Arctic... inspiring. Now I want to do some tropical ones outside too. I have a cellar that would be great for storage. That's where I put my brugmansias during the winter. Do they pup often? I notice the other pics you had of where they were dug just looked like singles. I'm up in the mountains of WV, not too far from the ski resorts. we don't get as low in the negatives like you do though, but it's bad enough :) Forever, Your pic looks great too! I love that fact that I can dig the EEs and just toss them back out again each year, but this has not been a good storage year for my illustrus ee (black and green) it doesn't really form much of a pseudobulb at all so it dries up so easily, but yet rots too easily too. I've kept dozens of them for years, but when I took them out this spring I was able to find four or five little pieces alive. I always store them in a mixture of potting mix and saw shavings. Didn't work well this year though. Chris

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

They have a large fruit selection. This weekend is their butterfly plant festival. I got a candy corn plant (cuphea melvilla) 2 silver cushion plants (calocephalus brownii) 2 summer snapdragon ( penstemon Phoenix Red & Violet) 1 arabian jasmine and a daylily. The summer snapdragons are beautiful. I hope they do well. I'm going to plant the silver cushions in the front of the house facing west, because I'm hoping they can handle the afternoon sun. The daylily and the candy corn plant I got because I liked them, but the jasmine because I walked by them and the smell was wonderful. I like the way they have the boardwalk all around so you can pull your cart with you (carts are at the entrance) and there are benches for the cart pullers (aka DH)! Nice ceramic planters, too. I made it out of there without a rose, but I did sneak a look and they had a nice selection. It only took us 45 mins to get there with the new I 75 exit on SR 56. Last time it took over an hour. Julie

Pathfinders is doing the tree climbing activity this year - I think they said it's $5. And an arborist is supposed to be doing demonstrations on the trees behind the gym. Plus a garden wagon parade w/ $$ prizes. BTW, 10 am to 3 pm is the kids' crafts (my gig); the festival hours are 9am to 4 pm. Flower show theme this year is 'Wild West'.