip at the moment.

I hope you find some good deals. The best thing about University run plant sales is that they usually don't include plants that would be invasive and are adaptable to the area. So anything you get should be good. Just make sure you ask about sun/water requirements to make sure you have the appropriate conditions in your yard for the plants.

sis3, uh duh, near the botanical garden. I am familiar with that area just down the street from the VA. Know exactly where to go, thank you. BTW I still have that passiflora for you.

Leekle, I kept on seeing the plants sales that were too far away and was feeling left out too! Thats why I decided to check to see when USF was having their plant sale that sis3 told me about! Luck would have it, I would see it in time. Usually I hear about things after they happen.

Darren

Just got back from the plant sale at USF. Wow! No really, Wow! Can you say kid in a candy store? So first mistake was not getting cash before attending. Second mistake was not bringing a wagon or cart.

I left with 5 plants but had I cash, I would have easily had 15 or more. There are some really good buys that could easily make up for the gas money Leekle. I bought 5 hibiscus plants, two "Hula Girls", two "Edward Laplante" and another I forget the name but someone said it was a snow queen, this hibiscus has the most unusual leaves I've seen, varigated I think they call it and this plant is considered a tree? Dunno, I was told it was a very hardy, newbie tolerant hibiscus.

The blooms and varieties were overwhelming. I saw 8' tall maple leafed hibiscus for $8. Salvia and sage and other small plants for $4.

And the grounds are filled with unsual plants and trees. You can buy plants, walk them over to a keeper tent where they will store them for you and later, ferry them via golf cart to your car! The volunteers were awesome, so sweet and helpful.

Thanks Sis3 for telling me about this.

Darren

I stopped by the sale from 10-11. I was a bit disappointed to see Vince Mortellaro (Island Stylin) and Jungle Gems weren't vendoring this one, though I shouldn't be surprised as this wasn't technically a tropical plant sale.

Between the 2 of them, I must have spent 300 bucks last July.

Plan on going back tomorrow to make a few purchases. There really is an amazing variety of things there.

Yea. after my experience at the Green Thumb festival in April, I made sure I had a decent amount of cash on hand. though many vendors, especially the larger ones have a cell phone credit card system like Square.

I came off without spending too much, kept it below what I was hoping. I liked this sale, and there was a different mix than the Green Thumb.

Must say, my prized find was a Tacca Integrifolia. My partner said I was grinning and looked like a kid on Christmas morning after I bought it. I had wanted a tacca since my early 20's and then after seeing a tacca chantrieri with 20 flower spikes at Kew gardens, I was totally hooked.

About 10 other plants, one of which was a fern won from the raffle drawings. I am going to try to propagate the miracle fruit I bought and the Alocasia 'stingray' had a couple of smaller "pups" in the plant, so I may have some cool things for trade at the next plant exchange.

All of them are potted up now. I am happy and exhausted.

Foverlad, I probably bumped into you today, haha, some of those isles just a little tight with plants. I thought about going back tomorrow and coming back prepared but I'm not sure how the mrs will take it ;-)

Muscled, yeah I was grinning from ear to ear as soon as I spotted a hybrid hibiscus! Intersting plant, the bat plant. Didn't see one but I think I only saw a fraction of the offerings.

Did you see that silk floss tree? To me that what the highlight of my visit. It looks like a hibiscus on steriods!!! I have a new love and will be searching for one from this point on. Gorgeous pink & white bloom.

Retired,

While standing in line at the gates, I actually considered the possibility that you could be someone standing right in front of me lol

Looking forward to revisiting tomorrow. From previous (limited) experience, Sundays usually have some decent markdowns and it isn't quite so crowded until the afternoon when folk come visit after church.

Oooh, all the more reason.......to convince the mrs we need to go tomorrow! I saw some really good prices already today........so.

Darren

Darren,

Yeah, with a full day having passed, the vendors have a chance to peruse "the competition", and try to release as much stock as possible without having to haul it all away, so there's always a number of them who take 10-25% off their prices, depending on Saturday's success.

In July, when USF had their Tropical Plants sale, I met this really amazing guy. He'd bug you about buying stuff, but in the most meaningless and unaffronting manor. He'd spout things like "The only good plant is a sold plant!" and "Don't make me lug this stuff home!"

When I got home from the fair, I did some research on him, trying to find his shop. All I found were a few articles from the St Pete Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) dating back to 2001 or so. He had a nursery on Gunn highway, family sold some of the acreage for Citrus Park Mall parking and he was planning to move out west. He'd swam in the pond on his property, unafraid of the gators or various other insects/reptiles around the property.

All these years later he was still working with USF, but I couldn't find any info on a shop/nursery now.

He's famous for his ridiculously cheap gingers, bromeliads and other tropical goods. I was looking forward to seeing him again, but alas, he didn't make it this time around.

Hmmm Foreverlad that sounds like a guy I met today at Tampa Bay Landscaping and Nursery on Gunn Hwy. Super nice guy, very good prices. I bought 4 plants, most expensive was $10.99! Sugar Maple Hibiscus for $3.97, Cassia for $6.00 and Sweet Almond for $10.97 and red porterweed for $3.97. I'd probably bought more but my car was full.....

I didn't see any ginger but really didn't see all the property.

Darren

Well,

I ended up with a pretty great haul on Sunday. Only purchased from 2 vendors, but I think I got my money's worth.

From MAD Plants I purchased 3 Red Abyssinian Bananas and an Ice Cream Banana plant (I already had one of each at home already), a couple of Elephant Ears, and 1 or 2 ginger plants (the exact name eludes me at the moment), all at decent prices.

The Soroptimists had a large selection of $5 Bromeliads, most of which had numerous pups attached. I couldn't help myself, I purchased 6 or 7 gallon containers, along with 2 ginger plants, 7 Plumeria (for only 35 bucks total!) and an Alternanthera that I'm going to try propagating later.

All in all, a very healthy haul, and it should definitely help push my garden a step closer toward a little tropical paradise.

So glad you had a successful weekend, Darren, Muscled bear and Foreverlad. Darren I am so glad you found a Sweet Almond (I know how you liked the fragrance of the one in my little garden) and a red Porterweed! Now you have even more planting to do! Your yard is going to be fabulous!

The Soroptimists had the best prices IMHO. Unfortunately they didn't take charge and some of the plants I wanted yesterday were gone today. Did they have two areas set up? I saw a vendor with alot of plumeria but did not notice a name.

I picked up Swamp Daisy, Confederate Rose, Red Mallow and ?

We forgot to buy a red cloak at Crawley's as we waited because they were so tall and then left without it! There is always spring, right?

The ginger were beautiful but I didn't see any that were inexpensive....$20 for 3 gals.

Very happy to go and look forward to the spring sale.

Darren

Ran outside and checked; 2 Scarlet Fever gingers. I'd heard of them, but had never seen them. 10 bucks apiece, each one nearly falling over due to their height.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scarlet Fever Curcuma

Darren,

No, the Soroptimists were only located there next to the Begonia Society booth. They had 7 Plumeria 1-gallon pots with a total of 8 plants in them that were of unknown origin (as far as flower color and variety). I had to grab all 8 of them, as the Plumeria vendor two booths over was charging 20 apiece.

I don't mind a little uncertainty for 35 bucks lol.

The plain 'ol gingers I grabbed were in the back left corner of their site, 10 bucks each, and MAD Plants Scarlet Fever Curcuma were 10 bucks each as well.

And yes, there is ALWAYS next Spring to look forward to. That should give you more than enough time to bone up on information and figure out the next 100 things you need for the garden!

Mike

Sis3, oh yeah I got my sweet almond and loving it. I saw the bush at the entrance to the gardens, its huge! I picked up a red penta today too. Couldn't remember it's name earlier. Even though my back has been acting up for this past week I have a bunch of plants to go in the ground tomorrow. Yesterday I planted the cassia very close to the top of my septic, not realizing how big it will get, so I have to dig it up and move it. Working on my propagation skills hoping to get it nailed down so I can come over for a few cuttings ;-)

Mike, I was thinking of the blue ginger plant. Still learning the plants, so many different ones with the same name. Those scarlet ginger are pretty nice. Too funny about the plumeria. While driving home after dropping my daughter off at school the other day I noticed a barrel of cuttings that was waiting for trash pick up. A four foot section of that cutting jumped into the back of my car. Won't know til it blooms what I've got but it was free ;-)

My daughter was amazed when she spotted the silk floss tree in the middle of the gardens. She couldn't believe it. We spotted another tree that wasn't blooming too.

Darren