HeyPlantMan! Exotic Tropical Plants from St. Pete FL

February Markets

2012-02-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

pic: Tropical Hollyhock - We currently have the large double Red one!

Greetings all, we are back from the Vero Beach Garden Fest that was held last weekend. Saturday we had great crowds and weather, Sunday, unfortunately was rainy for the better part of the day, but thanks much to the hardy plant-loving customers that came out in a sea of umbrellas!

This weekend looks to be a bit rainy and we are hoping it doesn't discourage customers from coming to our Markets !

Here's the info:

Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com
Market Hours 9am-2pm
Located in the parking lot of Al Lang field, corner of 1st Street & 1st Avenue South.

Note! We know parking can be a challenge downtown but we will make a couple of suggestions:
There is a city parking building on 1st avenue south, between 2nd and 1st streets, and it usually only cost $2. There is also a lot of free street parking just south and west of the markets--just be careful to look at the parking signs for any time or day limits. Special note--do NOT park in the Publix parking lot..they WILL tow non-Publix customers !

Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs
Corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Avenue
Market hours 9am-2pm
Plenty of free parking all around

Note! This little market is really growing, with many more vendors each week, so come check it out !

Vero Beach Gardenfest..here we come !

2012-02-02T17:11:00.001-08:00

Greetings all, and hope everyone has been enjoying another great week of our "Winter/Spring" weather !!

We are off to the Vero Beach Garden Fest show this weekend on the East Coast, so we will not be at Saturday Morning Market, nor Sunday Morning Market at Tarpon Springs, but, we will return to both the next weekend of Feb. 12/13.

We will be missing seeing everyone at Markets this weekend but we hope you go on down to enjoy the Market days at both venues and support our fellow vendor friends!

Spring has sprung in Winter Time in Florida !

2012-01-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Hydrangea and Calla Lily Time at Market !

This warm weather is encouraging plants to come on out a little early and we have the first Hydrangea and Calla Lillies of the 2012 season!

We have tons of new stuff this week, lots of small pots of blooming yellow daisies, geraniums (yes, the Citronella is back), popular Yellow Straw Flower Hanging Baskets, Yellow and Red Thai Hybrid Crown of Thorns, Mona Lavender Plectranthus, more of our gorgeous Night Blooming Jasmine Bushes that will be open this weekend evenings to provide aromatic joy to your garden!

Herbs, Peppers & Tomatoes continue to be popular buys in our booth too ! We also have some gorgeous new succulents, and our next crop of huge Areca Palms.

And, back by popular demand, our Air Plant table with tons of gorgeous Tilansias that are fool-proof air plants that will please local customers as well as our welcomed Snowbird customers!

Come on out and enjoy another great weekend at our markets !

Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm
www.Saturdaymorningmarket.com Al Lang Field Parking Lot

Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs 9am-2pm
Corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Ave.

Truck fixed--See you at Markets this weekend!

2012-01-20T10:30:00.001-08:00

Big Yeah...our truck is being fixed and we have kind lending of another vehicle to get our trailer to Markets this weekend --thank you Jen ! So, see you at Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete and Sunday Tarpon Springs Markets. Should be a glorious weather weekend--break out the shorts and tshirts again !

January in Florida can't get any better weather!

2012-01-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

You know the saying, "Stuck in 2nd gear?" Well, then let me ask you...how long does it take to drive from Tarpon Springs down to St. Pete when your truck is stuck in 2nd gear ?! Ha! Well, it took about an hour and half give or take more than a few nervous moments.......Yes, our Ole Truck's transmission started playing games on Sunday and it was a very long ride home from the Tarpon Market on late Sun. afternoon...we took the scenic route (Alt 19 ) and finally made it home safe and sound.

Alas, come Monday,the mechanic's diagnosis was that the ole transmission needed some big time work and so, scrambling our pennies together, it is being worked on and hopefully we will have it back by Friday to get ready for markets this weekend ! If not, anyone know of anyone that has a few hundred wheelbarrows we can borrow??

Speaking of markets, last weekend we had one of the most colorful, beautiful displays I think we have ever had...gorgeous Bougainvillea, Tibouchina, New Zealand Tea, Sambac Jasmine, yummy herbs and tomatoes and many customers went home quite elated with their purchases.

Although it was a bit cool, and overcast, the crowds still came out to enjoy market and it is even suppose to be more gorgeous weather this weekend..quite a contrast from last year,heh ?

Mitch has been busy putting in his carrots and radishes in our new veggie garden, and also keeps busy shooing the squirrels away from trying to dig them up !

We are pleased to see that the cool front from a couple of weeks ago here in St. Pete did very little damage and our plants continue to thrive. We could see some minor damage on leaves, where they look a bit mottled, but overall, it has not affected the growth and blooms on the stock. The weatherman forecasts that this is going to be one incredible nice winter this year -- that's his story and he is sticking with it, so we will see !!

2 More weeks till our exciting show in Vero Beach, meanwhile, our usual weekend schedule:

Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs

Think local, buy local, support local and what you give, will come back to you ten-fold!

Bougainvillea Trellis Time ! Jan. 14 & 15, 2012

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's Bougainvillea Trellis Time at Markets this weekend, come and get'm !.....also have gorgeous New Zealand Tea Bush, Blue Sky Vine, Glory Flowers and much much new stuff !

Tomatoes & Herb Fest!

2012-01-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday all, and hope everyone is having a good start to the New Year. The cold front last week didn't seem to affect too much over here, except the Crab Grass ! That's okay, as we are in the continuing work of getting rid of all grass areas, and Mitch put in a big plot of beans this past week in his new Edible garden.

Speaking of Edibles, everyone is clamoring for Good Eats and our Tomatoes and Herbs are flying out of the booths at our markets. Last Sat. at the downtown St. Pete market, we continued to have great weather, great crowds and great sales --many thanks !

This past week, the St. Pete Times..ooops, I mean the Tampa Bay Times, ran a great article about all the markets in the area, and it's a great guide to all the markets, on days, times and contacts --clip it out if you got the paper, if not, look online at TBT website archive and print it out for future reference.

Also last Sunday, we returned to the Tarpon Springs Market and had a great turn out there too. This little market continues to grow and we are so appreciative of the community coming out to support it. This weekend at Tarpon, you can hit our Market on Sunday, plus they are having an Arts & Craft show on the Sponge docks, so come on out and enjoy a day in the fresh air and wander about.

We are gearing up for our first Botanical show of the New Year, with the Vero Beach Gardenfest coming up the first weekend of February. Always a fav show of ours to do and we look forward to seeing our best Vero Beach bud and super saleswoman, Aurora, there.

The applications are coming in fast and furious for the rest of our Spring shows, with vendors scrambling to come up with the big bucks to pay for the Green Thumb Festival here in St. Pete the end of April (the only show that requires big payment 4 months in advance..oh well, can't complain, it's a great show and the City does a great job hosting the event). Also in March, we will head to Ocala Master Gardeners Show, Leu Gardens in Orlando, and Greenfest in Tampa, so keep in touch to hear details about our schedule.

NEW this weekend, our first crop of gorgeous 3 gallon Trellis Bougainvillea!! And, of course, we will continue to have lots of Edibles so come on down and get some beauty for your garden and some Good Eats for your dinner table.

Sat: Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm (Al Lang Field)
Sun: Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs 9am-2pm (corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Ave)

2012 begins with a Big Cold Spell !

2012-01-05T15:09:00.001-08:00

Greetings all to the Happy New Gardening Year of 2012. Old Man Winter gave us a bit of a scare this week but we have survived !

As everyone knows, we have had unusually warm weather right up to New Years and to have a sudden Freeze Spell come blowing swiftly in was scary, but luckily, it has been short lived and we will be back to blue clear skies this weekend.

We were not sure whether we would be able to do markets this weekend, but after uncovering our plant stock today and opening sealed up tents and trailer, everything looks amazingly well ! Here at our house in North St.Pete, it got down to freezing both nights, and you could ski on the frost on the driveway in the mornings. But, we had worked hard to protect our plants with tents and multi-layers of plastic and old sheets, plus filled a trailer full that stayed warm by a heater, and it was all worth the effort!

We hope that everyone's gardens faired okay. Luckily, it being a short cold spell, with warming trends during the day, and your hardy-outside-grown plants should have fair well here in the St. Pete area.

Our schedule is:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm, Al Lang Stadium Parking Lot

Sunday Morning Market, Tarpons Springs 9-2, Corner of Alt19 and Tarpon Ave.

We will have lots of cool-weather plant options, more of our very popular Bougainvillea and Crown of Thorns, along with great cool weather Herbs and Veggies.

Happy January and can't wait to start the New Year on a great note with our hometown !

2011-12-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

(pic Hong Kong Orchid Tree)

Greetings and hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and you are now preparing for a great New Years Celebration !

We had a very busy day at Market last Saturday with many folks coming out to support us by buying local. The day started off with a heavy sea fog and damp air, but by 11am, the Market was bustling with activity and many many vendors went home with big smiles on their faces, so many Thanks to all of you !

So, the Sat. Morning Market WILL be open this Sat. Dec. 31, New years Eve day, and we hope you all come out to get some goodies before settling in to celebrate New Years your own special ways. We usually take New Years off to have a big bonfire and work at the nursery, but with the weather being so beautiful, we decided to be at market this Saturday !

The Hong Kong Orchid Tree above is our last one left, looking for a good home. Priced at $60 (half off usual retail), this specimen will plant out about 7ft. and it is blooming gloriously right now. We still have a great selection of fresh Herb Bowls, Bougainvillea, Crown of Thorn and Passion Fruit Vines, plus much more.

As always, 2011 ends with our heartfelt Thanks for supporting the Armstrong Nursery (aka the Annie & Mitch show!) during this last year. We started off on a sad note with losing our best friend Rickie Oliver, then wobbled through a very cold winter, headed into the sunshine of the Spring and had fabulous shows at Vero, Ocala, Leu Gardens, Gardenfest in Tampa and of course the Show of all Shows--the Green Thumb festival in St. Pete. We suffered through an extremely hot summer and ramped it up with the start of our Market and Show season this past October. Here we are in late December, and wearing shorts, sunscreen and enjoying fabulous weather, so things can't be all that bad ?!

Happy New Years All -We hope that 2012 brings a renewal of a better economy, more peace around the world and the continuation of the Little Nursery That Could !

"Happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year."
~Edgar Guest

Happy Holidays from Armstrong Nursery !

2011-12-21T09:37:00.001-08:00

Greetings all and we hope everyone is enjoying a busy and Happy Holiday !

There is still one more shopping day at Market to get those last minute gifts, so please come on down to Saturday Morning Market this Saturday, Dec. 24th. The market will have a full contingent of vendors that are very thankful for your continuing support during our season.

Ideas for gifts at market?! The pic at left is the fabulous Perennial Morning Glory, and we have a dozen gorgeous ones right now in trellis pots that are just blooming their hearts out. This vine is one of our customer's favorites, for it's hardiness and color !

Our fellow plant vendor friends, Sandy with her gorgeous Desert Rose, and Debra with her Herbs, Soaps and Edibles, both have some great stock right now.

For Foodie lovers gifts, we can suggest visiting our hard working Produce vendors plus dozens of specialty foods and items that make a great last minute gift--just get yourself a basket and walk around the market and fill the basket with unique pasta, fabulous Jellies (one our favs--Brimstone Jelly), Herbs and Seasonings, honey jars and more --it is always a most welcome gift for anyone !

Need a gift for someone that appreciates very unique crafts? Our friend, Wes, does colorful metal Yard Art, and you can't beat the talent of our friends Kim and Steve Schramek, of Tropical Glass Creations.

Can't decide what to get? Market Gift Certificates are always a very appreciated gift and can be used everywhere at Market. They make great Stocking Stuffers. Visit the Market Booth in the center of Market right next to that big Red Food truck that makes scrumptious Crepes.

Market hours are as usual, 9am-2pm, so come on down and celebrate, the EMPTY HATS, one of our most popular groups, will be playing and the weather is suppose to be gorgeous !

Happy Holidays all, and thank you for your continuing support to us at Mitch Armstrong Nursery and all our fellow Local Independent Vendors !

2 weekends till Xmas !

2011-12-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

Pic: Blue Sky Vine !
After a whirlwind last weekend between Markets and the Botanical Garden Show last Sunday (that was awesome, thanks for the many who turned out),this week has flown by and can't believe that there are only 2 weekends before Santa Day. Here is this weekends' schedule:
Sat. Dec. 17th Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Market hours 9am-2pm
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Sun. Dec. 18th Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs. Corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Road. Market hours 9am-2pm. Plenty of free parking all around. (note: this will be the last Sunday Market until Jan. 8th, since the Xmas and New Years Day both fall on a Sunday).

Yard Sale ! Our friends, the Sousa's are having a yard sale this weekend, and Susan will have tons of great stuff at great prices, plus, we will have a plant sale there too, with lots of current stuff, plus great Bargains. The Sale is out in Seminole, at the corner of Bates Street and 54th avenue north (just one block west of the intersection of 54th N and 113th St. (Duhme Rd). Look for the signs and then look for the large white castle surrounded by abundant foliage. They have a fantastic garden full of Orchids and Bromeliads, and many of our plants of course, and customers are welcome to roam the gardens during the sale.
The sale hours are:
Friday 8am-3pm, Sat. 8am-3pm and Sunday, 10am-2pm. Hope you can stop by !

Remember, Shop Local and support your communitie's small business people who make our little town a great one !

Florida Botanical Garden, Largo Show Sun. Dec. 11th

2011-12-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note about our weekend -- tomorrow, at Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, we will have a gorgeous set up with lots of lovely holiday offerings, so come on down and check it out and support your Local Small Business vendors !

Regarding the Largo Botanical Show on Sunday, Mitch and I visited the gardens last night and wow, was it fantastic ! We highly encourage everyone to visit the gardens sometime during the holidays, and best advice, for real plant enthusiasts, get there by 5 or 5:30 when it is still light and you can see all the gorgeous plant specimens in the garden before it get dark. The volunteers at the Garden have done an amazing job of redoing the Wedding Garden area, as well as other parts and this is the best shape we have seen the Gardens in 3 years and you will find many wonderful rare and unusual plant specimens.

Of course, the Light sculptures and placement is simply just amazing. Check out our favorite spot by the forest fountain where the lights dance like Fireflies !! The tour will only take you about a half an hour but trust us, you will want to hang out and enjoy it all for longer. They have Hot chocolate and drink vendors all around, plus Xmas arts and craft vendors during the week. They are only asking for a $2 donation and believe us, it is well worth it. The pathways are well-lit by bright rope lighting and very accommodating to adults and kids, as well as anyone in a wheelchair or walker.

As for the show on Sunday, we checked out our spot and we are just a bit south of the Main walled garden, along a shelled path, next to the white pottery/kiln building -- just look for the signs ! There will be over 50 vendors with Plants, Crafts and Garden Art located all around the event. There is plenty of parking and you can easily drive up near our booths to pick up your purchases, or better yet, bring a cart !

We hope you can make the show, but at least, make a point to visit the gardens with your families and friends, and if you want to make a dinner trip after your garden visit, we found a cozy restaurant called "Savory" just a 5 minute ride away...yummy home cooked food at very reasonable prices with huge portions. To reach the restaurant, continue west on Walsingham from the park, and when it curves around to Ulmerton, take a left and quick right in the shopping center across the way and find Savory !

2011-12-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

(pic: Hong Kong Orchid Tree)

Happy Holidays all ! This month many of us celebrate a myriad of different types of Holiday observances, and in our house, it is definitely Ho Ho Ho time soon !

We are counting down to the last 3 weekends of markets and events before Dec. 25th, so come on out and get some great gifts of plants for yourself and those near and dear!

This weekend,
Sat. Dec. 10th, Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
Market hours 9am-2pm
Remember! You can purchase plants and we will hold them while you enjoy market and you can also drive up behind our booth to pick them up so you don't have to carry them to far-off parking places !

Sun. Dec. 11th Florida Botanical Gardens, Largo - Gift and Plant Sale
Along with the nightly Xmas light shows the garden puts on, they have this huge one-day Botanical event with more than 60 vendors from around the state who will have a great assortment of plants, yard art, arts and crafts and edibles.

The vendors will be set up all around the gardens. We will be in spaces 51/52, and if they have a paper program to hand out, we will be listed under "Exotic Tropical Plants". Our spaces are close to the Walsingham Road 2nd entrance, so it will be easy for you to pick up your purchases !
Some of our favorite Plant Vendor friends will be set up near us, such as My Mothers Garden Organic Herbs, and George Griepenburg Butterfly Plants.

For directions etc: check out their site at www.flbg.org

Note: There is parking all around the event, on the southern end by Walsingham, up on the north end near Ulmerton Road and side roads, so there is plenty of free parking and free admittance for this popular event.

We still have Bougainvillea, Xmas Cactus, great Cold-hardy geraniums and perennials and of course, Aunt Mary's Cedar Birdhouses !

Hope to see you all soon, and thanks again for supporting and buying LOCAL !

Plant Sale continues on Sunday !

2011-12-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

By popular demand, we are continuing the Plant Sale on Sunday (Dec. 4th) from 10am-4pm !! We still have some great stuff left and many people couldn't make it by the sale or the market today, so come on down to 1331 39th avenue north.

Also, Mitch WILL be at Tarpon Springs Market tomorrow, back at our old location on the corner of Al19 and Tarpon Avenue. Plenty of free parking all around ! Market hours are 9am-2pm.

Once more thing, we got a great deal on the real Hong Kong Orchid Tree..we have 2 left, they are in 10 gallon pots, will plant out about 7 ft. and are only $60 each !

Plant Sale in St. Pete this Fri/Sat

2011-12-01T10:27:00.001-08:00

We are ready for our 6th annual Fall Plant Sale this Friday and Sat - we got tons of gorgeous stuff, including Xmas Cactus, Poinsettias, Herbs, Geraniums, Bougainvillea, Passion Vines, Cold hardy perennials and some great deals on misc. stock..come on by !!

1331 39th avenue north, St. Pete
Fri 10am-6pm and Sat. 9am-6pm

Plant Sale this weekend & Market news

2011-11-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to just gorgeous Fall weather, with clear blue skies, and nice chill in the air and the plants all looking so refreshed after our nice rain yesterday. This totally energizes us for our upcoming Plant Sale at our house this Friday and Saturday, plus we will also be staffing our booths at markets.

Our Plant Sales are always very popular as we have a lot of stuff that is looking for good homes, at great discounted prices. Most of what we have for sale is one of a kind, or the last few of a larger crop, all in great shape still, and we just want to move them out to make room for growing new things for the Winter and Spring. We will also have our current regular inventory available on Friday as I stage the plants for the trailer loading for our weekend markets.

Here's the details of the Sale:

Place: 1331 39th avenue north, St. Pete (corner of 14th street & 39th ave north)..EZ to find us, just look for all the plants ! Plenty of parking around the neighborhood, just be considerate of not blocking our neighbors driveways.

Time: Friday, Dec. 2nd 10am- 6pm, and, Sat. Dec. 3rd 9am-6pm

Okay, here is just a taste of the plants we will have at the sale -- Ferns, Alocasias, Plumeria Pudica, Hummingbird tree, herbs, Bougainvillea, Areca and Chinese Fan Palms, Scented Geraniums, Poinsettias, Passion Vines, Winter Day Jasmine ---some plants will be in 3 gallon, some in 1 gallon, some in 6" pots etc.

As for our markets, we will have a booth as usual on Sat. Dec. 3rd at Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, and at the Sunday Morning Market in Tarpon Springs on Sun. Dec. 4th.

Hope you all can come out to the Yard Sale or the Markets and get some goodies !!

Happy Thanksgiving Week !

2011-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Greetings all and trust that everyone is looking forward to celebrating with their families and friends this week. We are always very THANKFUL for the continued blessings and support that you, our wonderful followers and patrons, continue to give us throughout the year !

We have some exciting things coming up and here's a preview :

First, this Saturday at the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete, we will continue to have great new offerings for your Fall and Winter gardens, with great color and hardiness. Our Herbs have been flying out of the booth fast and we will have more and more of them this weekend, along our first of the season offering of Lavender with those gorgeous Purple bloom spikes !

Yes, we still have gorgeous Bougainvillea, cold hardy Pansies, and don't forget, we have Aunt Mary's handmade Cedar Birdhouses that are being snapped up quickly as they make unique Holiday gifts!
___________________________________________________________________
Sundays, we are continuing to support the small Sunday Morning Market in Tarpon Springs and we have great news--they are moving us back to our prior great location on the Corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Ave. This will get the market back more on the radar for surrounding traffic and there is plenty of free parking all over. This move will hopefully happen Sunday, Dec. 4th. This coming Sunday, Nov. 27th, we will still be located by the Historic Railroad station, and they are having a big Arts and Craft Show on Tarpon Avenue right by us, so you can check both of us out !
___________________________________________________________________
Next big news: People are begging us to have our annual Fall plant sale at our house, so we are going to do it the weekend after this. The dates and time are:
Friday, Dec. 2nd Noon until 5pm
Saturday Dec. 3rd 9am-5pm

We will have flyers in our booth to hand out with address and date info so pick one up. The sale will be held at: 1331 39th avenue north, St. Pete (corner of 14th street and 39th ave).
We will have some great stuff available at 20-50% off savings! We will be staffing both the markets and the home plant sale so hopefully you can make one or both of the events.
___________________________________________________________________
Last big news (at least for now)--We are excited to be a part of the Florida Botanical Garden Plant and Gift show on Sunday, Dec. 11th. The show is 10am-4pm and vendors will be located throughout the gardens. The show is free entrance and free parking.

Also, we encourage you to check out their Holiday Light Show in the gardens. It is a modest $2 offering for adults (kids 12 and under are free) and goes from 5:30-9:30 every night from Nov. 25th through Jan. 1st. It's a great family outing to walk around the gardens that will be lit amazingly ! For info on both events, check out their website at: www.flbg.org
___________________________________________________________________
Okay, time to head off to get some turkey cooking and our plants watered and TLC'd......hope everyone has a great T-day and look forward to seeing you soon !

Pre-Thanksgiving happenings !

2011-11-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, I don't think I have seen a busier weekend than this one, with so many events happening in the Burg ! Between Market and the downtown Arts & Craft show happenings, its a great weekend to enjoy the weather and get out and support your community and the hard working vendors that will provide the opportunity for you to BUY LOCAL and support your community !

This weekend at market, we have even more gorgeous Bougainvillea Baskets and we have them special priced at just $15 for huge colorful baskets !

Now is the time for our Herbs to be coming in and one of our customer's fav's is the Spearmint Herb that is just fantastic to use in drinks and cooking!

Also, Aunt Mary brought us down a new shipment of Hand Made Cedar Birdhouses, and we think these Houses are some of her most beautiful ! Plus, we know our Birdhouses are great Holiday gifts, but you may not have "room" to store them till the Big day...tada.....Annie's Santa's helpers will be happy to "store" your purchased birdhouse until the big day so you can pick it up at Santa's storehouse here in St. Pete, so check in with Annie about the details and she will be also be happy to gift wrap your purchase! Can't make it to the market to see the Birdhouses? Need a last minute gift? Annie and Santa's helpers will be fully available pre-Xmas week to help you satisfy those last minute needs ! Just email Annie and we can work it out for you !

Okay, here's our schedule:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Market Hours 9am-2pm

Sunday Morning Market, downtown Tarpon Springs 9am-2pm

Okay, so get on out and support your BURG and get in the spirit of Thanksgiving and Holidays coming !

2011-11-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

It's Bougainvillea time ! This week at market, we have gorgeous Boug Hanging Baskets, in Pink, Reds, Purple and Gold. The baskets are HUGE and will bring long lasting color to your holidays !

Also, this week we are featuring our most cold hardy Palm, the "Chinese Fan Palm"

We also have a wide array of herbs starting this week with Basil, Oregano, Cilantro, Rosemary, and aromatic Spearmint pots !

We hope to see you at Market, here is our schedule:

Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, Parking lot of Al Lang Field. Market hours are 9am-2pm. Don't forget, you can purchase plants and we will be happy to hold them while you enjoy market day, then you can drive in behind our booth to pick them up at your convenience.
We are located on the last East Row of Market in "Growers row".

Sunday, we are scheduled to return to Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market, located behind the Historic Railroad museum. Market hours are 10am-2pm.

Enjoy this cool weather and come on out to Markets to support Local Products from all of us!

Tampa Garden Club Holiday Sale Thurs. Nov. 10th, 2011

2011-11-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

(pic: Floss Silk Tree)

On Thursday, Nov. 10th, please join us at the Tampa Garden Club Holiday Sale. This is a one-day show with over 40 vendors bringing plants, Arts & Crafts and much more.

The sale hours are 10am-5pm, and you can find info and directions to the Club on Bayshore Drive at
www.tampagardenclub.com

We will be bringing our popular Hand Made Cedar Birdhouses, gorgeous Ferns, Bougainvillea baskets, Citronella, Mint and some other special surprises. We will also have a sale on our striking Orange Lipstick Hanging baskets (of which we will be selling cuttings too !)

They tell us they are putting our booth right under the now-Blooming Floss Silk tree, so look for us there !

On Saturday, Nov. 12th, we will be back at Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete.

A cool front is coming but we think it's just going to be a gorgeous weekend so come on out and get some fresh Autumn air and get some yummies for your garden and find some great Holiday gift ideas!

November 2011 Happenings !

2011-11-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Happy November everyone, here is our schedule for the month !

Nov. 5 & 6 (Sat/Sun) 17th Annual Mount Dora Plant and Garden Fair, Simpson Cove, Mt. Dora, FL

One of our favorite shows and a great One-Tank Road trip !

Nov. 10th (Thursday) Tampa Garden Club
Annual “Holiday Market” 10AM – 5 PM
2629 Bayshore Boulevard Tampa, FL 33629
Free Admission and Parking
Plants/Gifts/Lunch available
http://tampagardenclub.com

Nov. 12, 19, 26th Saturday Morning Market, Downtown St. Pete
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com
Market Hours 9am - 2 pm

Nov. 13, 20, 27th Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market
at the Train Depot, corner of S. Stafford Ave and Court Street
Market hours 10am - 2 pm

Halloween Weekend Markets !

2011-10-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

(pic) Pink Muhly Grass ! Gorgeous native grass that is very draught tolerant. Has this beautiful pinkish hue in the Fall --and Yes, we have it !

Boo! It's Halloween Weekend and although there may be a bit of rain in the forecast, we will be participating at Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete on Sat. Oct. 29th, AND,

Sunday, Oct. 30th, we are headed to set up at the Opening season of the Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market. Yes, this market is back, under new management, and we are looking forward to seeing all our northern county customers. Note ! The Market location has changed and will be located just a few blocks east of the prior location of US19 & Tarpon Avenue ----it will now be located at the Tarpon Springs Historical Train Station that is adjacent to the Pinellas Bike Trail, right off of Tarpon Avenue and S. Stafford Avenue/Court street. Market hours are 9am-2pm. It is easy to find and plenty of free parking is available. We are looking forward to supporting the continuation of this might little market and hope to see you there !

Happy Halloween to all and hope to see you at Market !

Orange Lipsticks and Gorgeous Fall weather is here !

2011-10-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

(pic) Orange Lipstick

Cooooool Weather is here and you can just see that everyone has a new bounce in their step as we finally turn off our A/C's, fling open the windows and enjoy this first Cool Front !

This is the perfect time to get back out in our gardens and do some TLC and put in some fresh plants to celebrate the Fall.

We had a great time at the Bok Tower Show last weekend in Lake Wales and even had some customers drive over from the Bay Area to enjoy the show and the park and they all thought it was a great One-Tank trip!

We are back to Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete this weekend and next, then off to Mt. Dora for our annual Fall Plant show there on Nov. 5 & 6, one of our fav shows.

St. Pete Market continues to grow and is better than ever. We are going to have a gorgeous display this week, with such lovelies as Orange Lipstick baskets (see pic), White Plumeria Pudica, Almond Bush (one of the cold hardiest bushes for our area--smell great and is a great addition to any garden as it attracts bees and butterflies) , and much much more, including a new supply of Aunt Mary's Cedar Birdhouses (which make great Holiday gifts).

Market hours are 9am-2pm and you can find us on Row 6, the row closest to the water. Don't forget, we have it arranged that you can purchase plants, leave them, enjoy the market and drive up behind our booth to pick up your purchases when you are ready to leave.

Hope to see you there, come on down and enjoy gorgeous weather..it's almost Market Day!

Boktoberfest at Lake Wales this weekend !

2011-10-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, Mr. Wind made for a challenging day at the St. Pete Market this past Saturday. Sustained winds along with 30 mph gusts kept us on our toes. We appreciate the hardy souls that came out to support the market and it was great to see all of our vendor friends after the long summer break. Of course, our market day couldn't start without a blip and yup, once again, the belt flew out of the engine while driving down to market at 6 am.....Mitch once again, had to get into his mechanic mode, but got it fixed in time for us to be open to business at 9am....3 times a charm, right, so having gone thru 3 Fan belts, we hope this will be last breakdown !

This coming weekend, we will not be at the market as we are off for one of our favorite new shows, Boktoberfest at Bok Tower in Lake Wales.

We did the show for the first time last year and had a great time. It's only a one-day show but it draws almost 10 thousand people! Part of the allure is that customers get in for free and can save a bundle on entrance fees. The park and tower are beautiful and all of us plant vendors are set up under shady trees in the parking lot.

If you have never been, definitely would recommend this as a great Road trip for Saturday!

After our Bok weekend, we will be back at the Saturday Morning Market on October 22nd. Also, we have the Mt. Dora show coming up in November so stay tuned for news about that.

Hope you all have a great week, looks to be no rain/wind and gorgeous weather so get outside and garden !

Gardenia Time at Market

2011-10-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, with all the mechanic snafus behind us, we are loaded up and ready for Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete tomorrow and look we got ! Our rare, gorgeous and aromatic Pinwheel Gardenias are in full bloom !

Come see us at Market, hours are 9am-2pm, and we are located on the far East Row of the market.

Check out their website for info and directions:
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Our future scheduling includes being at Bok Tower in Lake Wales next weekend for their great Octoberfest Plant Show, then back to market regularly. If you visit our booth, ask us for our flyer about our market and future shows schedules.

Have a great weekend !

2011-10-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, as John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans", and this past weekend certainly holds true to that quote !

The forces were aligned, karma was good, plants were ready, staff was rearing to go, coolers were packed and then...

As our blog followers know, we were set this past weekend for a great opening weekend down at Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete, plus doing a set up at Tropiflora Nursery in Sarasota. As many of you know, since you have called and emailed with concern, we didn't make the Market (BIG sigh).

It all started quietly with short blip on Thursday when the truck's fan belt decided to GO..thank goodness, it did not "go" on the trip over the Skyway bridge. We had been hearing a bit of a squeak and wondering what it was. Mitch, being the optimist, plus knowing our truck is old and just has all sorts of interesting noises, didn't think much of it, but minutes before hitting the highway to head to Sarasota to set up Tropiflora, my female instincts decided NOT to stay inside and I insisted that we pull off and check out the noise. Looking under the hood confirmed that "Houston, we have a problem". "A quick call to brother in law resulted in him immediately dropping everything and heading to our aid. While I luxuriated under the shady pines with a nice breeze, the boys got the new belt on, and we were on our way...hooray!

We thought, well, we have had our one blip for the weekend and it's all good. Friday morning, Mitch dropped me off at the Tropiflora show to sell while he headed back to the nursery to finish packing for the St. Pete Market. About noon, Mitch calls me and says, "we have another problem". Now, let me preface this by saying that we also had been noticing that the engine started was making an interesting noise the last few days, a noise that said "either your battery is going , or the starter is going". Mitch was all set to drive out and hopped into the truck and ..it didn't start..it did not GO, it did not pass Park Place, it just sat there, sitting unfortunately in a bit of a gully on the property. Hmmmm.......well, Mitch huffed and puffed to pull himself under the truck and get the old starter out. The Starter did not want to come out, as one of the bolts was stripped. Hours later, no movement still and I had one frustrated nurseryman on the end of my phone.

Now, there are some good parts....luckily, we have family in the area and luckily, they were available to help us. Grandson Kevin was able to go pick up a new Starter, daughter Jennifer came down and picked me up in Sarasota to get me back to the nursery. Granddaughter Kortney was around for general all-around good will and support. It was now about 6pm and we were in a pickle. Can't get the starter out, can't get the new one in, have an nonworking truck that can't haul plants up for market and we are losing daylight quickly. Also, we still have to be able to continue with working the Tropiflora show the next day. What to do? At first, we could not even imagine NOT doing market..we haven't missed an opening day in 9 years ! But, it came down to the decision that we just couldn't pull off a miracle of getting home, much less to market the next morning.

This is one more of those "other good parts"...we have a very good friend who is also a small nurseryman near our property and he volunteered to lend us one of his trucks to get us to Sarasota the next day but we couldn't work it out logistically to market too. One problem solved. Daughter Jennifer offered up dinner and a place to sleep for the night and granddaughter Kortney cheerfully did a load of laundry, literally the only clothes on our back.

I had to make a very hard phone call to the market manager to explain the situation, and really hated having to not be there to do market and support opening day. Luckily, we have a very supportive market manager who always is pulling for us and is very understanding.

So, folks, that's it in a nutshell, wow, I sure went long on the story, huh? Good thing I didn't write about the other 100 little things that happened but I think you get the gist. We heard they had a packed crowd at market the opening day and we hope all the vendors did good. We are looking forward to seeing everyone this Saturday and we WILL be there, come Heck or High Water !!

Lastly, wanted to mention that with all the negative things that happened, being at the Tropiflora show made up for it threefold...good sales, kind customers, supportive fellow vendors and the of course, the great support of Linda and Dennis Cathcart, the owners. We can't wait to head back there for the Spring 2012 show.

So, hope to see everyone this Saturday...we have some fabulous plants to bring and can't wait to say "It's Market Day" !

October--Fall is in the air !!

2011-09-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

We are so excited about October finally coming around and they are calling for a "Fall" feeling this weekend, so no rain and hopefully a lot less humidity !

We have 2 big shows this weekend. Starting tomorrow (Fri. Sept 30th) through Sunday, Oct. 2nd,we will have a set up at the beautiful Tropiflora Nursery down in Sarasota. Always one of our fav shows and Dennis and Linda Cathcart are much welcoming hosts to us and many of their fellow plant vendor friends. If you have the time to come down, promise it will be worth the trip...check out info and directions at www.tropiflora.com

And......Big Clap, this Saturday, Oct. 1st marks the reopening of the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete. Market hours are 9am-2pm and the market is located in the parking lot of Al Lang Stadium at 1st street and 1st avenue south. For info about the market, check out their website at: www.saturdaymorningmarket.com. Look for us on the back East Row and we will have a gorgeous display of great plants to put in for the Fall.

Last weekend, we set up at Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, and baby, it was hot out there ! 110% humidity affected vendors and customers alike so we want to thank the hardy folks that came out to support the show. We could not have made it through the weekend without the kindness of fellow shop stores along the boulevard, who gave us continued updates on weather, and short respites of getting cool in their shops. We want to particularly thank the ladies at the Boutiki-Hu shop, who provided us with a big cooler of cold ice tea and bent over backwards to look out for our comfort and well being..thank you ladies !! If you ever get up that way, this one is for you ladies (send the guys out for a beer while you meander !)....you need to check out their shop...a gorgeous selection of beautiful gifts, clothing and tropical delights, that you could spend hours combing through.

Well, off to load trailers, gather plants and birdhouses, equipment and coolers and get ready for these events. Hope you get to come on out and enjoy a bit of Fall feelings and fresh air !

Tarpon Springs & Fall Shows, Here We Come !

2011-09-17T13:12:00.001-07:00

(pic) Dalechampia Vine

Greetings !
This past Thursday, in the St. Pete Times Weekender section, they ran a great article about all the fab restaurants in the Tarpon Springs area, which is just in time to give you a great reason to come see us at the Tarpon Springs Plant Festival - next weekend, Sept. 24 & 25th...come check out some great plant and garden selections and get yourself some good eats in the vicinity of the show ! Check out the article at: Tarpon Springs Restaurants-St. Pete Times.

We are looking forward to this first show of our Fall season and we always love setting up along the main drag of the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. The show runs 10am-6pm Sat. and 10am-4pm on Sunday. Our booth will be located down at the West End. There is plenty of parking nearby, some you have to pay for, but there are open lots and nearby streets to park along. The best thing, where our booth will be, it will be very easy to pick out your stuff, enjoy the show, then drive down behind our booth area to pick it up.

The following weekend, 2 big events happening ! First, on Sat. Oct. 1st, Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete reopens for it's 10th season ! Market hours are 9am-2pm, and our booth will be located on the last East-end aisle..come check us out !
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Also, next weekend, starting on Friday, Sept. 30 and running through till Sunday, Oct. 2nd, is the annual Fall Plant Sale at Tropiflora Nursery in Sarasota. If you haven't visited this nursery, this is the year to check it out. They host their own plant sale as well as host visiting 30 plus plant vendor friends such as us, to set up too. Tropiflora is known world wide for its wide assortment of rare and unusual Bromeliads & Orchids and other rare tropical plants. Check out info for the sale at: www.tropiflora.com

We will have staff working both events, so hope to see some of you at one or both of the events!

If you haven't checked out our latest Availability list, we are adding a few items this week, so check out the list down at the bottom of our blog. We are open now, by appointment, for you to come by our place in St. Pete, if you are unable to get to the shows and/or markets, so shoot us an email or give us a call if you want to get a first chance at our Fall plant inventory & unique Cedar Birdhouses.

We know we are still having pretty warm days around here, but we can definitely tell the difference in the temps and humidity of mornings and evenings, so yeehaw, hopefully, Mother Nature will be ushering us into Fall sometime soon and I believe for all of us, the Fall is the best time of year to be out in the Garden ~~~~~~~~~~~~!

Mitch Armstrong Nursery survives the 2011 summer !

2011-08-24T14:08:00.001-07:00

August 24, 2011

We are back !! Finally ! Thank you for your patience as we have spent the hot summer months trying to stay cool and get more plants growing.

First, Aunt Mary's hand-made Rustic Cedar Birdhouses are back in stock ! We have a great selection, and each one is unique. These houses are great for real-use or just garden decoration.
Here's some pics:

One-of-a-kind Double Bird house---$45

Our single story houses are all unique, with sturdy back boards to hand on fence posts or on a hook from a tree, and of course, they look great free-standing on a patio table or garden log --Single story Cedar Houses are $30 each or 2 for $50

We are now gearing up for the Fall Market and Plant Show season and we are looking forward to returning to our very own Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete on Sat. Oct 1st. We have two other events happening soon too, a Plant and Garden Sale in Tarpon Springs in September, and the big Fall Plant & Garden Sale at Tropiflora Nursery, in Sarasota. See details below.

Meanwhile, Annie has finally got the Plant Availability List ready for input and will start putting it on our blog tomorrow.

If you are interested in buying plants and/or Birdhouses, drop us an email or call us and we can arrange an appointment time for you to come by our house in St. Pete for look/see and purchases. If you don't see what you need on our Availability, email us with your "wish list" items.

Our email is: marketannie@aol.com Phone 727-528-2575

Show & Market Schedule Upcoming:

Sat/Sun Sept. 24 &25th Plant & Garden Show, Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, along the main avenue. Show times are Sat. 10am-6pm, Sunday 10am-4pm. ** Look for us on the West end of the main drag !

Fri/Sat/Sun Sept. 30th, Oct. 1&2 Fall Plant & Garden Show, Tropiflora Nursery, Sarasota FL
Show times are 8am-5pm Fri & Sat; Sun 10am-3pm
This is a great show, with Tropiflora, who specializes in Bromeliads, rare tropicals & Tilansia's having its own great inventory on sale, plus there will be 20 plus quality plant vendor friends from around the state set up on the property too. Look for us in the Rear end of the property under lovely shady trees and bamboo! For info: www.tropiflora.com

Sat. Oct 1st Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete opening day. This market happens every Saturday from Oct. 1st through the end of May 2012. Market hours are 9am-2pm. The market is located in the parking lot of Al Lang Stadium at 1st street and 1st Avenue North, St. Pete. Look for us on the back East row, nearest the waterfront. For info: www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

We will leave you with a few gorgeous pics of plants we have available !

Gorgeous, large, aromatic White Moon Flower Vine

We have them in 1 & 3 gallons and they are all blooming like mad right now!

Gorgeous, Aromatic Rangoon Creeper Vine

Fruiting Passion Vine (Passiflora edulis)
"Purple Possem"

Making Our Way Back from a bit of Hiatus !

2011-06-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your patience, we have been on a bit of a break from our blog but stay tuned for New News ! Updates ! Video ! Availability & Plant Sales !

Ghost Pepper Mania !

2011-06-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today, Sat. June 4th, is our first Saturday off from market and shows in 8 months and boy, we are loving it ! We will soon be back to work, but this weekend, we are taking the time to relax. We are off to the Hot Pepper Festival in Pinellas Park, FL today and looking forward to seeing some vendor friends as well as check out new product.

Many of you know that Mitch is a Pepper nut--he just loves to grow them, all types. One of our newest favs is the Ghost Pepper (aka Bhut Jolokia Chili Pepper). It is from India and considered to be the HOTTEST Pepper in the world !

The pic here is one of our baby plants, and Mitch spent the morning harvesting seeds, which are now available for sale. We are taking a few packets up to the Festival for people to see.

After this weekend, we will be back to business, working at the nursery, our yard, and working on getting more uncommon and rare plant seeds ready for purchase and mail order. We will also put up an availability list of plants, so check back with us early next week for more info !

50 % off SALE at Sat. Morning Market tomorrow !

2011-05-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Sat. May 28th, is the last day of the regular season of Saturday Morning Market and we will have a huge display with many of our plants marked down 50% !!! All good plants, just the last of our crops, and need to downsize for the summer and looking for good homes for them...

Great values to be had ! Look for the YELLOW signs!

Cardboard Palms
Eucalyptus
Signature Plant (Pitch Apple)
Coppers and Thais
Glory Flower Tibouchina
Fescue Grass
Pink Jatropha
Plumeria Pudica
...and more ! PLUS.....

Bananas, Passion Vines, Morning Glory, Miss Aimee Gardenias, Fiji Queen Hibiscus and more, at substantial savings !

Come early to get the best selection and best prices, you won't get a better value anywhere and it's still a great time to get those plants settled in before the summer !

Market Season coming to an end May 2011

2011-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Whoa, baby, it's hot outside ! Even my garden fairy on the shelf seems to be wilting. But luckily, the mornings and evenings are still a nice time to work around the garden and enjoy some fresh air.....

This coming Sat., May 28th is the last day of the Saturday Morning Market regular season so it's always a bittersweet time. Come on down and see us on the East 6th row, we will have a fabulous display and will have many items at discounted prices. Market hours are 9am-2pm.

The Punta Gorda show last weekend had a disappointing turnout so we still have plenty of great plant stock available.

The Market is going to continue, on a very small scale, on Saturdays in Williams Park with Produce, food products, arts and crafts.

As for Armstrong Nursery, we won't be participating in the summer market but will be focusing on our own nursery growth and, we are starting a new venture, with more opportunities and ways for you to get your plants, plus, we will be starting a "seed" availability for mail order.

You can just assume, yes, we are still technically open for business ! You can call or email us anytime you are looking for a particular plant or item, and we can set up appointments to get together !

Starting next week, we will have a current availability list and will update it weekly. At this time, for those out of towners, we are are not set up shipping plants yet, but will be working on that operation over the summer too.

We are excited about the new areas that we want to expand, and using the internet is a great platform for communication and fulfilling those ongoing plant needs. As always, we treasure our friends, customers and supporters who have kept us going one more season, so many many thanks to you all, and please, keep in touch and keep us in mind before you head off to those big box stores !

Hibiscus Festival at Punta Gorda, here we come !

2011-05-18T18:33:00.001-07:00

Isn't it amazing that Mother Nature decided to give us a few days of real "spring" ie lower humidity, cool nights, great days to garden in....counting the days till it leaves and keep thinking, "is this the last cold front"?! of course, I got into the spirit so much that I overdid it and pulled out my back, but my garden is worth it ! Plus it gives Mitch a chance to take special care of
his darling girl (that's me !) :)

Like many of you, have been working like mad in our own garden to get things spruced up, planted and fertilized and just have so much fun walking outside in the morning and seeing the butterflies flitting about and new blooms appearing from everywhere..it's just heaven!

Okay, so ready for a road trip? This Saturday, May 21st, we will be down in Punta Gorda for their annual Hibiscus Festival....just a one-day show, but well worth the day trip..the show is on a huge sunny park right next to the intercoastal, and they hand pick the special plant vendors to come. Along with the event, there is a cool antique auto show, lots of stuff for kids, a bar by the bay to imbibe and live music.....it's a special event and we always have a great time at it. Punta Gorda is just a gorgeous little town with very unique houses and a small town atmosphere that is super welcoming.

Want to come? From the St. Pete area, its about an hour and 1/2 drive...straight down I-75, take the Kings Highway exit, head west to US 41, take a left, come over the bridge and take an immediate right after the bridge at the Best Western Hotel and you will find us! For our Biker friends , you can't beat a better day trip down south over the Skyway and head to a great destination !

So, being as we will be in Punta Gorda, we will not be at Saturday Morning Market this Saturday, but hope you still go to support your favorite vendors. May is a tough time on market as the weather warms and the crowds dwindle and many vendors will have no way to earn income over the summer, so they are depending on your turnout to help them get over the lonnnng summer!

We WILL be at Sat Morning Market on the last market day of the season, Sat. May 28th and we are planning a BLOW OUT sale for our plants..drop by and get some great stuff at discounted prices as we clear out our stock before the summer !

Sat. Morning Market sneak peak on plants !

2011-05-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you a sneak peak as some great plants we are bringing to market this weekend.......

New this week! Gorgeous Variegated Fucaria...this beauty can take full, hot sun and dry areas to part shade and they are already producing pups around their base...best part, the foliage ends are "soft" and won't hurt a soul :)

Lots of our customers have been asking for shade and/or Indoor plants and we have a great selection to bring to market this weekend..check out some of the pics !

Ruby Thais and gorgeous variegated Dracena----we also have some
nice 1 gallon Dieffenbachia that
make great house/office plants..

Baby White Bird of Paradise in 1 gallons...great exotic plant for shade outdoors and also great indoor plant where you want some height in a room

Always a customer favorite, our "Sunset" Philodendron..we have them in 1 and 3 gallon size

One of our gorgeous Deep Red-blooming Canna....we have Cannas in 1 gallon and 8" pots right now...all sorts of different colors...red/orange/yellow and white

This is one of our rare offerings, the Gardenia Coronada...the bloom starts off white then goes to deep yellow/orange..and it's fragrant too !

These can take 1/2 day sun to shade

These are Annie's babies and she has been protecting them through 2 tough winters and these are the first blooms of the season

New this week! Giant Walking Iris...."Regina Blue"

Did you know that Walking Iris is actually considered a great Indoor Plant ?! They are super draught tolerant and will do well in containers and bloom from Spring to end of summer. They multiply and you can divide them for planting indoors or out, or share a bit with a friend

Enough of the sneak peak, you will just have to come on down to market and see for yourself, we still have Morning Glories, Passion Vines, lots of other Butterfly friendly offerings and more more more ! See you at downtown St. Pete Market on Saturday and on Sunday, if it is not raining, we will be at the Sunday Morning Market in Tarpon Springs !

May 2011, winding down the season..

2011-05-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at our annual open house spring plant show this past weekend and got to see some old friends and meet some new ones too ! We had people come out that we didn't know, that have found our blog and have been following along on our adventures !

Everyone ooohh'd and ahhhhed' over our selection of things to buy, plus everyone enjoyed touring our own garden to see the wide array of plants that Mitch and I have brought in over the years.

As the days wind down to the end of our official season, we will be at Saturday Morning Market this coming Sat. May 14th, and the final day, Sat. May 28th.

The weekend in between, we will be traveling down to Punta Gorda for their annual Hibiscus Festival on Sat. May 21st, held on the waterway in Gilchrest park. It's just a one-day show, but always lots of fun and this will the last gathering of some of our favorite fellow plant vendors till the Fall.

In between all of the markets and shows, we have been working like mad around our own garden, finally having the time to get some new things in, like Papaya, Hibiscus, Grasses, More vines and making Herb pots. Our garden is alive, like so many of you, with the buzzing of bees and the sight of hundreds of butterflies flitting around. Our gallardia has come up in the perennial garden bigger and better than ever, and is a mix of the yellow, red/yellow and orange. Mitch is being the "fertilizer master" everyday and having a great time finding seeds to plant and make cuttings. I am working on Wollemi Pine cuttings and crossing my fingers I can propogate this special plant that we get so many requests for.

Look for in the next couple of days, pics of our own garden here in St. Pete, we would love to share with you.

I am working on a current availability list so keep checking the blog for updates.

Hope to see you all at the final days of market as we still have a great selection of plants for you to get into your gardens and patios to complete your spring planting chores !

Green Thumb ReCap and Plant Sale and Market this weekend

2011-05-02T09:16:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a great show we had at Green Thumb Festival this past weekend ! We believe record crowds came out for both days and we almost sold out....here's a little evidence...

Pic at right is Friday night after we completed our set up...we had 6 spaces, so we filled up a 36 by 24 feet space....

Pic at left is at the end of the sale on Sunday and as you can see, we think we had about 15 plants left !

The show was all-around a good one for many of our vendor friends and everyone is so thankful that so many customers came out to support us.

We are also very thankful to our crew of helpers that made it a great event, our great friends Larry & Susan Sousa, Donna Armstrong & Donna Traynor. We will be especially missing Larry and Susan who have helped us so much over this past Spring season after we lost our beloved Rickey, and they are now off to a well-earned rest in the Carolina Mountains :)

So...on to finishing out our season...... This coming weekend, we will be back at Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, plus we are doing our annual spring plant sale at our house Friday and Saturday, so Mitch and I will be spliting duties. This weekend is also Mother's Day weekend, so we know many will be looking for that special gift for the special women in thier lives...we will be restocked up on our wonderful Cedar Birdhouses, will have more Hollyhocks, Passion and Pipe Vine, and more of the very popular perennial morning glory.

Again, here are the details of the house sale:

Place: 1331 39th avenue north, St. Pete (corner of 14th street and 39th avenue north, just off the main drag of 38th avenue north.

Hours: Friday, 10am-6pm Saturday 9am-6pm

We will have a good assortment of plants, plus some great sale items, as we start clearing out our stock before our summer break.

Hope to see you at the sale, or at market ! If you have any special wishes, or want to reserve a particular plant before the weekend, email us at: marketannie@aol.com

See you all soon !

Green Thumb Festival...still happening !

2011-04-30T19:10:00.001-07:00

Great day at Green Thumb Festival today in St. Pete..we think record crowds..sometimes, our booth was so packed, we couldn't hardly move around ! Thank you to the many that turned out for us and all the other vendors...the end of the day, we didn't have much left, so we are busy reloading trailer tonight to restock for Sunday....FYI..for those who are still hankering for the Pipe Vine, that we sold out of, we have more ! We also will be restocked on Passion Vines, Hollyhocks and more..plus more birdhouses ! Come on down on Sunday if you couldn't make it today, or if you were there today, come on back tomorrow, most vendors will be restocked and there are still great plant items out there ! Sunday hours are 9am-4pm, and we want to go home with an empty trailer, so come on out !

If you can't make it tomorrow, don't forget,we will still be doing Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, every Saturday till the end of May, and, don't forget, we have our Annual plant sale at our house next weekend..check out previous blog post for the details ! If you have any particular plant wishes, email us so we can save them for you :)

Green Thumb Festival April 2011 and going forward !

2011-04-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

(pic) At the computer, blogging, with a fresh picked Aimee Gardenia that Mitch just brought to me !

Sitting here tonight at the computer is a time to acknowledge some milestones, so here goes !
Today, we surpassed the 10 thousanth "hit" stat on our blog ! That's a lot of people checking in on us in the past couple of years and we soooo appreciate your support.

Also, at this time of year, as we ready for our final big show of the season, at Green Thumb Festival in St. Pete this coming weekend, we take the time to show our appreciation to the those who continue to support the "little nursery that could" and we are truly blessed that the weather and the economy did not put us under, like so many we know and we reached a milestone of surviving another season.

We think Green Thumb is going to be the best ever and we have been working so hard to amass a great plant selection to have at the show. Yes, we will have Hollyhocks, yes, we will have lots of gorgeous passion vines (many in 1 gallon containers for the budget-minded) that are always so popular with butterfly garden enthusiasts, but along with the tried and true, look for some surprises in our booth ! We also have a huge new selection of Handmade Cedar Birdhouses from Aunt Mary.

As many of you know, we rent the largest space possible at the event, and it costs us big bucks for rent space (yes, the City DOES charge big-time to us vendors), but Mitch always wants to go out on a big bang for the Spring season, so we will be working from sun-up to sun-down on Friday getting the booth set up and looking gorgeous.

Want to find us? Officially, we are booths #65 thru 70. But the easier way to find us....if you enter from the big parking lot on the northside of the park, when you enter into the event, along the right (the street side) , we will be the 4th vendor past the first sidewalk...just look for our banner !! Yes, we will be taking cash, Visa, Mastercard, Debit cards and checks !

The most important thing for everyone attending...bring a wagon !! We guarantee that you will need it. There are also other great plant and information booths and the event is a real Kid pleaser, so bring the kids and let them check out the butterfly tent, where they can walk around an enclosed screened tent amongst hundreds of butterflies.

After Green Thumb, we have decided to do our annual Spring Plant sale at our house earlier this year, the next weekend after Green Thumb, Fri & Sat, May 6 & 7th. The weather is getting warm quicker and we know everyone is eager to get their plantings in. We always have a great selection at our House sale and there will be many bargains, as we clear out some stock before our summer break. Here's the details:

Address: 1331 39th Avenue North, St. Pete (the corner of 14th street and 39th avenue north). We are right off the main drag of 38th avenue north, close to the Northeast Shopping Center area.

The sale hours are: Friday 10am-6pm ----- Saturday 9am-6pm
We hope you all can stop by and say hello and find something to complete your spring and summer plant wish lists..we will have cold drinks and a cooling fans to keep you comfy :)

You will also find us for the rest of the month of May at the Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete which will run through Sat. May 28th, and of course, you can always call or email us over the summer if you have a special plant "wish .

For those of you in south central Florida, we will only have one more show scheduled, the Hibiscus Festival in Punta Gorda FL on Sat. May 21st.

Gotta run, Mitch just pulled up with another huge trailer full of plants to stage in our yard for Green Thumb !

Easter Weekend at the Market ! April 23, 2011

2011-04-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter Weekend !

We don't think anything else puts a smile on our faces quicker than the sight of glorious sunflowers! We have them right now in 1 gallon containers, as well as beautiful deco containers !

This weekend at Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete, you will find a gorgeous display of flowers to entice anyone to buy for themselves and or give as gifts to others...as well, this Saturday, you will see a preview of just a drop in the buckets of the great offerings we are readying for Green Thumb Festival in St. Pete this coming Sat/Sun, April 30/May 1st. If you don't want to navigate the extreme crowds of Greenthumb, this Sat. is the perfect time to get a jump on some great color for your garden!

Everyone that has been following us on our blog, or seen us at market, have been purchases the gorgeous Aimee Gardenia..the plants were huge and loaded with buds, and this week, they are starting to open, and we are amazed at the size of the flower..it is truly spectacular! And the scent, well, "oh my!"........Come and get them while they last :)

Also, new this week, Fuschia, Double yellow Datura, Delphinia, Blue Salvia, Double Yellow Hollyhocks and much much more......come on by our booth on Sat., we will have a gorgeous display!

Christia Obcordata..where are you ????!!!!

2011-04-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung big time and we have never seen so many butterflies flitting about in the garden. Of course, we also seem to have the largest, hungriest crop of lubbers ever to appear and they are just tearing through many gardens, devouring everything in sight, ugh !

They seem to be concentrating on my giant milkweed this season, which is very unusual, but luckily this milkweed will make a quick comeback !

Green Thumb Festival is coming !!
This festival is our biggest show of the year and it's so great that it's practically in our back yard here in St. Pete. The show is Sat and Sunday (April 30th/May1st) and we expect a greater number of people to come out this year as this show just continues to grow and thrive. We are gearing up for it and will have a great assortment of our unusual stuff as well as a great diversity of butterfly-loving plants. As time gets closer, we will let you know exactly where our booth is, but it's usually in the same place, just about 6 booths into the entrance of the fair, along the street side.

Meanwhile, we are concentrating on having fabulous displays at Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete for the next 2 weeks, so you can get a jump on your spring and summer gardening now.

Also, our annual Spring Plant sale at our house in St. Pete is coming up and we will be doing it the weekend after Green Thumb. so stay tuned for details about that.

Also, wanted to mention, we are getting huge amount of inquiries for the lovely ChristiaObcordata plant (butterfly wing) and unfortunately, we don't have any available. Our left-over crop from last year did not revive, we believe, due to another cold Florida winter, and, we have made inquiries all over the state trying to find them, to no avail. But, Mitch is the eternal optimist, and hasn't given up on the search, so if you do want them, keep sending emails and we will keep your contacts on our "wish list" and let you know if we are able to find the very elusive plant this season !

Also, we are getting many inquiries about the Wollemi Pines. We do have plants available in 3 gallon containers, and they are available locally here to purchase, but too big to ship. For those who are inquiring about shipping, we are working on propagating cuttings and hope to have them available in the next month of so. Email us if you want to put you on the "Wollemi Wish List" !

April Happenings & Tropiflora Sale Recap !

2011-04-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Spring Fever in the Garden, Winter Garden, FL
Sat 9am-5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm
www.springfeveringarden.com

Tropiflora Show Recap !

We had a great time at the Tropiflora Nursery Spring Plant show this past weekend ! Beautiful weather after a roaring storm made everyone feel especially grateful for a fresh 3 days of great plant selling. Twice a year, Linda and Dennis Cathcart of Tropiflora hold a huge plant sale for their own stock, and invite close plant pals to set up too. Their nursery itself is amazing and want to share some pics with you....

Our "hosts" Dennis & Linda !

The Bromeliad garden with a gorgeous piece of driftwood outside the nursery office. Besides plants, Dennis has an amazing collection of driftwood for sale and each one is so unique...

The shot into their main showroom greenhouse shows you just a small part of the great Bromeliads, Orchid and Succulent offerings..

The large sign at the entrance to the property welcoming customers, who starting lining up an hour before the show each day!

Armstrong Nursery arriving at the show..courtesy of our beloved Rickie's old Truck. That truck got us around safely through the previous day of storms because of our guardian angel..

A customer's cart full of large Bromeliads from Tropiflora, making a stop next to our Wollemi Pines to check them out...

New vendors, these guys brought an interesting assortment of antique garden art and sculpture and their booth was very popular !

This is taken from our booth looking out towards the front of the nursery..we had a great shady area in the back...notice the large stand of bamboo in the background...it reaches about 50 ft tall at least and is very old..

In the foreground, is some of our double White Daturas, next to the Hollyhocks, Bananas and Yellow Elder

Our " Main Man" Larry Sousa, who has been such a big help to us this whole Spring season, along with his wife Susan. He always has a smile on his face and has incredible energy for everything !

Larry, Susan and Mitch resting at one of their favorite places in the world..the porch of Cracker Barrel

Adding a few pics belatedly from our Leu Gardens Show in Orlando a few weeks ago!

This is our "Aurora" our special East Coast Angel, that travels to help us out at several shows each year...here she is with a cart full of plants she got from the Leu Garden Sale...

The Leu Garden Sales gals !

Annie, Aurora and Susan

And last, but not least, this is a shot of what was left at the Leu Sale..we almost sold out! pretty unheard of...I think we only came home with about 12 plants !

Well, off to get ready for shows, hope to see everyone at the market or upcoming shows..don't forget, Green Thumb Festival in St. Pete is coming the end of this month !!

Tropiflora Show and Market and Major Weather !

2011-03-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Whoa, for us in the central Florida area, this was a very scary day storm wise. A strong cold front came whistling in with major winds and rain and many in our county and surrounding suffered a lot of wind damage.

This weekend we are setting up at Tropiflora Nursery in Sarasota for a 3 day show, Fri-Sun, plus we will have a crew at Saturday Morning Market after a months absence. We love the folks at Tropiflora who hold 2 big plant events every year, with their own nursery having lots of offerings, but they are kind enough to invite 20 vendor friends to set up too, so its a very diverse show with every one's areas of expertise. Check out info, and directions at www.tropiflora.com

Days like this remind us of many folks that exclaim how much fun it must be to do plant shows and the plant thing but let us tell ya, the details and work involved can be very challenging...lots of hard work, hopefully some fun, and not too many dramas, but today was one not one of those days! We started off early, waking to headlines in the St. Pete paper, warning of major front coming into the area. As it is, we live around constantly checking weather reports and radar pics, and looking at it early this morning, it looked to be mostly north of us, so we weren't too worried as we were heading south.

We took off from home in St. Pete and headed over the lovely and very high Sunshine Skyway bridge, and my teeth were grinding as we headed into major winds looking down at tall, very heavy swells in the waters below..the sky was ominous...we made it to the nursery, started our load for Tropiflora...we continued to look at the sky as the winds blew, and we remarked it had the feeling of a pre-hurricane.

Our first load ready, we headed to Sarasota to Tropiflora, while I called my son every 15 minutes for updates on the radar (yeah..yeah, nope, we don't have those fancy phones to do it ourselves). We got to Tropiflora and the nursery itself is pretty protected, so we were able to unload pretty quickly, but then heard reports of major weather heading in. We quickly started driving north back to our nursery for our second load and 5 minutes up the road ran into a wall of wind and water..thank goodness we had elected not to go the interstate and immediately headed off into back roads that Mitch knows so well while I took another Xanax and tried to remember to breathe..did I mention that our brakes are not so good on the truck ??!!

Got to the nursery and it was spitting rain on and off and found most of our plants blown over, then it started getting very dark, and lightning was not far off....we frantically tried to throw our remaining load on, having to stop every 10 minutes to hide in the truck when lightning got close..my strong Mitch finally threw heck to wind and got out and got drenched trying to finish the load while, very lightning-afraid me cowered in the truck...almost done, we headed to the front field to get the rest, pulled into very boggy area and promptly got stuck in the mud....not 5 feet from a sharp embankment on the pond.

As I sat in the slowly sinking passenger side seat, while Mitch checked the depth of our predicament, I had visions of slowly sliding into the pond, sooo I quickly zipped up my bags, fully expecting to have to bolt over the very crowded front seat, and out the drivers side saving my purse, phones, snack bags and sanity from a certain wet dunking....as it was, the truck held steady and Mitch, bless his heart, was out trying to find wood planks to help traction in the pouring rain......as it was, we had a saviour, a true angel, as our neighbor Dutch was due home any moment and who conveniently had 4 wheel drive....I put a call into him and he came quickly, and literally hooked us up and dragged the rig out backwards away from the pond..whew !!

At this point, we were hoping to get the 2nd load back to Tropiflora but we finally figured that Mother Nature and karma were telling us to stop and rethink...so, we unhooked the trailer and decided to head home to St. Pete...again, tense drive in pouring rain and wind and when we got on the Skyway bridge, right before the highest part of the span, we passed a large trailer that had completely blown over sideways..luckily in the emergency lane, and luckily, the concrete barriers kept it from completely falling off the bridge...geeeez !!

So, we are home safe and looking at the weather, we are going to go from one extreme to the other, suppose to be beautiful weather for the weekend. But with all the delay, Mitch will be up at 3 am, to get back down to get the 2nd load hitched up and get it to Tropiflora, and Larry and I will head down to run the sale. Mitch will then spend the day trying to get the load ready for st Pete market on Sat.

We consider ourselves blessed tonight that we did not have any major damage crisis today especially after we watched the news tonight and saw so many pics and stories of damage around the area. Another interesting day in sunnyland in Florida and another interesting day in Armstrong Nursery land !

Greenfest! Tampa this weekend..ready to go !

2011-03-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

We are ready,set, go for Greenfest this weekend in downtown Tampa at the historic Univ. of Tampa campus, right on the river..we have so much great stuff, it will take 2 trips to get it all there, but we willing to lug it, if anyone is ready to buy it ! Got lots of messages about what we are bringing...so, here's some highlights and of course, we always have some last minute surprises ! The show is Sat and Sun...there is plenty of free parking around the campus, and they do have "carts" available to pick up your plants. We have not been told our numbered spot yet, but we know we will be towards the back of the show, nearest the river, which is just fine with us, so dont' forget to check us out before you check everyone out (but of course, we are hoping it is a great show all around for all our vendor friends)

Teaser list:
Giant Lavender flower Milkweed
Orange w/purple Osteospermum (outstanding Proven Winner)
Mellow Yellow Sedum
New fruits ! Blueberries ! Pomagranet, Barbado Cherry and more
Miss Aimee Gardenia
Bananas !
Bamboo Muhley Grass
"Miss Marie" Anthurium (4 ft tall with unique upright leaves and blooms)
Wollemi Pine
Clusia (aka Signature plant) adults and babies
Thai hybrid Crown of Thorns
Huge Staghorn Fern babies
Oh, and did I mention Blueberries ?! ?Gorgeous bushes full of fruit
Passion Vines gallore
White flowering milkweed
Thai Thai Thais !

Will leave at that and hope you visit us and see the rest of our great selection.....and as always, thank you all for supporting the independent small nurseryman, and nursery woman (!) like us who work so hard to bring you great spirits for you gardens. This spring, we are happy that so many are continuing to support the "Mitch and Annie" show !

Greenfest! Tampa, FL this weekend !

2011-03-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

(pic) African Daisy

We returned from the Leu Gardens show in Orlando this past weekend very exhausted but very happy that there was such a great turnout ! We had gorgeous weather and the gardens looked beautiful even after battling another tough winter. The Yellow and Pink Tababoulias were looking just fabulous.

Our show went so well, that we practically sold out...we only had a handful of plant pots left, but of course, Mitch came home with some special specimens for his own collection.

This coming weekend, we are at Greenfest! in Tampa, FL. The show takes place on the grounds of the historic University of Tampa, right on the river. Look for us at the back of the park, near the river. We will have a great selection of plants that will do any garden proud! Note, many people have been asking about the the Giant Lavender Flower Milkweed, and we will have some, along with the White Flowering Milkweed that produces interesting "balls" of seeds. We have the Proven Winner Orange Osteospermum (pic above) and more of the Miss Aimee Gardenia. We will also be bringing a new crop in of hand made Cedar Birdhouses from Aunt Mary. Hope you all can join us.

Here is the lineup for the remainder of the Spring Season shows and Markets:

Greenfest! Tampa, FL - March 26 and 27th

Tropiflora Spring Plant Show, Sarasota - April 1, 2 & 3^-www.tropiflora.com

Winter Garden FL Spring Fever - April 9 & 10- www.springfeveringarden.com

GreenThumb Festival, St. Pete, FL - April 30-May 1^st, 2011 - www.stpete.org/parks/greenthumb

Punta Gorda Hibiscus Festival - May 21^st, 2011www.charlottecountychamber.org

Last Day of the Saturday Morning Market in St. Pete is Sat., May 28th. The following weekend, we are tentatively scheduled to our Annual Spring Plant show out of our yard in St. Pete, so stayed tuned for details !

Leu Gardens Spring Plant Show 2011 !!

2011-03-17T18:17:00.001-07:00

Trailers are packed and we are ready to head to Orlando tomorrow for the Leu Gardens Spring Plant Show....we have some great things so hope you stop by our booth...we are all the way in the back of the show, just past the Rose Garden.....See you there !!

2011-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

pic "Miss Aimee " Gardenia...considered one of the world's top 3 most fragrant gardenias, and we have it !

We just returned from a wonderful Ocala Master Gardener Show and on the hectic run to head to Orlando this weekend for the Leu Gardens Spring show...huff huff puff !

The Aimee Gardenia was a big winner at Ocala and heading to Orlando with more, along with the very popular "Mrs Pollach" Geranium. We scrambled this week to get great stock together for Leu Gardens show which is usually the 2nd best show of the season aside from Green Thumb in St. Pete, coming soon.

We saw some amazing new things at Ocala...we bought 2 huge hanging baskets containing the new proven winner " Mardi gras" petunia. Many people thing that the geranium season is over, but no way...the ones we have will last through out the year and keep going...especially the Vancounver Centennial.

We are looking forward to bringing great things to Leu, including the "wollemi pine" and also gearing up for Greenfest in Tampa soon.

A side note, this weekend, on Sunday, our dear friend Rickie Oliver's ashes will be strewn on the river on his Wimamai Farm and of course, our thoughts are with his family, and Mitch and I continue to dearly miss his absence from our lives. Also, this past Sunday, Mitch lost his dearUncle Ronald Armtrong, 80 years plus young. Ron was an amazing nurseryman too, who had great influence on Mitch in his youth, who also had helped us occasionally at markets and shows this past couple of years. His knowledge and his spirit were amazing, and we will dearly miss him. A historical note, Uncle Ron was part of the very first group of Toll takers of the newly built Sunshine Skyway bridge many years ago...Ron, before that, was part of a great group of the men who ferried people across Tampa Bay long before the bridge was built. He was truly an integral part of the history of Tampa Bay. Losing 2 great men in our lives already this year has really been difficult but we continue to be inspired to head on to the future....

Ocala Master Gardener Show this weekend!

2011-03-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Greetings all, very sorry, due to technical issues, we couldn't blog last week but we are back to business as usual !

Boy, this spring's Oak pollen has been particularly bad for everybody. It's hard on our allergies, and just makes a mess everywhere, right ?! Hopefully we will get a few good rain and wind storms to come through and get these Oaks through with their shedding so we can get back to making everything look beautiful !

This weekend marks our return to the great little town of Ocala, where they hold their big Master Gardener Spring Plant Show this Sat. and Sunday.

This is a fav with us, as "Ocala'ins" are super supportive to us plant vendors who descend on them every year, the event organizers couldn't be nicer.

The pic above is one small spot of our personal garden (notice that not everything is planted yet..can't decide to put what where !).

Our Papayas and Bananas have been flying out of our market booths this past couple of weeks, along with our wonderful scented geraniums. With the warm weather returning, there certainly an air of Garden fever all around and everyone is so glad to have this winter behind us....but, another teeny cold front coming, but shouldn't be bad, so keep getting those plants and get them in and established before the heat comes!

Okay, here's an update on our schedule with shows and markets right now !

Due to mechanical challenges, we will only be able to do the Ocala show this coming weekend, so we will not be at the St. Pete Saturday Market, nor the Sunday market in Tarpon Springs but they will both be open.

Next weekend, the St. Pete Market moves to Central avenue just for that day due to Grand Prix Race set up. The following weekend (March 26th), the St. Pete Market will be closed due to the actual race. We will be out of Market for both those Saturdays.

After Ocala show this weekend, we are heading off to beautiful Leu Gardens in Orlando the weekend of March 19/20, then the following weekend of March 26/27, we set up at Greenfest in downtown Tampa.

If you are looking for plants, hopefully you can visit us at one of these fabulous shows, and of course, you can contact us during the week for purchase and pickup.

We hopefully will be able to have a booth at Sat. Morning Market, St. Pete on Sat. March 26th while we are doing the Tampa show, so be sure to check our blog for our schedule.

Also, coming up in April.....Tropiflora Plant Show in Sarasota, and of course, our favorite, Green Thumb Festival the very last weekend of April.

We are hoping to do our annual Spring "Plant Sale" at our house in early May, so stay tuned for details !

Papayas Anyone ?!

2011-02-24T16:23:00.001-08:00

(pic) "T R Hovey Papaya"

Got Bananas? Yes, we do ! But we also have a gorgeous crop of this great dwarf Papaya Tree that is EZ for anyone to grow. Even if you don't like eating Papayas, the foliage alone is worth having this plant around. Growth is only 6-8 ft, so perfect for a small area in your garden, or, great as a container plant, and you don't need a ladder to pick your fruit. Our stock is budding now, and you will get fruit by this summer !

We still have some "Ice Cream Bananas" in stock and also the Dwarf Cavendish, both fun to grow, and both produce great tasting bananas.

Speaking of bananas, we know many of you who already have them, probably have seen this cold winter zap them, but don't give up....although the main trunk may be affected, you should see babies coming up around the root base now. Our personal ones here at the house, have new sprouts already 2 ft. high! Bananas love water, but need very well drained ground area, or pots..they do NOT like wet feet !

This is a great time, with the warm weather returning, to get out and start clipping back damaged growth and applying fertilizer. Mitch started a couple of weeks ago on our own personal plants and they are showing quick comeback amazing growth and bloomage...is that a word? I think I just made that up !

We also have a great stock of Pepper plants, and lots of great Herbs...Rosemary, Cilantro, Spearmint and some organic chocolate and apple basils. This is a great time to get your herb garden going, whether in the ground or in pots.....I love to mix herbs in containers and they don't mind being snuggled together. Put in a sunny place and water consistently, and you will have a great herb garden going. Speaking of herbs....some of you know of our giant Rosemary Bush in our yard, and we feel that Rosemary can be the next great Shrub plant in any yard...it's extremely cold hardy (you don't have to cover, yeah!), can take our hot summers (ours is in our West facing garden), you can trim to the size and look you want, and of course, once you get it going, you will have endless supply of Rosemary.....so give it a try...even a plant in a 1 gallon pot will be good size by the end of summer.

New this week, we have the first crop of the pretty Yellow Straw Flower in hanging baskets. This has always been a customer favorite, as it loves the sun and just produces flowers constantly. The cut flowers can last for months, with NO water...NO lie !

We are also restocked back up on Citronella Scented geranium, which not only helps keep the skeeters away, produces a pretty flower in the spring. Also, new this week, our stock of "Candy Dancer" Scented Geranium is here....this one has a lemon scent, and is really draught tolerant, and also full of flower buds.

These are just a few of the highlights of our new Spring offerings so come on down to markets this weekend, and check them out!

Our schedule this weekend:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete In the parking lot of Al Lang Field Stadium, market hours 9am-2pm

Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs, Corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Ave. Market hours 9am-2pm. We are happy to say that this little market is really starting to grow and if you up in that area, we guarantee you will find some great produce, Food, Crafts and our Plants of course!

We are closing out this month and looking forward to all the great Spring Plant Shows that are coming up. Info on them can be found in our previous posts, and of course, we will be giving you the scoop about them as they get closer.

Get out and enjoy the first days of Spring and thank you as always, for supporting your local small nursery people :)

2011-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

(pic - My Salmon Bougainvillea making a comeback from the cold!)

Whew, this week has seemed to fly by so playing catchup to tell you about some new things at markets this weekend.

One of the plant lines we have added, something that Mitch did a lot of years ago, is a great selection of "Tilansia's", which are great, EZ care air plants in the Bromeliad family. We have a wide selection of different types, all getting ready to bloom, and they are priced very reasonable from $2 to $15 range.

We also have some Fescue Grass left from the Vero Show...this small, dwarf, gray tinted mound of grass is a great option for lining beds, walkways, or use as groundcover....again, EZ to care for and quite hardy.

We have a special on exotic Australian Tree Ferns, great starters for a spot in your shade garden. Their foliage is quite spectacular. Sale price this weekend is only $20 for a 3-gallon pot. Mitch also acquired another rare tree fern, the Broad Buckler, which can reach heights of 8 ft with lovely long stems.

We still have some Citronella and Spanish Lavender, which have been flying out the booth, and our Rosemary crop is ready --Rosemary is EZ to grow, loves lots of sun, is VERY cold tolerant, and is a great aromatic addition to any garden.

Our Passion Flower Vines are really coming into their own after slow growth in the Winter, and we have a great variety, from Reds, to Burgandy, Purple, Pink, and don't forget the Purple Possum which produces a very yummy passion fruit.

This week, we will be at our usual markets and it is suppose to be just gorgeous early Spring time weather, so hope you all can come out and see us and enjoy a fun market day.

One more thing that many customers wanted me to mention to other potential customers at the St. Pete Market......you can drive in (for free) behind our booth to pick up any plant purchases, so you can buy plants, enjoy the market, then come do the pick up when you are ready..we want to make it as easy as possible for customers to get their plants home safe and sound !

Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
Al Lang Parking Lot Market hours 9am-2pm
We are in Row 6, the closest to the Water side of the Market
Parking is limited downtown, but there is a parking garage on 1st Ave. South between 1st and 2th street..it does cost $3, but worth it, so you know you can park, stay as long as you want downtown and not get a ticket, and it's only a 1/2 block from the market.

Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs, corner of Alt 19 and Tarpon Ave.
Plenty of free parking all around Market hours 9am-2pm

Valentines Day -- Almost ! Recap of Vero Beach Show

2011-02-09T18:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day-almost !

Is any holiday more commercialized than this ?! We choose to honor the day to love and cherish our many friends, family and market patrons that are always there to support us, so we (HEART) ya !

We will have some great plants at market this weekend that will make great Valentines Day presents for those near and dear.....Aunt Mary is bringing us a new supply of her popular Cedar Birdhouses, as we had sold out, so we are looking forward to seeing her new batch of Cedar inspiration.

Our markets this weekend:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs

We are recurperating from a great funfilled last weekend at the GardenFest at Vero Beach. Lots of work but also lots of fun, we had great weather and a great turnout from the Vero Beach crowd. This was our first big Plant show of the 2011 season, and we got too see many of our fellow nursery people and we are all excited about the upcoming season and the great shows to come. If you haven't checked it out yet, in our previous posts, we list all the big Plant shows we will be at, so check it out, and hope to see you there.

Here are some pics from Vero Beach GardenFest of our booth, our terrific helpers and some wonderful fellow vendor neighbors!

Our gorgeous "Aurora" ! We met Aurora at the Vero Beach show 4 years ago, and she has become a treasured friend as well as someone that comes and helps us out at our Spring shows. Her enthusiasm for plants is amazing, and she is an amazing saleswoman as well, we are soooo lucky to have her. She also cooked us a yummy home cooked meal on Sat. night, after a long day of selling (ah, the wonders of youth) and has us totally sold on the wonders of macadamian nut-crusted Mahi...thank you Aurora for always being there for us :)

Another amazing Wonder Woman, our dear friend Susan Sousa who's energy and enthusiasm is astounding..she is truly our Guardian Angel-at-large. Larry, Susan's hubby was also with us and I am sorry to say, that his pics didn't come out, but Larry we treasure you for your hard work and great support to us !

One view of the front of our booth...the "gray" in the middle is gorgeous Festuca Grass, surrounded by Hot Peppers, Gramma's & Sangria Crotons

This view shows the very aromatic Spanish Lavender surrounded by Ice Cream Banana, Yellow Gallardia, Purple Fire Spike and New Zealand Tea Plant

Our great friend and fellow small nurseryman Kim Turner of Frontier Wholesale Nurseries, that grows many of our gorgeous Passion Flowers, Hibiscus, Jasmines, Pipe Vines, Milkweek & Crotons for us. Kim was kind enough to haul a big part of our load over to the Vero show...thank you Kim, you are the greatest !

This is a pretty common occurance at our "away-shows"..me on the hotel room floor, late at night, making signs at the last minute !

Dennis Cathcart, of Tropiflora Nursery of Sarasota, in his booth at the end of the show..they had a fantastic display as usual, and sold their hearts out. Dennis's nursery is the one that sold mega plants to Singapore Botanical Gardens a few years back. Dennis is a big name in the Bromeliad world internationally ! He is also the one that kindly invites close fellow nurserymen, like us, to set up at his nursery twice a year for botanical shows..he is one of the nicest people we know !

One of the most amazing succulent plant displays we saw !

All in all, a great show, and we can't wait to hit the next big one....Ocala Master Gardeners Show March 12 & 13 !

Gardenfest Vero Beach Feb. 5 & 6th, 2011

2011-02-01T08:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend, we head over to beautiful Vero Beach for their 10th annual GardenFest!

"Have you ever dreamed of your perfect garden? Mark your calendar for the first weekend of February when Gardenfest! will be celebrating its 10th year at Riverside Park, Vero Beach. Whatever your garden need may be, Gardenfest! can probably provide it. Gardenfest! is a two-day event, beginning at 9 a.m. on each day and closing at 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 5 and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 6. Rain or shine! Admission is free!"

"Over 70 vendors will be displaying a wide variety of plants and garden accessories. Plants for sale will include palms, ferns, orchids, natives, herbs, succulents, bamboo, roses and much more complemented with garden accessories such as pottery, fountains, furniture and lighting."

If you are in the area, or want to do a little road trip,we promise you won't be disappointed. The park is located just by the Intercoastal Waterway. For more info, google "GardenFest, Vero Beach".

This is our first big plant show of the 2011 season and has always been one of our favorites. We are looking forward to bringing lots of new plant stock to the show !

Since we have the Vero Show to do, unfortunately we won't be able to be at our usual markets this weekend,but will return to them the weekend of Feb. 12 & 13th.

If you haven't had a chance yet, look to our previous posts for other great plant shows coming up for us this Spring !

Spring 2011 Shows coming up !

2011-01-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

We have been busy this week getting our calendar in order for all the great Spring Plant Shows coming up and we are looking forward to returning to our favorite venues as well as some new ones.

We know many of you are willing to travel for a great plant show, so mark your calendars and we hope you get to come to some of them ! Our schedule is listed below and we may have some additions to the schedule as we wait to hear about our applications.

Meanwhile, we will be at our usual markets, Downtown St. Pete Market on Saturday and Tarpon Springs Market on Sunday....this weekend looks to have glorious weather !

Feb. 5 & 6th GardenFest! Vero Beach, FL
March 12 & 13th Ocala Master Gardener Show, Ocala, FL
March 19 & 20 Leu Gardens Spring Plant Show, Orlando, FL
March 26 & 27 Greenfest, Tampa, FL
April 1, 2 & 3 Tropiflora Nursery Spring Plant Festival, Sarasota, FL
Apr 30 & May 1st Green Thumb Festival, St. Petersburg, FL

Closing out a cold and windy January

2011-01-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

(pic: Pink Passion Vine)

Well, we another weekend where the weather really impacted everything. This past Saturday at the St. Pete Market, we had coolish raw weather with terrific wind gusts that made for a very challenging market day. Many of our fellow vendor friends had damaged equipment and loss of stock and our hearts go out to them.

We managed to get through the market day without any equipment or stock loss, and were a bit less impacted by the wind by being on the very back East row, but we spent much of the day picking up plants and helping fellow vendor friends with tents etc. The policy at market is that on days like this, all tent tops are to removed and things secured as best can be...the safety of our customers and vendors is a priority. Thanks to all the hardy customers that came out in the weather to support us and others.

After a very trying day on Saturday, we were looking forward to heading to Tarpon Springs Market on Sunday, but as we watched the weather, temps started dropping rapidly and it was forecasted to be around freezing at Tarpon, with possible frost. We rushed around to protect our own stuff here at home and had the market plants secured in the trailer, but upon rising very early Sunday morning, yup, frost on the ground and low temps, and very cloudy. We had to make the call to not go to market, in order to protect our inventory. Wouldn't you know, 2 hours later, the sun is out shining, temps came up to low 60's and it turned into a beautiful day..unfortunately at that point, it was too late for us to head up and set up, so it turned out to be another very frustrating day where we try and make the correct call. We were especially bummed as we are very supportive of the Tarpon Springs Market and it has been struggling with customer attendance numbers down, which means also, that vendors tend to start dropping out.

After this challenging weekend,Mitch and I decided we just need to "go for it" despite the forecasts, and figure sometimes it will work and sometimes not !

We had a new inventory of all of our cold-hardy Palms....Chinese Fan Palms & European Fan Palms !

Our schedule for this coming weekend:
Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs

Let's hope that Mother Nature helps us out a bit more this week !

January 2011 Happenings and Spring Calendar

2011-01-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

(pic) Our giant Mother Tuscan Blue Rosemary in our front yard....4.5 feet high and almost 6 ft. wide!

After a much-needed rainy Monday, our lawns and plants are very happy today !

We had a nice weekend at the St. Pete and Tarpon Springs Markets this weekend. The Snowbirds are definitely in town and supporting all of us. Tarpon Springs Market is still a bit small, but we are hoping the community will come out more and more to support the vendors and the organizers that are working so hard to make it a success.

The absence of our Rickie continues to weigh on us and we have been very lucky to have the support of 2 special friends, Larry & Susan Sousa, to help us at markets and help our spirits. Larry and Susan are retired, but have very busy lives and we are so grateful that they take the time to help and be with us. They both love plants and are both super sellers and their energy and enthusiasm continues to amaze us. They will soon be off to other adventures and we are on the search for new help(ers) that can join the Armstrong Nursery as we head into a busy Spring season.

Speaking of...if you, or someone you know, that lives in Pinellas County area, are looking for an opportunity to work in the Tropical Plant business, let us know. We won't fool ya, its a very physically demanding business, and we need strong backs, along with some plant knowledge, who are willing to work on Saturday and/or Sundays February thru May. Having a truck and/or trailer is an added bonus to who we are looking for, as sometimes, we have multiple events to do at the same time but the truck/trailer thing is not a requirement for general help. We are happy to have applicants that maybe only able to work part time too. Please email us with your interest.

This coming weekend, January 22& 23rd, we will be at Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete, and Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market. Both market hours are 9am-2pm.

Also, get your calendars out and start making a note of Springs shows coming up!

Feb. 5 & 6, 2011 Vero Beach Garden Fest, Vero Beach FL
March 12 & 13, Ocala Master Gardner Show, Ocala FL
March 19 & 20 Leu Garden Spring Show, Orlando FL
March 26 &27 GreenFest, Tampa FL
April 1,2 & 3rd, Tropiflora Spring Plant Show, Sarasota FL
April 30/May 1 Green Thumb Festival, St. Pete FL

We some other shows with dates pending and will let you know. For now, see you at Market !

The 3 Musketeers--Remembering Rickie More..

2011-01-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

(pic) The 3 Musketeers of Armstrong Nursery

Rickie Oliver, Annie Sprague & Mitch Armstrong

This pic was taken about 3 years ago when we all took a vacation to the mountains. The waterfall in the background is Ruby Falls, at Unicoi State Park near Helen, Georgia.

Here, we are playing tourist....note, the field glasses around Rickie's neck..something he always had with him..you never know when he would see an interesting bird !

This past Sat & Sunday, we vended at both our markets with our hearts heavy from Rickie's passing Friday night, but we knew he would want us to keep working and stay busy. The best thing about the markets was all the love and heartfelt hugs we received on behalf of Rickie and his family.

We had fun remembering many market stories of Rickie, especially of his early days, when he doing his spice booth.

(Annie remembers: ) -> He had this old blue van and of course, not all the tables, crates and product would fit entirely inside so the doors and windows couldn't always be shut entirely. Plus, he had to make a drive up to market over a very tall and windy bridge (the Sunshine Skyway), so you can imagine how many bungees, ropes and prayers it took to keep it all intact ! Of course, Rickie had it all packed with precision and I don't think he ever lost anything...maybe a few rolling tomatoes :)

As was his way, he was always running a bit behind after getting little sleep the night before, then getting up at 4am to get the veggies out the cooler, grab an hour of shut-eye, than head up to St. Pete from Wimauma (a good hour drive). At the time, I was market manager and knew I had to keep an opening till the last minute to fit Rickie in. Finally, he would come whizzing in, and madly dash about to set up his booth, which was located smack in the middle of the street.

Market day would progress, then he would have to pack it all up again. He was always the last to finish and I couldn't reopen the street until he was out of the way, so I would stand there with a bit of a frustration, but couldn't help grinning as he would shove everything in, then set about putting as many bungee cords and ropes on and about for the trip home.....we always joked that he looked like the Beverly Hillbillies with all his belongings strapped on for dear life !

More stories to come from others in the near future !

For now, Kathy and her family picked the date of March 20, which is just after Rickie's birthday, to have a celebration of his life, at their farm in Wimauma and all are welcome to a pot lock dinner and maybe a roaring fire, to sit around and share our memories. More details of the get-together will come from Kathy as the date gets nearer.

For now, it is still so odd to not having Rickie calling Mitch at 8am every morning during the week to get him going, and for the late evening calls, where they would commiserate about their day, current events, TV shows and just yak. Rickie also had the habit, when he was not with us, of ringing us up alot.....we would pick up the cellphone, and all we would hear was some old loud, rock & roll song that he wanted to share with us. He sure loved his old rock & roll :)

Rickie Oliver-Rest In Peace our Dear Friend

2011-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

It is with great sadness in our hearts, that we have to share with you that we lost our dear best friend, Rickie on Friday, Jan. 7th.

Rickie passed away after complications from a major stroke on Dec. 27th. He fought a valiant battle, and we are at least gladdened that he knew so many people loved him when he did have some period of alertness and we were able to extend ours, and many others love, to him.

Rickie leaves behind his wife, Kathy, who owns My Mothers Garden Organic Nursery in Wimauma, FL, his beloved sister Pam and his Mom, both of Boca Raton, FL and his brother Larry of Colorado. He was 54 years young.

Rickie was a beloved member of the Market Community and nothing made him happier than being at Market Day to enjoy the market atmosphere and the camaraderie of his fellow vendor friends. His sense of humor always kept us on our feet and not taking ourselves too seriously, and he was a most curious man that never knew a stranger..he would talk to anyone, and he was always interested in others and their lives. He never complained, he accepted the challenges in front of him and always tried his best.

Rickie came from Indiana, attended UF Florida, with a degree in forestry. He was a proud member of the US Air Force (part of his stint was guarding B-52 Bombers armed with nuclear weapons in a remote base in Maine!--(oopps, are we allowed to divulge that ?!)

Rickie was one of the original St. Pete Sat. Morning Market vendors, starting back in 2003, when he used to bring his gorgeous display of aromatic exotic seasonings and spices, organic veggies and herbs. He loved being on Central Avenue on Market days, selling his wares and being close to the band so he could boogie to all the music he loved.

4 years ago, Rickie decided to join us on our adventures in the Exotic Plant business. He was a tireless worker and we shared hundreds of market days and plant events, loading and unloading trailers, helping take care of our stock, and always being there at the front of the booth helping us sell and educate our customers. He was always the first one up and ready to go, and the last one to put his feet up at the end of the day. Frankly, we couldn't have done what we have done over the past 4 years, if it weren't for Rickie.

Personally, he was also our best friend, not only someone that supported us in our business, but someone who was always was there to buoy our spirits, commiserate in the experiences, offer his sage advice and help us in hundreds of ways as we all navigated our business and personal lives. We called ourselves the "3 Musketeers" and it was truly a "one for all---all for one".

Yesterday, Mitch lost the best friend he ever had, and we all lost a special spirit that graced our lives. Today at market, many fellow market vendor friends reached out to us to extend their condolences and we thank you for the many hugs and your expressions of love for the Rickie you all knew. His spirit will continue to live on as we relive funny stories and memorable market days, and we now have another Market Angel up there to continue to guide us.

Rickie's wish was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in the branch of the Little Manatee River that runs through the back of the family farm in Wimauma (and oh, how he loved that farm.) Kathy and her family have decided to have a celebration of Rickie's life sometime in Mid-March, around the time of Rickie's birthday, at their farm and we will let you know of those details at a later time. For now, if you would like to send a card of condolence, you can send it to:

The Family of Rickie Oliver
My Mothers Garden Nursery
3819 County Road 579 South
Wimauma FL 33598

or if you want to drop a card off at our booth or our home in St. Pete, we will be happy to pass it along to his family:
Mitch Armstrong Nursery
c/o 1331 39th Avenue North
St. Petersburg FL 33703

We want to end this with a brief list of things that Rickie loved as we think of him tonight...

Foremost: Family, Friends, Food & Music................Market....Flamingos, or pretty much any bird....Sheppard's Pie & meatloaf.....John Fogerty, Florida folk singers Grant Livingston & Mindy Simmons..........The Will McLean Festival ( a Must-Do every year).........Air Guitar (or trying to learn to play a real guitar)...........M&M Hots Dogs and Lee's Lemonade at St. Pete Market........CatFish (fried, of course).....Kayaking at Ft. Desoto.......Driving over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge......The Little Tennessee River in N. Carolina...... Duct Tape.....Roasting Pigs....Trying on Mona's hats..........Hiding in Jackie & Carol's booth to eat lunch......Potatoes with Rosemary......Watching TV with Mitch..........Rain.... Cats.....Cooking.....dancing to silly You Tube videos with Annie.......Camping, being outdoors, under the stars.......The Bahamas (did you know that Rickie used to manage a Flamingo zoo in the Bahamas years ago?)......the Florida Gators..... Linda Taylor's Its Our Nature hats.......Tie-dye......Bandanas......Rubber boots........Flying out on a tire swing over the Broad River in Chimney Rock, NC........River-walking........ His truck.....Star gazing................ Doing anything with Mitch.

What didn't he love? There's not a thing..he loved everything. And we loved him. Rest in peace our dear friend, you will be 4-ever missed and 4-ever cherished. Please save us some seats up there xxxooo

A New Year..1st week of Jan Happenings 2011

2011-01-05T09:52:00.001-08:00

Woke up to just a gorgeous day today (Wed)..blue skies, warm sun, almost seems like a spring day !

We are off to visit Rick in the hospital today..he is out of ICU and in a regular room so eager to see how he is doing.

Our schedule this weekend:

Sat. Jan 8th Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete

Sun. Jan 9th, Seminole Heights Market, on the campus of Hillsborough High School, Tampa

Rickie--don't count this man out yet !

2011-01-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Mitch & I arrived at the hospital to find our Rickie sitting up, opening his eyes (with encouragement), talking ( a bit of a struggle but we managed to understand most of it) and actually eating hospital meatloaf !! Quite a 24 hour turnaround from yesterday and makes us feel optimistically hopeful for his recovery. They removed the air tube and he was actually able to eat some real food with help. His stats are good and he though he still goes in and out a bit, Mitch was able to impart some good jokes that got raised eyebrows and he actually stuck his tongue out at Mitch at one point, when Mitch told he would get a raise if he could get well....(to which I think Rick said "I quit" haha)
We showed him the big get-well card we had made that lots of the market vendors signed to him and I read the loving greetings that all sent. We also brought his Christmas present, a new CD player that we had got for him weeks ago, and brought along some CD's and the staff allowed us to play it softly in the room.
Our understanding is that tomorrow, all his doctors will re-group and reanalyze the big picture...optimistically, we hope now that he is eating, they will move him out of ICU and into a regular room, where he can continue to get some strength and therapy.
So, our Rickie is not of the woods completely yet, but we want to believe that he is at least on the path out of those woods back to the sunshine and strength of a beautiful flowering meadow.
Keep those prayers, chants, and good vibes coming over to Rickie's world..it just goes to show, that short and long distance-driven positive energy CAN make a difference to someone !

Bless you all for your support to Rickie, his family and us :)

Rickie Update-keep those prayers coming

2010-12-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Mitch and I visited with Rickie this afternoon in the ICU. He continues to be stable, no worse, no better. The staff there is wonderful and keeping a good eye on him. He is breathing better on his own, but alas, seems to be in a big sleep still. He is comfortable and from his stats, he is not in any pain.

Mitch tried his hardest to stir him with bad jokes and feet tickling, and we did get the littlest raise of an eyebrow. They say that even when people are very ill, they can still hear, so everyone is doing their best to keep encouraging him by touch and voice. His wife and sister are there all day long, and Rick's beloved brother, Larry, flew in from Colorado to join forces.

The ICU and doctors are doing their best to stabilize him with the physical challenges and we are told it could be quite awhile until we know how he will be able to respond to the stroke after-effects. He is hanging strong after 3 days, which we hope is a good sign, but appreciate all prayers, chants, candle-lighting etc to continue to help bring our friend back.

We will have a big Get Well Card at market this Saturday and hope to get lots of well-wishing signatures on it, so we can read it to him, and of course, we hope, that he will soon be able to actually see it for himself.

Bless everyone for your support to Rickie his family and to us.

New Years Day Happenings

2010-12-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

Our dear friend, Rick Oliver continues to be strong and hang in there after his major stroke earlier this week. We are off to visited him this afternoon again and Mitch looks forward to teasing him about not being available to help unload our trailer this weekend!

Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete WILL be open this Sat. Jan 1st, New Years Day with a full lot of your favorite vendors.

Please come down and enjoy a warm day at Market and get your Post-Xmas goodies :)

Update on Ricky and another cold night

2010-12-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

We visited Rick today in the hospital ICU. He is holding his own and still pretty "out of it". He has a full contingent of IV lines and they seem to be taking very good care of him. His wife Kathy, is there, watching out, as well as his sister Pam, who traveled up from Ft. Lauderdale. Rick's brother from Colorado arrives tomorrow. It is still a wait-and-see game, so please continue prayers for him and his family.

A very long ,cold night last night, and another one tonight. Know many of you in the Tampa area got low 20 temps. Here in St. Pete, we got down to about 30 or a bit below for about 3 hours.

Went outside about 4am, and for all the frost that was there, it looked like a twinkling winter wonderland in the moonlight. Thank goodness for warm sun today. Mitch hosed off all the frost at daylight and we uncovered to take advantage of the warmth today. Covers and heaters go back on tonight, then looking for the forecasted warm up that is suppose to start tomorrow.

The Herbs and Geraniums are holding up amazingly well, and thank goodness, the Cedar Birdhouses don't show any frost damage yet !

Hey weatherman..what happened to that "La Nina" Winter you promised us ??!

Cold Nite & Praying for Rick

2010-12-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

Our hearts are heavy tonight for thoughts for our dear friend, Rick Oliver, who not only is our very close friend, but someone who has worked so hard with Mitch and I over the past 5 years to keep our might little nursery and markets going ...Rick suffered a stroke this morning (Dec. 28th) and is ICU at Brandon Regional Hospital ..he is holding his own and we will just have to wait and see over the next 48 hours what will happen.....our hopes and prayers are with our Ricky and his family...please add him to your thoughts, prayers, chants, or whatever way you do to put out positive spirits for special people in your life.

Twas the Day after Christmas - Dec. 26th, 2010

2010-12-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, as you all know, Father Wind is visiting upon us once again...a complete turn-a-round, when yesterday ,we were sitting outside, working on our winter tan with gorgeous blue skies and warmth.....this morning woke to dropping temps and wind gusts that are blowing away everything that isn't tied down !

At least with the winds, we won't have to worry too much about frosts, but as many of you know, wind can do just as much damage.

Just came in from moving everything to the "lee" side of the property, and once again, loaded up tender specimens in the trailer for protection. We have loads of gorgeous Geraniums and Herbs right now and we want to keep them in great shape for the New 2011 season, that starts this Sat. New Years Day, Jan. 1st at Sat. Morning Market in downtown St. Pete. We expect the day might start a bit slow since many customers might want to sleep in, or off, the New Years ! But the full contingent of market vendors will be there on Saturday and it looks to be gorgeous weather by the weekend. The market will be open it's regular hours, 9am to 2pm.

Gotta run, I think I just saw a Banana Tree fly past the living room window !

Bird Houses Restocked Merry Xmas !

2010-12-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

We are restocked on gorgeous rustic Cedar Birdhouses from Aunt Mary....if you need a great last minute Xmas Gift, this is the perfect thing ! You have 3 shopping days left till Xmas! Send us an email or call asap to for pick up in the St. Pete area

We will be at Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete on Sat. Jan. 1st, 2011...yes! New Years Day! This will be the first time the Market is open for New Years Day and we are hoping that our customers who have friends and family in town for the holiday, will stop by the Market and see everyone.

Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year !

Xmas is coming fast !

2010-12-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Whooo, what a week this has been, with the cold front coming through so we are behind on our blogging. We are happy to say that our plant inventory came through quite well with the protection we gave them. We hope your gardens faired well too. It might take a few more days to see if any damage comes up, but if you do see it, DONT start clipping back yet !

This weekend is our last weekend of Markets before Xmas, and we have some great stuff that will make your last-minute shopping easier....Xmas Cactus, Gorgeous Geraniums, our Rare Yellow Lipstick hanging baskets and loads of yummy Herbs.

And of course, Aunt Mary's hand-made Cedar Birdhouses! These birdhouses are all uniquely made, and can be used for decoration, or real-life bird habitats. We even have customers buying them for Lizard Habitats :) They make a wonderful gift for anyone in your family, special friends, and are a great last minute Hostess Gift for the holidays.

This weekend, we will be at:
Sat. Dec. 18th Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm

Sun. Dec. 19th Seminole Heights Market, Hillsborough High School property, Tampa 9-2

Also, if you can't make Market this weekend and are looking for last minute gift, give us a call, or send an email and you can select and pick up at our house in N. E. St. Pete this coming week--day or evenings.

Note: Since Xmas falls on Sat. Dec. 25th this year, the downtown St. Pete Market will be closed, but we WILL be there on Sat. Jan. 1st New Years Day..come on down and toast the New Year with us!

Happy Holidays All from the Mitch Armstrong Nursery Family

Xmas Cactus and a Cool Week

2010-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been an interesting week with the latest cool front coming in, and I am happy to say that our plants have been well protected and are doing fine ! We have loads of gorgeous Xmas Cactus that are blooming their hearts out, but with plenty of buds too, that will give you a very long flowering season.

Did you know that when you buy from local small business people, that 75% of that income goes right back into the community? So, buy local, support the vendors that come out to all of the markets..it not only helps them and you, but the community around you as well.

Our schedule this weekend:
Sat. Dec. 11th Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Market hours 9am-2pm
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com We are the back row, closest to the Bay side.

Sun. Dec 12th Seminole Heights Market, Tampa (on the front property of Hillsborough High School) Market hours 9am-2pm
Note: The weather forecast for Sunday calls for rain and windy conditions, and if the Market organizers feel it would not be safe to hold market, they may cancel it for the 12th, but their Rain Date is Sun. Dec. 19th.
Check out their website for updates: www.sundaymorningmarket.com

Hope to see you this weekend, its a great time to visit markets and purchase your holiday gifts!

Welcoming in December and the Holiday Season

2010-11-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

(pic) Xmas Cactus

This past Thanksgiving weekend was a busy one with great turnout at both St. Pete and Tarpon Springs markets!

We had fun selling the first crop of Xmas Cactus Baskets, the Cedar Birdhouses are very popular ,and everyone enjoyed more Herb offerings such as Basil, Mint, Chives & Thyme.

With our moderate temps lately, it provides great opportunity to get some landscaping plants in and established. "La Nina" continues to be the over-riding factor in our weather and our winter season is forecasted to be mild and comfortable, which we really need after last years big freeze ! A lot of customers are turning more and more to doing container gardening and it's a great option for any plant, plus it's easier to protect in cold spells. Any plant can be adapted to a container as opposed to in-ground planting and the sunlight or shade and soil/fertilizer factors should be followed in your selections.

We strive to educate all our customers about caring for their plant purchases --we want you to have success in caring for your plants ! We take great pride in providing the best looking, healthiest specimens at great prices for you and we are always pleased at the great positive feedback we get from everyone about our displays and the long term results of our plants.

This weekend, we have more Xmas Cactus coming, Hollyhocks, Bougainvillea, Herbs and some other exciting new things, so be sure to stop by at our market booth to check things out !

Here is our schedule:

Sat. Dec. 4th Sat. Morning Market, Downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm

Sun. Dec 5th Tarpons Springs Sunday Market 9am-2pm

Also, you can email us with your "wish list" anytime, for plant purchases during the week, or make an appointment to stop by and check out our inventory at our house.

Lastly, have you ever heard the term "Booming" ?! Booming is when you support Small Businesses, so save yourself a crazy trip to the Mall, and come out to Markets....we promise that you can find something for everyone on your Holiday Gift List.

Happy Blooming and Happy Booming !

Thanksgiving Happenings !

2010-11-24T09:19:00.001-08:00

We continue to have gorgeous weather for this holiday weekend ! Thanks to all that come out to support us and all the vendors at our markets. We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and come on out and see us at the markets this weekend. Here is our schedule:

Sat. Nov. 27 Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Market hours 9am-2pm.
Don't forget, you can purchase plants from us and we will be happy to hold them while you enjoy all of the market, and, you can drive in behind our booth to pick up purchases.

Sun. Nov. 28 Tarpon Springs Sunday Market Market hours 9am-2pm. Corner of Alt 19 and Tampa Road.
This Sunday, they will also have a big Arts and Craft show next to us at market so this will be a great time to get some Holiday Shopping done ! Plenty of free parking all around.

We will continue to have our gorgeous Bougainvillea, Hollyhocks, Perennial Morning Glory and other great Fall weather plants. Also, our popular Cedar Birdhouses have been flying out of the booth and we will be restocked on them.

May your Thanksgiving Holiday be blessed with family and friends around you and as always, we take this time to give special Thanks for all our loyal customers who continue to support us!

2010-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Cedar Bird House (pic courtesy of Matt Clark, Blooming Daily)

We are very happy to recently add another product to our plant nursery line of beautiful, hand-made Cedar Bird Houses.....each one is unique, and they make a great addition to any garden for Birds to use, or use on Porches for decoration. Look in our booth each week for new additions !

This past weekend was very busy, with great crowds and beautiful weather at downtown St. Pete Market, and, on Sunday, we were at Seminole Heights Market in Tampa, which is held once a month. Thank you all for coming out to visit us !

Just gorgeous Fall weather is still upon us and it's so nice to have windows open and hearing birds singing and plants and flowers just blossoming since they don't have the great heat and humidity of the last 6 months. This past weekend was our first crop of Tropical Hollyhocks and they were quickly snapped up!

Coming soon, more Herbs and more cold-weather offerings and Holiday plants. Here is our schedule:

Sat. Nov. 20 Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Sun. Nov. 21 Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market
Corner of Alt 19th and Tampa Road, Tarpon Springs

Don't forget to check out BloomingDaily.com for Matt's to order your 2011 Calendars ! And if you haven't seen it yet, on FaceBook, Matt does a daily posting of a new Flower every day, so check it out, "like it" and you will have gorgeous pics on your Homepage daily.

Now, get out in the garden and smell the flowers !

Market Happenings Nov. 13 &14 2010

2010-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

We are excited to have our friend, Matt Clark, who you all know from "Blooming Daily" come and sit in our booth at Sat. Morning Market this Sat. Nov. 13th. Matt will have his new 2011 calendar for sale ! The calendar is gorgeous (got ours this week!) and makes a great gift to yourself, and/or the perfect Holiday gift to your gardening enthusiast family and friends. Matt will be in our booth from 9am till 2pm. Come by and meet this great photographer, and of course, we will have a lovely display of gorgeous plants for your selection.
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com
www.bloomingdaily.com

Our schedule this week:
Sat. Nov. 13 Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete
Sun. Nov. 14 Seminole Heights Market, Tampa, FL

So.......as our followers know, we just returned from the Fall plant show in the lovely town of Mt. Dora. We love doing the Dora show and always look forward to it, and were excited about the lovely cool weather that had finally came into our area.....BUT...2 hours inland, with a big cold front on the way made for a very challenging weekend. When we arrived on Friday to set up, we opened the truck door to 50 mph gusts coming in straight off the lake, and temps in the 50's. The wind was so terrific, that we decided we would have to forgo setting up entirely that day.

Off came the plants, down went the plants....put a tent up? Nope! Ended up laying down the plants in to piles and covering with tarps as temp forecast for the morning was suppose to be low 40's/high 30's. The only good thing about this, was we were able to get to our home away from home earlier that evening and get some good rest for the challenging next few days.

Which we needed..cuz,....the weather continued to be darn right cold and the wind gusts did not let up..we managed to get the tents up and anchored down and the plants in place on Sat. morning and spent the rest of the weekend constantly picking up our blown over plants. The weather did affect customer turn out and thank goodness for the hardy souls that did come for the event both days. Customers loved our native Cassia, Almond Bush, Double Purple Datura, Passion Vines, Crown of Thorns and the native Xmas Berry was a real hit (we still have some!).

The best part of our weekend was staying with our lovely friends, Sherry and Stu, in our darling loft apartment. Sherry made us some to-die-for lasagna and they both make us feel so cherished, we are so lucky to have such lovely friends. Look for pics to come of the weekend soon.

Last words...its HOLLY HOCK time ! Yup, this weekend, we debut the first crop of gorgeous tropical Hollyhocks so come on out to Markets this weekend, suppose to be fantastic weather !

Mt. Dora Here We Come ! November Happenings

2010-11-01T11:41:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun at our Markets this past Halloween weekend !

This past weekend also marked the first appearance of gorgeous Bougainvillea plants and they were snapped up quickly by eager customers.

This coming weekend, we will not be at our regular markets as we head to the beautiful town of Mt. Dora, for the 16th Annual Plant & Garden Fair. This is one of our favorite away shows to do as the town is so unique and the set up along Lake Dora is one of nicest places any vendor could wish for. The show runs Sat & Sun , 9am-5pm, Nov. 5 & 6th. Entrance to the show is free and there is plenty of parking in the nearby downtown community, plus they usually have a shuttle. Note: The City of Mt. Dora does NOT allow pets within their events, so leave your treasured 4 leggers behind.

This show is very unique in that they have 75 of the best growers from Florida and the SE United States and we all have our specialties, so there is lots of great plant offerings. They also have yard art and other plant-related specialist. Our very own Linda Taylor, of Its Our Nature, even travels up to offer her wonderful Hats and organic clothing.

Mt. Dora is an ez drive from many counties around the state. We have customers come in from all over the state as they love the plant show, and they love the unique atmosphere and shops that Mt. Dora provides. It's definitely a great One-Tank Road trip if you haven't been there before, so mark your calenders and we hope you can make it.

You can google Mt. Dora to get ez maps, and the garden show is located in Simpson Cove on the east side of Mt. Dora, just 1 block south of the downtown. Bring carts, or, you can pick up your purchases at the their official pick-up spot, or from the back of vendor booths along the main drive.

This week, the weather forecast brings great news of some much need rainfall which our gardens will appreciate. It is suppose to get a bit coolish, but we say "bring it on"! This is a great time of year to get new plants in and established and the cooler weather is wonderful to work outside after our broiling summer.

Pic here, is our set up at Bok Tower a few weeks ago!

This pic of from the back of our booth at Mt. Dora last year!

16th Annual Plant & Garden Fair
Mt. Dora FL

Sat & Sun Nov. 5& 6th, 9am-5pm

Located along the west side of Lake Dora at Simpson Cove, just one block south of downtown.

Next week, we will be back at our regular markets. We are also working on updating our availability list and you can email us if you want to come by our St. Pete place during the week to buy plants. Happy November !

Halloween Week Happenings

2010-10-28T08:21:00.001-07:00

(pic) Red Musceanda (Tropical Dogwood)

This plant is featured as the December Plant Pic on Blooming Daily's new calendar that is now available for purchase..check out his site to get your order in..it's a great gift to yourself and for other flower lovers ! www.bloomingdaily.com

This weekend you will find us at:

Sat. Oct. 30th Sat. Morning Market, Downtown St. Pete

Sun. Oct 31st Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market, Tarpon Springs

Last Sunday was opening day for the Tarpon Springs Market and we had a very good turnout, but we know many people don't know it has started back up, so spread the word! Your favorite vendors will be there, plus live music all day, and plenty of free parking nearby. They are also having an Arts and Craft show down on the Sponge Docks, so you can make a fun day of it !

Next weekend (Nov. 6 & 7), is one of our favorite shows that we will be away for, the Mt. Dora Fall GardenFest. If you have followed our blog for awhile, you know that Mt. Dora holds a special place in our heart. Great town, great friends, and lovely show set up by one of the most gorgeous Florida lakes you will ever find. The show is Sat and Sunday, and definitely worth the drive...we regularly get customers from surrounding counties 2 hours away! If you want to check out directions etc, go to the Mt. Dora city website, and you will get all sorts of info.

We are not sure if we will be able to have an alternate crew available to man our markets while we are away, but don't forget, you can visit us and our plants during the week in St. Pete. Just email us to set up an appointment!

Happy Halloween and happy gardening !

Bok Tower Plant Show Recap & Upcoming Events

2010-10-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, we set up at the lovely Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL and had a terrific sale! Crowd estimates were 15 thousand plus? Nice customers, great music and being surrounded by some of our favorite vendor friends, plus fabulous weather made for a wonderful day to be outside. People come to this event from all over Florida to enjoy the free admission to the gardens, enjoy the Boktoberfest music and beer and food, and be able to get plants from some of the best Plant vendors around the state. We can't wait to go back next year!

Here is our schedule for the upcoming week:

Thursday, Oct. 21st, Safety Harbor Market, Downtown Safety Harbor, FL 9am-1:30 pm

Sat. Oct. 23rd, Saturday Morning Market, Downtown St. Pete 9am-2pm 1st Ave/1st Street south (parking lot of Al Lang Field)
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com

Sun. Oct 24th Tarpon Springs Sunday Morning Market, 9am-2pm
This is the first day of the new Fall season for the T. Springs Market and we are looking forward to returning to this lovely town. We always have a great time, with good customer turnout and sharing market day with our many vendor friends who have great offerings of produce, ready to go food, crafts and much more. Many of our customers are locals, as well as ones who travel up to the area to enjoy the market and the Sponge Docks. The market is located at the corner of Tarpon Ave. and Alt 19 (Pinellas Ave) and there is ample parking close by.

We got great news this week when we heard from our new friend Matt, of "Blooming Daily", who is putting out a calendar with 12 of his most special flower pics and the December pic is going to be of the lovely Red Florida Dogwood (red flowering Mussaenda), that we have blooming in our back yard! His calendars can be ordered from his site at www.bloomingdaily.com....check it out!

We are having another week of glorious Fall weather with lower humidity and plenty of sunshine (we could use some rain tho !)....this is a great time to get out in the garden and spruce things up, plus get new plants established so happy gardening !

Market/Show Schedule week of Oct. 14-17

2010-10-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

(pic) Bok Tower, Lake Wales, FL

This Saturday, Oct. 16th, we will be vending at the beautiful Tower Botanical Park in Lake Wales, FL. Their "Boktoberfest" is a one-day show only on Saturday and they will have free admittance to the park, and there will be over 60 vendor booths with gorgeous plant offerings, as well as children's activities, Live Entertainment, Beer Booths, lectures and exhibits. If you have never been to this historic place, this is a great time to come ! It's about an hour and half drive from Pinellas area . We are thrilled to be invited to be part of this event this year !

That being said, the beginning of our season brings with it the usual challenges of truck and trailer mishaps, so, because we have to concentrate on doing the Bok Show, we will NOT be at Safety Harbor Market on Thursday, and we will also have to miss Sat. Morning Market, downtown St. Pete on Sat. Oct. 16th. We will return for our regular markets the following week!

Also, upcoming in the near future, is our Fall Plant Fest at Mt. Dora the first weekend of November, so stay tuned for details about that !

Sorry we will miss everyone at our markets this weekend, but hope some of you can make the Road Trip to Bok Tower...it's a great "One-Tank" Road trip !

2010-10-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

(pic) The bloom on Mitch's Okra plant in our yard

We had a fabulous opening day of Sat. Morning Market in downtown St. Pete this past Sat ! Great weather and great crowds, and it was so nice to see our fellow vendor friends we missed over the summer. The market has some new food vendors, one of which is the "Sausage guy" ..check them out, looks and tastes scrumptious!

Everyone loved our white blooming Plumeria Pudica, the gorgeous Wally's Yellow and Double White Hibiscus, the Butterfly Wings and more. Thanks to all that turned out, we are psyched to have a great Market Season.

This past weekend, we also set up at the Tropiflora Nursery in Sarasota, FL. The owners, Dennis & Linda Cathcart, are simply two of the nicest people in the world. They do 2 big plant shows every year out of their nursery and are kind enough to invite fellow nursery growers to set up too. The weather was just great and we had a lot of fun selling plants and we got to buy some great plants to have for our markets.

Fall is definitely in the air and it's great having the A/C off and the windows open and sure does make for more comfortable work out in the garden !

Here's our line up for this week:

Thurs. Oct. 7th Safety Harbor Market, Main Street, Safety Harbor, FL Opening day of this market for the season and always fun to set up by the gazebo in this quaint town. Market hours are 9am-1:30 pm.

Sat. Oct. 9th Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Al Lang Field Parking Lot Market hours 9am-2pm. It will be much easier to get to market this week and find parking. Don't forget, we have it set up that you can purchase plants, then drive in behind our booth to pick them up and not have to pay a parking fee.

Sun. Oct. 10th Opening day of Seminole Heights Market, Tampa Located on the front field area of Hillsborough High School, 5000 N. Central Ave. Market hours 9am-2pm. We are eager to return to this market that is starting it's second season. It is run by the gal that runs the Tampa downtown Friday market. It's a good size market with tons of great food, plants and crafts.

Have a great week and get out in this lovely weather and do some gardening and hope to see you at the market!

Meeting new friends and Upcoming Events

2010-09-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

We has a lot of fun doing our Fall yard plant sale this weekend and got to meet a couple of new friends that are very special....

One of them, was Penny Carnathan, who writes, along with her gal pal Kim, an informative and amusing blog called "The Dirt" for the Tampa Trib...you can find them on Facebook, TBO blogs and twitter. Penny came over especially to get some Butterfly wing plants that she had been wanting. We had a great time talking about plants, her blog and she took some pics around our personal garden. She is a great gal, very funny and, a great writer...put The Dirt in your favorites and follow along with them..they visit plant nurseries, plant sales, exchange plant info and generally just have a great time gardening! Thanks Penny for making the jog over !

You can find her write up about her trip to see us at twitter.com/TheDirtTBO and click on "christia" link...or you can just google The Dirt Tampa Tribune and find them there...what a great title for a blog..gee, wish I had thought of it :)

The second new friend we made this weekend, was Matt and his lovely wife Sandra of Blooming Daily, who came over to take some pics around our garden. We first heard of Matt when Bay News 9 did a special on him..he is doing a fantastic project of taking a Plant pic a day and posting it on his website..he also has a facebook page. Check him out at Blooming Daily.com Also, if you go to the Bay News 9 website, you can find the original broadcast. He is an excellent photographer and graphic designer and he is also getting ready to publish a calendar with 12 of his fav prints..we know we want at least a couple of those..they will make great Holiday gifts. Thanks Matt and Sandra for taking the time to come over, we can't wait to see the calendar and continue to see what you shoot everyday.

Okay, so now to get back to the real business of selling plants...we are gathering our plant inventory, doing daily leg and arm muscle exercises to get ourselves back in shape for our Market and Plant shows and we can't wait..we feel it's going to be an awesome season, so here's our schedule for October...

Sat. Oct. 2/9/16/23/30 Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete Market hours 9-2pm
www.saturdaymorningmarket.com The market continues every Saturday through the end of May, 2011...only exception will be Xmas Day this year that falls on a Sat., and one Sat. in March, when we have to vacate for Grand Prix vehicles !

Fri. Sat. Sun. Oct 1 - 3 Tropiflora Nursery Fall Plant Fest
www.tropiflora.com Their big Fall sale where they will have their own inventory on sale plus have 20 plus vendor friends who are some of the best growers from around the state.....luckily, they always give us a nice shady spot in the far back, so look for us there, but bring a hat !

Thur. Oct 7/14/21/28 Safety Harbor Market, Main Street, Safety Harbor 9a-1:30 pm

Sunday, Oct. 10 Seminole Heights Market, Tampa
www.sundaymorningmarket.com Market hours 9a-2p

Sat. Oct. 16th Bok Tower Boktoberfest, Lake Wales, FL
www.Boktoberfest.com A new show for us that promises great crowds and great selection of plant vendors from all over the state

Sat. Oct. 30th Circus McGurkis, St. Pete FL
www.circusmcgurkis.org

And lastly, pending, we have heard that the Tarpon Springs Sunday Market will be starting back up in late October, so stay tuned when we know the dates for sure......also, we may be setting up at the Corey Avenue Sunday market sometime in Oct/Nov too so stay tuned as we finalize the dates.

That's it for now, glad to say, soon, it will be Market Day yeah!

Fall is coming ! Plant Sale at Our House this Weekend!

2010-09-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

(pic) My pink mandavilla vine on the new trellis

There is a small little difference in the air now that signals (and teases us) that Fall is around the corner! A bit less humidity in the mornings and evenings is a welcome breath of fresh air.

We have decided to do our Fall Plant yard sale at our house a little early this year, while we still have one of our last free weekends before the season starts. Our Yard Plant sales are always a lot of fun and always highly anticipated by our friends and customers, so come on by and see us !

We have some terrific plants, at great prices and now is the time to get some good deals!

Here's the scoop:

Plants! Plants! Plants! Fall Yard Sale This Weekend!

where: Corner of 14th street & 39th Ave. North, St. Pete
when: Fri. Sept 24 10am-6pm Sat. Sep 25th 9am-6pm
what: Landscape plants, exotic tropicals, butterfly-friendly specimens, ferns and much much more!

Pass this along to any friends and neighbors that might be looking to get some plants for their yards and gardens. This is a great time of year to get new things in and established.

Looking forward to seeing everyone !

Plant Sale Sat. Sept 18th !

2010-09-17T16:06:00.001-07:00

We had a great time today at our plant sale in Seminole..saw some old friends and met many new ones ! Everyone loves the Butterfly Wing! The sale continues tomorrow, Sat. Sept. 18 9am-5pm...here is some of the stuff we have!

Areca Palms
Rangoon Creeper
Passion Vines
Pipe Vine
Crotons (gorgeous, big and full !)
Large Fuzzy leaf Tibouchina
Curly Annie Ferns
Plumeria Pudica (white blooms...tall and really full)
Double Purple Datura
Perennial Peanut Ground Cover
Beach Sun Daisy Ground Cover
Yellow bloom Allamanda
Cherry Jubiliee Mandavilla
Dwarf Cavandish Banana

and much much more..hope you all can come out and see us...see the prior postings for address in Seminole........Happy Gardening !

Plant Sale Start Time Changed for Fri. Sept 17

2010-09-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hi all, we have had to change our start time for the plant sale out in Seminole tomorrow morning ...we will be starting at NOON, instead of 9am. We are having troubles with Ole Nellie, our dear ole truck which is impacting our start time. Hope this doesn't inconvenient people too much..thank you for your understanding !

Again, Plant Sale in Seminole (see previous postings) will begin at NOON, tomorrow, Friday, Sept.17. The start time of 9am on Saturday, Sept. 18 stays the same !

Butterfly Wing Plant and Plant Sale this weekend !

2010-09-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

We have been getting a lot of inquiries about this plant lately, so wanted to repost info about them and availability...also, following it, is info about a big Yard Plant Sale this coming weekend, so check it out!

Pic here is the beautiful Butterfly Wing Plant (Christia obcordata), aka "Stripe" ! We have been this beauty for a couple of years now and it's one of our most popular rare plant offerings. We sold out by the end of last Springs shows but have been getting a lot of inquiries about them lately and we have been busy growing babies all summer and they are now ready for sale! We have them available in 1 gallon pots for $8, and we do have some large Mother plants in 8" pots that are 3 ft tall, for $20. Since we do not have a storefront, you must purchase this from us at one of our markets or events, and, we can also arrange for you to pick up at our residence in Northeast St. Pete !

We have just confirmed with our dear friends in Seminole, that we will be doing a Yard Plant Sale THIS weekend at their place, where we have set up before !

Here is the info:
When: Friday, Sept. 17th & Sat. Sept. 18th 9am -5 pm
Where: 5400 Bates Street North, Seminole------this is one west of the intersection of 54th avenue north and 113th street (aka Duhme Rd)...look for the signs !

We will have the Butterfly wings, lots of gorgeous passion vines, hibiscus, Rangoon Creeper and much much more ! Come on out and see us !

Upcoming Plant Events !

2010-09-13T10:25:00.001-07:00

Greetings all, we are gearing up for an exciting Fall plant season, so check these out, put them on your calendars and look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Tropiflora Nursery Fall Plant Fest, Sarasota FL www.tropiflora.com
Fri. Oct 1, Sat Oct 2nd, Sun Oct 3rd
This is their big Fall show that highlights their own nursery plus 20 of their fellow plant vendor friends, all having their specialities, our being one of them ! If you have never been to do this nursery, we highly recommend you coming down for the show, it is well worth the drive. Tropiflora always has great sales on their own inventory, plus you get to see 2o other specialized plant vendors all in the same place!

Saturday Morning Market, St. Pete FL www.saturdaymorningmarket.com
Sat. Oct. 2nd 9am-2pm
The market begins it's 9th season as one of the biggest daily markets around ! The market runs every Sat. through the end of May, 2011.
We, along with some 120 plus vendors will all be there to welcome our loyal customers back for another great season. If you are traveling from afar, recommend to bring a cooler, as not only is there great foods to be eaten at market, you will find tons of great stuff you will want to bring home! With a wide variety of produce vendors (regular and organic), speciality foods, arts & crafts and Plants, there is something for everyone. Live music, a large seating area and other entertainment makes this one of the most fun markets to visit in the area!

Bok Tower Garden Boktoberfest Plant Sale Sat. Oct. 16th www.boktoberfest.com
This is our first time participating in this event over in lovely Lake Wales at this historic site. It is only a one-day show but will have a hundred booths of plants vendors, educational booths, plant societies etc. We had heard great things about this event from last year, and they are expecting a 10,000 turnout, so should be a lot of fun to be part of the festivities!

Mt. Dora Botanical Show Sat & Sun Nov. 6th and 7th
Always one of our favorite shows to do as this little town is just a gem to visit. The show is in a lovely park right on the lake front, featuring 100 of the best plant vendors around. The town itself hosts many special antique and gift stores and yummy restaurants.

Other Market Happenings:
Right now, beside us being at Sat. Morning Market in St. Pete, we are slated to participate in Seminole Heights Market, Tampa, on Sun. Oct 10th. We are also in the process of appearing at the Corey Avenue Sunday Morning Market the latter part of October, and the Safety Harbor Thursday Morning Market....stay tuned to our blog for exact dates coming up on those !

Lastly, we have a few other small events and yard sales that we are working on for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to see our postings on confirming those !

Tarpon Springs Labor Day Show Pics !

2010-09-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

We are having a great time at Tarpon Springs this weekend..the area we are set up, is the same as the Sunday Morning Market that will return in October. This show is a smallish one, about 30 vendors, but a nice selection of arts and crafts, antiques, great food, and our Plants, of course ! It has been a busy show and we have met so many nice people..lots of locals and, surprised at many that traveled from down south and mid state to come over the day. We had such a good day on Sat., that we had to send Mitch back down to the nursery to get us restocked, and by late Sunday afternoon, we were restocked..unfortunately, a big thunderstorm came in and shut us down early, but we will be back tomorrow Morning, Labor Day, 9am-5pm for close out the show. Here are some quick pics I managed to get in between customers today....

Our set up at Tarpon Springs Craft Show this weekend..this was taken early Sunday Morning as we were opening up so not many customers yet, but got very busy early on..we had a great time, met lots of new friends, saw some great old friends and had a great time selling plants while listening to great music all day...we got rained out about 3:30, but will return on Monday morning for our final day

"Eleanor Roosevelt" Croton....one of our Fav's and they all found great homes this weekend !

Our Super Salesman helper, REO, enjoying a quick, quiet moment

Happy Customers with their Butterfly Wing baby purchases !

Our beautiful "Sharonii" Helleconia blooming it's heart out :

Beautiful artwork done on a Rain barrel by fellow vendor..have his contact if you want one too !

Happy crowds coming out on Sunday..notice the big guy with the hat, on the right..yup..its "heyplantman" aka Mitch

Our newest addition to the Passion Vine world..this is a gorgeous bubble pink with white center

Our Red Passiflora and Lady Lavender Passion Flowers hanging out together

"Gator Orange" Hibiscus....a real beauty...solid deep orange...most people know we don't carry "common" things, but when we do, such as hibiscus, it will in colors not commonly found

"Party Time" Alternanthera....lovely variagated ground cover for shade...these customers are buying them to put them around their Oak Trees

Our lovely "Curly Annie" Fern (Emina), this pic probably doesn't do it justice...the leaves are teeny and stack upon each other like coins...a clumper, it will do lovely in a hanging basket for this customer

"Picasso Paintbrush" croton..another crowd favorite...the leaves are very frilly and colorful and very much resemble a paint brush stained of many colors ! This is dwarf variety and is probably the slowest growing croton in the world, but people love them for its uniqueness.

One of our great "Rangoon Creeper" bushes...this is such a unique plant..the flowers change color throughout the day, and then its very aromatic at night....In one of my previous posts, I have a pic of my personal one in a hanging basket..just one of my favs in my garden...mine got zapped pretty bad last January but made a fantastic comeback with a little TLC and fertilizer

One of our "mother" Butterfly Wing plants...this plant is so awesome and so unique....botanical name is Christia Obcordata...we have been growing them for a couple of years..they do best in shade/filtered light (morning sun okay) and we have found, they like to be on the dry side and not too heavily fertilized....they don't like the cold and have to be protected but they are worth the extra effort !

That's all for today....tomorrow is Labor Day and we will be back at Tarpon Springs again from 9am-5pm..we are restocked and look forward to another day of lots of happy customers ! Happy Labor Day all !

ShowTime Labor Day Weekend 2010

2010-09-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

It's Showtime ! Tarpon Springs Labor Day Event--see info below !
Please note: there is also an Arts and Crafts Show along the Sponge Docks, so you can visit that and our event too on the Corner of Alt 19 & Tarpon Avenue!

(pic) passiflora violacea (yes, they are available !)

September Happenings !

2010-09-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings ! We are busy working on our schedule for upcoming markets and shows and will post our Fall schedule later this week.

Meanwhile, we are happy to be a part of a great event this coming weekend up in Tarpon Springs...here are the details :

5th Annual Tarpon Springs Labor Day Weekend Fest
When: this Sat/Sun/Monday Sept. 4, 5 & 6th
Time: 9am to 5pm
Where: Corner of Tarpon Avenue and Alt 19 (this is the same corner parking lot that hosts the Sunday Morning Market last year)

There is plenty of parking on the surrounding downtown streets as well as just south of this parking lot, so you don't have to walk too far. We are very close to the Main Spring and just about 5 blocks south of the Sponge Docks. The event itself will have many great arts and craft vendors, as well as yummy food offerings.

Come on up and see us, and enjoy the surrounding community. There is tons of great antique shops, the beautiful Spring Area, and of course, loads of great retail and food shop at the Sponge Docks, so you can make a great day of visiting the area !

Hope to see you there, we will have loads of gorgeous plants and this is a great time to get new things into your garden for Fall !

Rainy August Days

2010-08-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

This pic is my lovely Rangoon Creeper, that is living in a hanging basket. We are amazed how this plant came back from the freeze...had it hanging under our grapefruit tree, and after the freeze, it was just bare stems about 6 inches long....we babied it, fertilized, watered and waaalah, it flushed back out and has just been blooming like mad the past month. The bloom change color as the day progresses. Going to start carefully doing some cuttings and see if we can propagate some babies !

After doing a few yard sales the past couple of weeks, we are laying low, working on propagating and thank goodness, have had some lovely rain all week that saved us a lot of watering time. We are starting to hear from the Markets and Botanical shows about the upcoming Fall season and are busy getting our ducks in order so to speak about them...have some new shows we are doing and you will hear more about them as time goes by.

We went up to the Seminole Mall Market last Saturday to check it out. It was lovely to see some good vendor friends such as Bob & Connie from Bob & Daughter produce, Deb Thompson and Tamara Leavy. The set up is inside the mall and they are running the market from Thurs-Sundays right now, but most of the vendors are just doing the weekends. They have a fantastic BBQ vendor out in the parking lot, so if you get up that way, check out the vendors and grab some delish BBQ while you are there!

Stay tuned as we get our schedule set up for events coming up !

House (Plants and Misc) again tomorrow Sat. Aug 14th !

2010-08-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Plant Sale again tomorrow (Sat. August 14th) 10 am -4pm, come rain or shine (but not lightning !)...

corner of MLK Street (9th Street) North and 35 avenue !

We got some stuff left, our hosts do too, so we are going to do it one more time. Pic at left is the lovely Gator Orange Hibiscus, which are looking great right now..full of blooms and buds..this is a great Hib, low maintenance once established and blooms most of the year, and, from what we know, the only Total-Orange Hib out there ! Also got some butterfly wing and blooming big leaf Tibs left and some other great assorted stuff..come on out and see us !

August news-Plant Sale tomorrow Sat Aug 7

2010-08-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings all, and can't believe we are charging in to August already. We have been getting huge electrical/rain storms here lately and the plants are loving it!

Quick news---we are participating in a Yard Sale tomorrow here in St. Pete, at one of our friends house, and bringing some great plants!
Sale is Saturday only (Aug. 7th) from 10am-6pm. The location is:

Corner of 35th avenue north and MLK (9th) street north (on the East side)....it is right across from the Sweetbay Grocery store and the post office. Some of you locally will recognize this beige 2 story Spanish-style house as it has been a local landmark for years. Our good friends have invited us to bring our plants and we hope some of you can come by and check out the plants plus their yard sale offerings. Sale is rain or shine, but if it's lightning nearby, you may find us hanging out in the garage under cover !

Some of the offerings: The butterfly plant (pic above) are gorgeous; we have 1 gallon big leaf tibouchinas in bloom; Curly Annie Ferns; Hibiscus; Passion Flower; Ground Covers and whatever else Mitch can round up from down at the nursery that is looking good. Our prices will be easily affordable for everyone !

Hopefully, this sale will help us get through the month of August as we start our planning for the Fall season.

As always, trying to keep our availability list up to date so feel free to check that every week, and we can meet by appointment for purchase.

Keep cool !

Dog Days of Summer

2010-07-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

They don't call this the Dog Days of Summer for nothing, right ? For all of us, just stepping out of our house is like stepping into a 400 degree oven ! Have found the only good time to spend in the garden is early morning or late afternoon/early evening. but we are making strides on our own place in St. Pete.....did the whole weed/grass killer thing and ready to put heavy duty ground cover down, so we can get the back yard beds and pathways in place.

From some reason, our little corner of St. Pete is not getting the rain that others are getting...boohoo! and sometimes,having to go out and hand water twice a day on some tender things. Must say,everything is holding up well under the heat and the butterflies are thriving.

Weather debating, we are scheduled to do the Sat. Safety Harbor Market this Sat., July 17th. We are eager to see some of our fellow vendor friends. Market hours are 8am-1pm. This is only a once-a-month market for the summer so come on out if you are in the area and see us..we appreciate your support !

People have been asking us if we are going to do another yard sale and we are debating...last year, this time, we did one, and had very poor turnout, and for dealing with the heat and effort needed to set this up, we are questioning whether it is worth it ? That is why we got our Availability List up and running, hoping to gain some income thru the summer with that. We do get a couple of calls every week for specific things, but it is slow and we realize, at this point, that most people feel it's too hot to much more new gardening right now!

That being said, we, as many others, are struggling with trying to get thru the summer with no revenue coming in. Many people have been asking us about the following and here is our "take":

Gulfport Tues. Morning Mkt: This market is under the guidance of a very motivated market manager and they have had decent press coverage and advertising. We know many vendors who set up there and while not a gang-busting sales event, it IS worth it for some vendors...for us, we have tried it many times and basically, always came up below expenses. Not sure why, people enjoy looking at our plants, but there seems to be little interest in actually buying any. We have tried everything from different set up to reducing prices, but it has never paid off. We continue to be supportive of this market and the Gulfport community and do encourage everyone to support it !

Bargain Barn (southside St.Pete at old Kmart): This is a relatively new venue that a family is trying to get going and has big plans for expansion. We felt it was not the type of venue for our product, and did know vendors that originally set up at it, but have pulled out since.

Seminole Market: This is a new venture that is going to run inside the Seminole Mall and is being managed by an event planner. They are planning to run Thur-Sunday but will open first weekend of August on Sat/Sun. Again, being an inside mall event, don't think it will be viable for us, but we wish them success and will check it out once it is up and running.

Tarpon Springs Sunday Market: Last we heard, the original management of this market was coming back into place (great!) and we urged them to start in September..haven't heard anything lately,but we have high hopes for returning to that Sunday Market come Fall.

In summary, our biggest wish has always been to get the Palmetto property up and running as retail, but the weather and the bad economy derailed plans for that at present. We have been actively looking for a small property in St. Pete to have a small retail center, but the current real estate atmosphere for commercial properties is way beyond our means. So, as always, we tell our devoted friends and customers, don't give up on us...we will keep chugging along like the little red engine and you will continue to see us at various markets and events, especially once the Fall season kicks into gear.

Thanks to many that continue to call and email their support to us !

Welcome to Rainy July !

2010-07-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July weekend ! For most of us here in the Tampa Bay area, it continues to be a wet one, with overcast skies and rain on and off all day and night and we are not unhappy with this..the rain is giving a good soak to our gardens and our plants couldn't look happier. Of course, that means, our grass is growing by leaps and bounds so lawnmowers are getting a workout.

We continue to go forward with getting rid of grass in our back yard..most of it is now a patio and flower beds. Need to get more ground cover tarp down, mulch and have to find some more patio stones....why the heck are those things so expensive to buy?! We have been lucky in the past to get some for free, so if you or someone you knows, has some lying around they don't want, let us know and we will be happy to come pick them up.

Pic here is an example of the outstanding bloom of the Tibouchina Heteromalla..that's the large fuzzy leaf Tibo, and one our favorites. They bloom from summer until early Winter and the blooms are long lasting. We are seeing buds coming and soon, we will have glorious violet blue blooms coming out everywhere.

We still have some Butterfly Wing plants available is you haven't had a chance to get one.

Stay tuned as we have some plans to be out in the area for a plant sale soon! Meanwhile, check out our availability list for any of your plant needs. Have a great week.

Butterfly Wing (Christia obcordata) are BACK ! June 29, 2010

2010-06-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Butterfly Wing (Christia obcordata) plant (also known as "Stripe") is one of our most favorite, and most popular plants we have ever carried. Loving shade/filtered light, they well in-ground, or pots and hanging baskets, and have been successfully grown as a houseplant.

The leaves look exactly like that of the Zebra Longwing butterfly, but they as you can see, they are light green with brown stripes.

We have them available right now, in 8" containers for $15.00 We have limited supply, so don't hesitate to email us if you would like to pick one of these beauties up ! And, don't forget, it makes a truly special gift for a special gardening enthusiast family member or friend too.

Plant Availability List Updated ! June 18, 2010

2010-06-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

(pic) Double White Datura

Thank you for your patience, our Plant Availability List is finally updated so you can out the list to see if there is anything you just can't do without !

Also, we have access to many other plants, so don't hesitate to email us with any other plant request and we will do our best to find it for you.

Right now, we have no shows or events scheduled over the summer, but you never know, we might pop up somewhere, so stay tuned to our blog every week to see any updates.

Meanwhile, hope everyone is enjoying their gardens that we know many of you have been working hard on all Spring time. For many of us, we are replacing lost plants from the January cold spell,as well as adding new things. The rainy season is upon us so this is a great time to still get in new plants if you need them. Don't forget the fertilizer! We recommend time-release pellets such as Osmocote. Some of you like the liquid fertilizer, which is fine too, but you have to do that more often.

Also, if you have Crepe Myrtle trees, than we are sure you are enjoying their blooms that are just coming out. Remember, you can usually get about 3 to 4 flowerings before Fall, if you take the time to cut back spent blooms as they go to seed each time. The tree is amazing how it can regenerate almost over night with new growth and more blooms!

All for now, going to go outside and enjoy watching my butterflies zipping all around ! Happy Father's Day to all !

Availability List..in the Works !

2010-06-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all, sorry, having technical issues with the site about getting our Availability List up and running,so bear with us, and hopefully by tomorrow (Friday), we will have it set ! Thanks for your patience :)

Updated Availability List Coming !

2010-06-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

We will have our updated Plant Availability List on the site by next Tuesday, June 15th.

Weekend Event Update !

2010-06-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, we will be unable to do the garden show at St. Pete Clay this weekend, lost our helpers due to unforeseen circumstances, so Mitch and I will be off to Punta Gorda for their Garden Show. We are still available for specific requests of plants for pickup in St. Pete over the summer, so don't hesitate to email us with your Wish List !

Current Events week of June 8-13, 2010

2010-06-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

Back from N Carolina ! Pic here is of a gorgeous little place we stayed in Chimney Rock,NC. We had a great time, although it wasn't quite as cool up there as we wanted, but night time temps were the best ! I am in the process of creating slide show of our adventures.

The show in Hendersonville was a huge show....9 blocks long, can you believe that ? Huge amount of garden art, plants and misc and the Shriners right next to us kept us plied with yummy BBQ. We had a very busy Saturday, and our adorable Butterfly Wing Plant sold out within an hour. Sunday, was very slow, then we got rained out mid-afternoon..that seems to be the karma for us all Spring/Summer. We did manage to stay a couple of extra days to chill up at Chimney Rock and Lake Lure after the show and enjoyed the mountains and the rolling Broad River that roars through town.

The show weekend was even more enjoyable for us as Mitch's brother and his wife drove down from Virginia to help us and enjoy their own getaway. Thanks Marshall and Deb for making the trip!

Coming back to St. Pete was like stepping into a hot oven after our days in the mountains and no rain in site, boohoo! We are now down to our last 2 shows this coming weekend:

Sat/Sunday St. Pete Clay Company, hosts their annual Summer Garden Event. Great deals on pottery and clay yard art, along with plants from us and a few others. Come on down and check it out! www.stpeteclay.com

Sat/Sun Punta Gorda Garden Show at the big local auditorium. Since the regular Hibiscus festival got cancelled this year, we are looking forward to being a part of this event. Their will plants and garden related stuff indoors and out. Check out the city of Punta Gorda for more info about that.

This weekend also, Sunken Gardens is hosting a Hibiscus Festival on Saturday from 10am-4pm. Although we won't be there, there will be plant vendors, as well as other popular vendors from the Saturday Morning Market !

Finally, working on keeping up the availability list for summer for those who are still looking for things. Right now, we just got our last crop of the Double Flower Hollyhocks in and we do have lots of great Figs and Passion Vines.

Also, note, the ever-popular Butterfly Wing will be available mid-July. We will take reserves for them, as they will go fast. Send us an email with your request and contact info.

All for now, hope to see some of you at one or both of the events this weekend !

Off to the North Carolina Mountains !

2010-05-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous last day at Sat. Morning Market and many thanks to the loyal customers and supporters that showed up to bid us adieu.

Now, we are really jazzed to head off to the Smokey Mountains later this week! We are journeying to a town called Hendersonville (about an hour from Asheville) to vend at their big Spring Plant Jubilee show Memorial Day weekend.

We are eager to get up there and show them some of our fabulous unusual plant offerings and hopefully, they will be equally as eager to buy them !

Pic here is of Chimney Rock, which is situated near Lake Lure, just a 1/2 hour drive from Hendersonville. This is one of Annie's all time favorite places for hiking and the views are to just die for....speaking of.....we tried to do the hike a couple of years ago, but between our heaving breathing and major electrical storms in the area, we had to turn back before completing the entire trek. Some of you may know that the Chimney Rock location was used in the movie "The Last of the Mohicans", and if you have ever seen that movie, than you know the mountains and the vistas are just gorgeous but the hike is not for the weak- ha!

We are MOST excited about the fact that we can get out of this Florida heat for awhile ! Forecast for up there is sunny this weekend, day time temps of low 80's...night time temps of high 50's/low 60's...yeehaw !

We are taking the laptop and the cameras so hopefully, will be able to post some pics and blogs while we are there, so keep checking back.

Our Main Man, Rick, is going to be chief house sitter/cat feeder and plant waterer/whisperer while we are gone, so we are lucky to leave everything in his capable hands.

After we return, we will be getting ready for a plant show down in Punta Gorda on June 12/13...after that,who knows where we may pop up !

Stay tuned, stay cool and stay gardening !

Closing out the Sat Morning Market Season

2010-05-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

(pic) Fiji Hibiscus

Tomorrow, May 22nd, is our last scheduled market day at Saturday Morning Market St. Pete. Market continues one more week after that, but we off to N. Carolina for a show. If for some reason, we can't fit all the plants on the trailer, we may have our super helpers do the last market day, so stay tuned for any updates about that !

We are going to have a huge set up this Sat. with 2 spots, 5 helpers and hundreds of great plants. New this week-Crepe Myrtles ! Come on down and see us and get some great plants at great prices, and help us celebrate our Market 2009/10 season end !

Change in Yard Sale Venue this weekend !

2010-05-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry, due to circumstances beyond our control, we will NOT be doing the Seminole Yard Sale this weekend, and will ONLY be at St. Pete Sat. Morning Market on Saturday! Come on down and see us for our last market day and get some great deals on plants !!!

Market Season winding down and latest news !

2010-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

(pic) Fiji Queen Hibiscus

Can't believe how fast May is going. After a very successful house and market sale last weekend, we are winding down our season...here's the scoop:

This Sat. May 22nd, will be OUR last appearance at the Saturday Morning Market, downtown St. Pete for the season. (The market will run till the very end of the month). We are always sad to see a market season end, and we will miss our vendor friends, but everyone is ready for a break !

That doesn't mean we won't keep working and be available to you! Although we are winding down on stock available for the summer, we will update our availability list every week, and you can call or email us for your plant needs, and we can make arrangements for pickup/deliveries.

After market this Saturday, we are preparing for a road trip to Hendersonville, N. Carolina for a Spring plant sale up there and are very excited at the prospect of seeing the mountains and feeling some gorgeous cool air. Hendersonville is a lovely town and is where Annie's parents retired many years ago, before their passing. This is our first time at the show, which is suppose to have 100 plus vendors with expected 10 thousand attendees..should be interesting !

Also, we will have another yard plant sale this Fri/Sat out in the Seminole area Fri/Sat.....look for the signs at 54th avenue north and 113th street (Duhme Road) intersection. This sale is held at one our faithful supporters house, so if you are in the area, or know someone out that way, tell them about it. We will be posting it on Craigs List too.

We may also pop up here and there at other places this summer, so keep checking our blog for any new updates.

Lastly, we still have plenty of lovely plants...here are a few of the goodies:

Hollyhocks (double flower hybrid)
Bananas, Figs and Peppers
Hibiscus
Grasses (Red Fountain/Bamboo Muhley)
Gallardia and other perennials
One gorgeous 10 gallon Crepe Myrtle (in bloom!)
Agapanthus
Sunflowers
Pipe Vines
Passion Vines (that have edible fruit)
and much more !

Thanks as always, to all our faithful supporters, we are so blessed that we are able to keep the business going after such a tough winter !