Hooray!
One of my favorite events.
I'll be there for sure, buying up all the cool stuff before the rest of you all,
cause members like me get in 30 minutes early and free!
lol :)
seriously, I'll probably just camp out at USF for the weekend. See you there!

Check the link for more info...

Here is a link that might be useful: USF Botanical Gardens

Why oh why did my kid go to UCF??????
bummed gardener mom

OH! I wish I lived closer! Do they sell any Hoyas at that sale? If so, I have a friend in Zephyrhills that I've been meaning to visit for years...

imatallun,

As far as I know, they sell everything at that sale.
There are 70+ vendors, catering to all interests.
I can't imagine that one of them wouldn't be selling Hoyas.

I have not been to this Fall sale before but like the musicman wrote - they sell everything there. My wife went to the huge Spring sale as her first plant sale and was totally amazed and overwhelmed at the selection and pricing. She was picking up things she wanted in 1 gallon pots for $3-$4 each. Of course they have bigger and more expensive things too. We have attended the smaller sales during the months in between and really enjoyed them. Make a nice weekend of it and go see your friend in Zephyrhills and come enjoy!

USF has a greenhouse and I saw hoyas for sale inside it (in case you can't find a vendor there).
I'm jealous that members get in before us common folk :-)
Hope there's some good stuff left, lol.
{{gwi:863521}}

I will be there on Saturday 12-4 volunteering at the Extension office booth. It is usually near the entrance, if anyone would like to come by and say Hi.
Ariel

Ariel, Ian, lrogers, ya'll are plant junkie enablers!! (Love ya for that, too!) I'll e-mail Bad Bill (friend in Zephryhills) and see if I can arrange a visit and plant sale, (a mere 4 hour trip). Thanks for posting. Ariel, I'll look for you at the extension booth.

Thanks so much for the posts...

Marilyn

Just wanted to bump this up as the event is this weekend. Does anyone have a list of vendors?

Well, mboston, you just gave me one of those twilight zone experiences. I was just thinking about this sale, and am attending on Saturday. Gardiano's (sp?) is going to be there, I'm not sure who else, but apparently another 50+ vendors of tropicals/exotics. I'm positively thrilled to be attending.

Ian, any chance of meeting at 12:00 at Ariel's booth? Would be nice to say hi in person, having thoroughly enjoyed your posts. Any other GW'ers attending? It would be fun to have a meet & greet, unless that isn't appropriate, Ariel...?

yes yes yes. only a few more days.
It feels like x-mas.
even though I probably won't be buying all that much,
it's the energy and people and atmosphere that I am really going for.

imatallun,
there might be. I'm a garden member, and we get in at 9:30, before anyone else, so I plan on being there at that time. I might still be around by noon. If so, I'd be more than happy to hang with you and whomever else may show up.

I'm sure that things will get more specific in the coming days.

Sounds great! I'll probably arrive close to 10:00 and high tail it to the University Gift Shop - Gardino's said they won't be bringing Hoyas to the sale because USF sells them there.

I'll have a big red tote bag to carry out my booty! My friend Bill decided to attend, I'm not sure if he'll want to hang around more than an hour or so... His one and only plant is a pepper plant he started from a seed he found in a take out salad! (Its producing peppers now, though, so he may have a new gardening interest!)

Imatallun,

Maybe rethink that tote...

Do you have a cart or wagon? Much easier on you (but not on your pocketbook) Lol...

See you there, everyone. I will be hauling a large green garden cart (or a medium one if the wheel falls off the big one before I get it in the van) and wearing a white visor with two silk roses.

ThonotoRose aka Veronica

Oh Cool, Veronica!!

I won't post tomorrow, because I'm off in the morning to Tampa. I'm 6' tall with short hair, and may now be dragging my blue cart on wheels, based on your advice. Found out 2 Bromeliad Societies will be there! (Oh be still, my heart!)

Hope I have the pleasure of meeting you!

Marilyn

I've never been to this sale before

Well, ya'll have fun. I've got a yard (27CF) of pine fines in the bed of my pickup truck to make my veggie mix tomorrow so it looks like I'll miss this opportunity to meet you folks
:-( I sure won't miss this next year....

Tom

I don't know if it would be appropriate to meet at the extension office booth but maybe we could meet by the USF plant store @ 11:30.
Would that work for anyone?

Thanks,
Ariel

Hope to see everybody there, GW -Florida forum members are the nicest people in the world, don't know how long we will be able to stay but 11:30 sounds good. MBoston and I are going together and of course we're bringing along my hubby to guide the cart, (lol) he doesn't know that yet.

I am looking for butterfly larval food plants and anything else that I just can't live without. Hubby says "no more vines please." Sure wish I had a job so I could afford to buy more. Does anyone know if there is a vendor that sells pawpaw? or Hercules club?

Susan

I'll be there with my "Army Mom" t shirt on. I'm going to get there at 10, so I'm sure I'll still be there by 11:30. See you there.

Julie

I realize it's late, but I thought I'd just chime in...

I do hope to see all you cool GW people tomorrow. Some of you I've met, others I've not. I will try to be at the USF shop at 11:30 or so. I do plan to be on the grounds at the latest by 9:30, so I'll probably be winding down by noon.

As far as identification is concerned, I'm the tall youngish guy with the straw hat and tie-dye shirt, and I'll have my 3 year old son with me, and a red wagon.

All I can say is... thank god today was pay day :)

Ariel don't worry about meeting people at the extension booth. Everything is very informal. The booth is near the front gate and EVERYONE has to walk by and the idea is to talk to people. You'll have fun.

I am busy in the morning but will try to get there in the PM. My husband wants me to help him with a project in the afternoon...hmm...I'll have figure a way around that!

I was thinking about going on Sunday but I won't have enough time then either. You get the good plants early and you get the good deals at the end. People don't want to haul those plants back if they don't have to.

Just got back with Zoozue and hubby from the plant sale. Didn't find the PawPaw I wanted but did get the name of the guy who had them there and how to contact him.

Did find a Purplish Cat Whiskers, Silky Gold Milkweed, a Yellow Salvia, Mexican Sage for my son, and a couple of really neat Bromelids.

AND we did get to meet Ariel! I went around looking for Musicman and Thonotorose, asking people are you.... ? Got some strange looks lots of No, I'm not.

Still lots of fun, pretty flowers, and nice people.

mboston

I was looking for a pawpaw at the USF sale too!! lol. I asked at the Topical Fruit Group (no luck) and looked at the Native Plant Society (no luck).
If you find someone selling could you post the name or email me?
I had one but it died, due to too much sun and too little water.

I have some photos to post from the sale when I get a chance to download/upload them.

Denise

My friend and I were there at 9:15 this morning. filled my Avalanche to the brim. Good thing there were only 2 of us that needed seats, the plants had the rest of the place. What a wounderful time, just wish it wasn't so fat 171 miles round trip, but worth it

I was holding back but got 2 hoyas (don't even ask the names!) and that almond plant thing that Ariel likes so much. It has whitish flowers that smell like almonds.

I had a great time and got some wonderful plants.

Got to meet Martina, Aroidgardener and see Denise again. Sorry I missed you, mboston. Had to leave due to a rotten cold.

Veronica

Denise,
I also asked at the Natives booth and they had some for sale that a guy from the Rare Fruits booth had brought over but by the time I got there they were all gone. The guy who grew them is Paul Zmoda and you can contact him through the Rare Fruit Council website. tampa.bay.rfic@gmail.com

I just emailed him. Hopefully he will get back to us with some info if he doesn't have more plants. I have been told they are hard to transplant and to be careful that some types do not do well here. If you go to the Florida Vascular Plant Atlas website and look up Asimina then you can click on the types and then click on the map and see which ones grow this far south. A number of them do well further north but not in Central Florida.

Good luck.

Denise,
Got just notified that my email to Paul did not go through. I will have to check and see if I wrote it down wrong. Sorry!

How it is I did not see any of you is a mystery.
I was there about 9:30, and stayed through 12:00.
It was a good time though.
I managed to stick to my budget and philosophy (trying to focus on edibles/natives).
It's like I went to the grocery store:::

I got two types of lettuce, cucumbers, bush beans, peppers, a few varieties of tomatoes, honeydew, sugarcane, new zealand spinach and lemon verbena.

Good times :)

musicman said :How it is I did not see any of you is a mystery.

Ha-ha. There were SO many people there and the vendors were laid out in a maze. I was lucky to find my way out and car again. I lost my camera and panicked but I left it while paying at the USF booth and they had it. Whew.

We need a GW emblem for our hats and then I need to wear a hat :-)

That was the best plant sale I have ever been to because they had all the plants I desire and can never get except by mail. Except they were shy on heirloom roses...and pawpaws.
They had 4 foot tomato plants though and incredible fruit trees and bushes in many booth. I have a picture of a cool hanging pitcher plant I saw a week ago on Martha Stewart.

Photos later.

The problem is... gardeners all look the same.

lol

well, they at least have enough in common so as to make them blend into a giant mass of straw hats, sunglasses and plant carts at sales like these.

The selection was outstanding this year... which makes it all the more frustrating that I am not a millionaire.

I'll post some pics too, after I get everything where it should be.

The other problem was, sensory overload!!!! I kept reminding myself to look for Veronica's visor with silk roses, but OMG there were so many plants to look at!

I left, coincidentally, the USF Plant Store (they had the absolute best deals) at 11:30. My intent is to hit USF first next time. Bad Bill was done at 11:30. He had a spiral (wicked) broken leg a few years ago, and the screws and hardware were giving him a time.

Re Paw Paw, my brother in Michigan has plenty of Paw Paw Trees on his 15 acres. He lives relatively close to the city of Paw Paw, MI, btw. I didn't realize Paw Paws were heat tolerant. Do you GW'ers want cuttings or fruit from those trees? Those trees must be dormant now, with the cold and short daylight sun.

So sorry I missed hooking up with you GW folks, it would have been nice to meet you!