Sept. 28th, 2023

Hello Friends and hoping that everyone got through this long hot summer and are ready for some Fall gardening.

It's been a long time since we (Annie) wrote a long blog post and many people have been wanting and urging us to catch up and do it more often. Customers are asking about "us" and our "plant life" as it is nowadays, so thought this would be a good time to recap how us and our nursery are doing !

(Note: yup, this is an "old"pic of us, and the Plantman was 50lbs heavier then, and we don't need to talk about any poundage I have put On, haha)

First, although we are getting up more in years, our enthusiasm for plant life  and doing Market, and shows is still in full force - we just have had to do some adjustments here and there, to keep it going.

So, let's get some personal stuff out of the way - we know many of you miss seeing Mitch at market much, and he misses that too, but truth be told, between battling Prostate cancer, Heat Strokes, Covid, recent Heart conditions and a loss of 60+ pounds due to all these treatments , the Plantman has had to slow down. His heart and soul are still in it and he still remains a vital force of the company.  But good news is that he is still in remission for his prostate cancer the last 3 years, he had some spanking new stents put in his heart this summer, and he just has to limit his time outside in the Florida heat. He turned 71 years young this summer, and can be found constantly perusing the Net for Plant pics & info, seeds & sources and loves to connect with many plant people locally and all around the world.  And of course, he is Chief Water guy, making sure our home nursery stock is kept healthy and hydrated. In his heart, he still feels "mid-40s" !

For me, just a few years behind at 68 young and heart, sure, I have slowed down too, go regularly for some physical health stuff, and am a proud owner of my own Stents now !  But we both are hanging in there, and aim to be for many more years but of course, we could not do it without some fabulous help in the form of our main man at market, Ray Gurgui, our personal energizer bunny, who keeps us organized and guides all our loads, unloads, set up and sales.  We also have the gift of part time help from Gwen White and Oliver Petrovic (who makes the long trek from Serbia every year for a 6 month stint to help us !)  We are actively looking for another member to join our team who loves plants and can provide some needed physical assistance so if you or someone you know is looking for a great opportunity to be in the plant business.

We had a wonderful time at Summer Market at Williams Park again this year, and after a long September break that Market takes, we are thrilled to get back to the Fall Market season, that starts Sat. Oct. 7th at the regular location of the old Al Lang Field (now Rowdies stadium parking lot) in downtown St. Pete.  The market has long been our home base since Mitch started with the market in its inception in 2002 and I joined up with him in 2005. We are very proud to be a part of this market that started right at the beginning of the growth spurt of Downtown St. Pete and feel that the market has hugely contributed to the heart of our town's community. The Market enables us and many other small businesses to contribute to grow and thrive.

We are continuing to grow some plants that are special to our hearts and we will continue to do Road Trips all around to find fabulous, healthy plants to bring to you - one of our main goals has been and will continue to be, supporting other small family-owned plant businesses for what we do buy.  They know we want to hand pick and they know we only want beautiful, healthy plants and many of them have their own challenges nowadays in the industry up against larger suppliers, so we feel it is important to contribute and support them as they continue to strive to make a living doing what they love in their smaller ways.

Okay, before ending this, let me give you some dates in the future for some special events we participate.  The annual Fall Plant festival in the beautiful little town of Mt. Dora happens the weekend of November 4th & 5th.  And the big Shopapalooza Festival at Vinoy Park happens Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 25th & 26th.

This weekend, Fri and Sat. Sept 29th & 30th, we will have our last late Summer sale at the Home Nursery, 10am-5pm both days.  You can find some great deals on plants, come visit Mitch (!) and help us raise some much needed funds to get our Fall market and Show season happening - we so appreciate your support - without our loyal followers and new friends we love to make, we could not keep going, so heartfelt thanks from both of us.

Home nursery addy is:

1331 39h avenue north, St. Pete 33703 (just down the way from nearby  Northeast Shopping area of St. Pete).  Parking is easy in our neighborhood (just please don't block driveways), and we always have cool drinks and cookies to share.

Lastly, I will be making another post immediately with a current list of our plant stock availability, but there will be many specimens that won't make the list since it is Very hard to keep track of a 999-plant yard inventory, so it's always fun to come visit the home jungle and we guarantee you can find something, big or small, to take home with you -  And Mitch is always very happy to share some cuttings and plant knowledge :)

Thank you again for your support to us 💓💓

Annie & Mitch - Mitch Armstrong Nursery