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Friday, February 28, 2014



  Get ready....here it is...yes, Spring IS here, a little early and just in time for a glorious weekend of weather in the Tampa Bay area forecasted!

This weekend, we do double duty, covering the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete, and also bringing our Tropical plants to Gilchrest Park in Punta Gorda.

We have a ton of great new stuff, one of which is the outstanding large blooms of the Starburst Clerodendron, shown here. They bloom from Spring into Summer and make a spectacular display in your garden area.   We are also ramping up on our selection of spring and summer perennials such as Sunflowers, Gallardia, Lavender, Geraniums, Cleome and more more more.

We also have some great new specimens for your shade gardens with new ferns, Lemon Lime Philodendron and Peace Lilys.

The Vietnamese perennial Hollyhocks continue to bud out and will be a steady presence over the spring time at our Markets and Shows. Colors include, red, pink, crimson, peach and purple.

We are looking forward to the following weekend, when we head up to the Marion County Master Gardener Spring show in Ocala, our first big show of the weekend.  We will be out of St. Pete Market a lot in March and April, so be sure to check out blogs for our schedule.

Hope you can get out and get some fresh air, sunshine and visit your local Markets this weekend !

Tuesday, February 25, 2014



Tomorrow, Wed. Feb. 26th will be our last appearance at the Philippii Farmhouse Market in Sarasota, for the season.  We hope you come out to see us and get some great plant stuff.

We will miss Philippii Market and many thanks to all that came out to support us this season and for the great support and friendship of the market management and fellow vendors.

For you Sarasota followers, you can still find us at the Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete and our Spring Plant shows. Check out our previous blog posts for dates and info !

Friday, February 21, 2014



Spring is near, Spring is coming, Spring into action !
Appreciating this time of year here in Tampa Bay is utmost in our minds lately, still having some cool mornings and evenings and welcome sunshine during the day.

Getting ready for Saturday Morning Market downtown St. Pete tomorrow and our nursery is alive with bountiful color and hundreds of butterflies flitting around.

I think we will get a smattering of rain on Friday but think Market day is going to be gorgeous.

Check out on the left, my blooming Popcorn Cassia - this plant just doesn't quit, blooming often and prolifically and the aroma of the leaves is pure reliving of "movie theatre" time !



When we have Hibiscus, we typically have colors that you don't commonly find, and one example is the stunning Gator Orange Hibiscus shown here. A dwarf variety, but provides constant blooming with a glowing solid orange bloom.


Who doesn't love Cosmos? Such a cheerful flower, they are one of the first to show signs of Spring coming. Behind them is our popular yellow Straw flower, and Gallardia (blanket flower), 2 die hards for any garden or patio.


Mitch loves, loves, loves Sedums, and it doesn't get any better than this beautiful Succulent Garden Bowl. Packed full of 6 types of Sedum and succulents, its a sure winner on a sunny patio or garden step. Loving sun and low maintenance as far as water is concerned.



More Cosmos !




Dahlias are one of Annie's favorite flowers - the blooms are just gorgeous and sturdy and hold up even in windy conditions.


Digitalis (Foxglove) is a hardy perennial around here..trust us, we know that for sure, as we have them springing back up on the nursery property all the time.  Long lasting blooms and striking foliage makes this a great tall background in the garden.  Butterflies and Bees love them too.


Perennial Morning Glory vines are a hardy, delicate beauty on the fence line, bursting with blue and magenta blooms. 


Delicate Violas are another one of Mitch's favorites. The colors are just so yummy, you practically want to eat them...oh yeah, they are edible !!












We have much more in stock and now is the time to get those Passion Vines planted that you have been looking to add to your garden.  We have "Lady Margaret", Red Vitafolia, Alata Ceruella, Purple Possem Passion Fruit and Quadrangularis Passion Fruit, along with a great companion vine, the Swallowtail Pipe Vine.

We had a great last Wednesday down at Phillippi Farmhouse market in Sarasota and are sad to say, that next Wed. Feb. 26th will be our last day there for the season, as we prepare for all the big botanical shows coming up.  We hope our Sarasota friends can come up and visit us at Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete, or catch us at one of the area Plant fairs this spring.  We will miss Phillippi, but don't forget, their season runs til the end of April, so you can still get great produce, foods, flowers and art from their wonderful vendors.

All for now, heading out to get that big ole trailer loaded. Hope to see you at Market tomorrow - we can't wait to get there, to get yummy strawberries from our neighboring vendor ladies from Wimauma, stock up on the produce, visit our favorite market puppy, Emmett at the Schrameks Fused Glass booth, grab a snack from Alice the Cheese Lady and nosh on one of our favorite food vendors, The Stone Pizza place !

Also, for our followers down in the Punta Gorda area, Susan and I will be down there next weekend to take part in the MY Arts & Craft fair at Gilchrest Park, right on the water. We love bringing our plants to PG and the people there have always been very supportive to us. So, if you are in the area, stop on by - the show runs Saturday 10 to 5, and Sunday 10 to 4.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Hollyhock Time !

(image courtesy of Valentine-clipcart.com)



Happy Valentines Day all !

Love is in the air, and love of our plants is certainly in the air as Spring is right around the corner and we are gearing up for a great Spring season at area Farmer Markets as well as big Botanical Plant shows around Florida.

Below is our Spring Market/show schedule as it stands right now and we may be adding more.  As our big botanical Shows get closer, we will blog about specifics of the show.


FEBRUARY
Feb. 15 - Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Feb. 19 - Phillippi Farmers Market, Sarasota
Feb. 22 - Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Feb. 26 - Phillippi Farmers Market, Sarasota

MARCH
Mar. 1 - Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Mar. 1-2  TBA
Mar. 8 & 9 - Ocala Master Gardener Show, Ocala

Mar. 15 & 16 - Lea Gardens Spring Sale, Orlando
Mar. 22nd - TBA
Mar. 29 & 30 - Greenfest, Tampa

APRIL
Apr. 5 & 6 - Wintergarden Spring Show, Wintergarden
Apr. 4, 5 & 6 - Tropiflora Nursery Spring Plant Sale
Apr. 12 - Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Apr. 19 - Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Apr. 26 & 27 - Green Thumb Festival, St. Pete

MAY
May 17 & 18 - Hibiscus Festival, Punta Gorda

Mark your calendars for these dates and we hope to see you there. Many of the big Botanical shows are local, or an easy one-tank trip from Pinellas county area.  Meanwhile, going to share some pics of some fab flowers we are taking to Market this Saturday in St. Pete:








Colorful Cosmos brighten any garden




One of our favorite perennials, Gallardia, aka Blanket Flower", we especially love the bi-color.  Super hardy, can take tons of sun and draught tolerant.





Along with our current crop of Serenity Lavender, we have pots of Lavendula Pinnata. Great scent & loves sun.



One of our customer's all time favorites, the Vancouver Centennial Geranium is gorgeous even when not blooming. The variegated leaves look just like the Canadian Maple Leaf.  These can live for years.


Blooming early this year, my Tibouchina heteromalla, aka Big leaf Tibo, has an intense violet blue bloom. We have a big crop of 1 gallon babies that are looking for a good home to bloom in the Summer.




We continue to have a great selection of Air Plants, and this Tillandsia ionantha bundle, is a customer favorite.



The first crop of perennial Hollyhocks are starting to bud up

and bloom and we have them in Purple and deep Rose.



Hope to see you at Market this weekend, come on out and soak up the sunshine and fresh air !

Friday, February 7, 2014

 Greetings all, we are running behind on updating the blog this week, so quickly, this is what is happening on the farm !

Last weekend, we had a great Market at St. Pete on Saturday and also a great weekend down at Gamble Mansion in Ellenton.

Some nice cool air has just come in to bring in another beautiful Florida Market day at Saturday Morning Market this week.

Also, on Sunday, we will be set up down at Bradenton Beach, at Coquina Park.

We have TONS of great new stuff, cold and warm hardy bushes, perennials, Herbs, Tillandsias and much more, so come on out and enjoy a beautiful day in the Heart of St. Pete, at Saturday Morning Market (www.saturdaymorningmarket.com)

We continue to vend at the Phillippi Mansion Farmers market in Sarasota each Wednesday though the end of February. Then we are off and running on our big Spring plant shows, so stay tuned for all the info about those and more...more...more !