I assume you'll be keeping pretty close to St Pete during your visit. If you intend to venture further afield, I'd recommend a visit to the remarkable rose gardens at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. In addition to the vast array of roses that Malcolm Manners has collected and oversees there, the college is famous for the buildings Frank Lloyd Wright designed for its campus (the world's largest collection of FLW-designed buildings situated in one location). Lakeland is roughly the same distance from St Pete as Sarasota (but in another direction). Donny, are you still selling roses at the Farmers Market in Raleigh? If so, when would be a likely time to find you there come spring/early summer?

Hi again. A gardener will be raffling a Butterfly Bench at the swap. Debbie Kuhne Burch Debbie's Benches & Exotics will be raffling off a Concrete Butterfly Garden Bench! The tickets will be sold 1 for $2 or 3 for $5. Please check our page and click on the LIKE button. www.facebook.com/debbiesbenches

Hi Andrea, I'm not in your neck of the woods but you're welcome to come over and take a look at the garden anytime. I'm up behind the dogtrack, have a small backyard sloping to a lake, and initially started out with a 5' x 50' box that produced wonderfully for the first two years, then nematodes got the best of my soil. This year I've moved above ground and I've got a lot to learn about container gardening but it's nice to be picking zucchini and cucumbers again.... Tom

Kristin, welcome to the forum. This is a GREAT place for a Florida gardener, whether just starting, or an old-timer with green thumbs, hands and shoulders. You will love it here. I started here over ten years ago and have learned just about everything I know from these forums. I had a variegated pittosporum and it grew like a monster. They have very few problems and are generally very healthy. I eventually pulled it out to plant some tropicals in its spot but if you just want a big ol' healthy plant, pittosporum will fill the bill. Carol