I got there yesterday at 8:20am and had to park in the 4th line of cars!!! I usually get there at that time and I'm in the first row. It was really crowded. I was looking for a nice plant to put in the bed on the side of my house facing the street (I'm on the corner lot) to replace an Indian rubber vine. I got a 3 gal hibiscus for $5! It is beautiful. Not a fancy tropical or a double, but the color was just breathtaking. I got it at Esperanza's Garden Center booth. Seemed like a family run business and she gave me a card. They are at 6001 Haines Rd in St. Pete. They had beautiful plants and the prices were so low, but I really can't go digging any more holes in the yard. I have enough to take care of now. I got my free plant(lantana). Only got one this year because my DH was home sick. Did get one little plant from Colorfield Farms (they have great stuff) but I have no idea what it is!lol It's an oak or maple flowering plant with pink & yellow flowers. Also came in red & yellow. I love the Green Thumb Festival. They are so well organized. I wish they would change one thing...keep the dogs out. It's so crowded and everyone's pulling a wagon, some people trying to get by in scooters and then you have two or three people with dogs getting all tangled up. All in all, it's one of the best sales you can go to. Julie

Do you think that the city lets the vendors have those spaces for nothing? There is a charge to "rent" those spaces and the bigger the space the more the cost. Green Thumb prices increase larger than any other sale in the Tampa/St. Pete area every year where as some other sales such as USF and UT in March have retained a more stable fee for the vendore. Green Thumb has always been expensive in the first place for the tiny spaces they give the vendor and is strict about enforcing the "Don't go outside of the space you have rented" or they will charge you a double space. Do you not think that it is a hell of a lot more effort to transport plants from the normal vendors venue of retail sales? Are fuel prices and cost of operating vehicles to move to a sale not incredible compared to the years past, and they weren't cheap in those years. Do you not think that both the large and smaller growers have time put into both labor (i.e. employees that want to be paid, not a labor of love to work), or have vested time to produce a commercial living product that is not like selling dead TV sets, or jeans which don't require constant care to keep alive and in good condition and even if not sold like the TV or jeans requires this care everyday? Do you not think that insurance, utilities (including water, electric) & labor cost have gone up in gross gains over the past year? Do you not think that potting materials (plastic, pesticides, potting mediums) have not increased along with other petroleum based products and transport fees to get these to wholesale trade market? Do you believe that the state doesn't always want a larger slice of the pie from any business including the grower? Do you not want to get paid for your time when you work and produce what ever you produce? Time is all one has to sell rather a Burger king worker or a airline pilot, it is time that we sell based on the skill. While you enjoy the hobby and volunteer your time which is what most of the vendors do it it is not the same, though it is a labor of love. Agriculture rather a farmer or nursery of any type cannot be held to the same minimum wage standard as one gets working at Home Depot or Best Buys. You, as a grower will spend many more hours growing plants then the punk at home depot working 4 PM to 8 PM watering and loading muclh then going home at 8 PM. The grower applies the same amount of time as any small business owner yet his stock often doesn't have a survival rate like the guy selling TV's or jeans. This is called "spoilage", just like if someone at Best Buys drops a TV set and cannot sell it. Spoilage is a loss and is expected from a grower, yet it is a loss. It can be from bugs or disease. What you descibe you could have applied to CVS or Walgreens verse Wal-mart. The small grower verse the mega generic Home Depot, Lowes, or Wal-Mart who buy in mass and expect the grower to take all "spoilage" back and be bonded thus the grower has to be huge and only offer generic plants grown in huge numbers for the most part. Post like yours are not all that good, though you like the nice plants what you really are saying is you are cheap and don't want to support the small grower. Thats okay but why brag about it and have no understanding for things you don't consider the little guy has to go through who doesn't have a billion dollars to spend such as the big box stores?? Thats okay too as the small growers fall like all small business to the big box's your choice will be further narrowed, don't expect Lowes to carry those pretty Hibiscus you liked, and if they do you better get there the day they arrive because they will be in the TLC in a few days, or dead. Expect more growers that sell to the box stores continue to be imported. Did you not know that many nurseries have moved to out of USA shores? Buy one of those huge barrel cactus from time to time Home Depot sells at very low prices for such a slow and space taking plant it doesn't come from a desert USA cactus grower but rather from some central American or Island grower outside of the USA, even if imported by the cactus coral wholesaler which is a genric succulent grower (broker) in the USA. Thank you for allowing me to vent, but don't complain that every thing comes from China when you don't support USA business. That does include the nursery business not just fruits and vegatables!!! Mike ST. Petersburg

There are 3 on Haines Road No., Gulf Coast just past 16 st.No., Esmeralda's at abt. 60 Av.No., and my fav. Kathie's Korner at 61 Av.No. just south of 62 av. No., a biggie , run by a great couple and they carry Orchids for $6.!!! can't beat that, I'm into Orchids now in a big way... another Orchid expert is Michael Polin at Art Stone, on Tyrone abt. 36 av., in the stone fountain place, he comes down to Sunken Gardens every month and does presentations on Orchid care...if you haven't been to Sunken Gardens what are you waiting for?? There are 2 nurseries out Central av, by Pasadena av., one is mostly fruit trees and the other kitty-corner is decorative plants & flowers, etc. can't think of the name.. Jene's Tropicals? Also a Twigs and Leaves near 2 av. and abt. 31 st. S., I'm not sure abt. these addresses, maybe somebody else can be more accurate??.... sally

Here's a copy of the driving list I made to put in my car: ------------------------------------------------------------ Nursery's in the St Pete area: Savannah's Nursery --- 2601 34th Street South St Petersburg, FL 33711-3530 --- (727) 864-6344 Willow Tree Nursery Inc --- 4401 49th Street North St Petersburg, FL 33709-5529 --- (727) 522-2594 Jene's Tropical Fruit Trees --- 6831 Central Avenue St Petersburg, FL 33710-8331 --- (727) 344-1668 Hazel's Garden & Nurseryâ --- 5063 Dartmouth Avenue North, St Petersburg, FLâ --- (727) 321-4599 â Wilcox Nursery --- 12501 Indian Rocks Road, Largo, Florida 33774 --- (727) 595-2073â Country Club Nursery --- 9850 Starkey Road Largo, FL 33777-1715 --- (727) 397-4438 Twiggs & Leaves Florida Native Nursery and Garden Center --- 1013 Dr. Martin Luther King (9th) Street South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 --- (727) 822-5400 Kathy's Korner Nursery & Tree Farm --- 6095 Haines Road North St Petersburg, FL 33714-1441 --- (727) 525-9640 Esperanza's Garden Center --- 6001 Haines Road (Haines and 60th) St. Pete --- 727-742-8492