Free plant list for October

Open Greenhouse & Plant Swap, Saturday, Oct. 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 602 Ronele Drive, Brandon, FL 33511

IMPORTANT: We changed the time from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. so we’re all back inside before the worst of the heat. We’re still having fun, but it’s more fun early 😊

I hadn’t planned to promote this weekend’s event considering the devastation across our communities, but then I was gifted 500 bare-root strawberry plants. They’re the Medallion variety, which UF describes as “distinctive for its intense flavor, the best yet of any UF/IFAS strawberry variety.” Everything else on the free plant list can wait until November but these babies need to get in the ground ASAP.

If you’ve never been to Open Greenhouse, it’s a great way to see what’s happening in my Florida-friendly yarden and meet other gardeners. The plant swaps are great fun – you never know who is going to bring what. (They’re not a tit-for-tat swap so you don’t need to bring anything if you don’t have plants you can share.)

Our featured plant for October is the native salvia, which is food for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds! Now is the time to plant hummingbird food in Florida because they’re the original snowbirds who come down for the winter and then head back north to nest in the summer. Most of the pollinator/hummingbird plants we grow are pretty easy to root. For best results, bring something that holds water, like a bucket or deep bowl, so they don’t dry out before you get a chance to start them. (We’ll give you directions if you ask for them on Saturday.)

•          Brazilian red cloak blooms all winter long in full sun or deep shade. It’s also an awesome cut flower if you don’t mind stealing food from the hummingbirds.

•          Pink and red powderpuff plants need a good trimming now that they’re pretty much finished blooming.

•          Coral Porterweed gets butterflies all year long and hummingbirds when they’re here in the winter. It’s also very attractive and very easy to root, plus we have a few you-digs. (They’re nowhere near as aggressive as the purple porterweed so we just get a few volunteers every year.)

•          Dombeya is a totally amazing plant that was gifted to us two years ago. It’s now eight feet tall and six feet wide and really needs trimming too.

•          Firespike, in either purple or red, is another plant that blooms in either sun or shade and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

•          I’m always careful about promoting pagoda plants and bleeding hearts (both Clerodendrum species) because they spread by underground runners, but they’re spectacular all year long if you have the space and the time to keep them under control.

Also on the free plant list for October:

• Lady palms, a slow-growing hedge that’s tough as can be once it’s started – and it actually prefers shade.

•          Ever-bearing mulberries that are super-easy to root and set fruit nearly year-round.

•          Jacob’s ladder is one of the few things we grow that doesn’t benefit wildlife, but it’s an attractive plant that works beautifully in a pot or as an inside house plant that doesn’t need much light or love. Some that’s outgrown its spot on my kitchen window is already rooted.

Seeds

•          The golden cosmos are a new favorite, they attract lots of bees and butterflies even though they bounce when a critter lands.

•          Bachelor buttons are super-cute plants that attract all kinds of bees and butterflies.

•          Yellow dwarf poinciana, a spectacular summer bloomer

• Dakon radish — now is the time to plant this winter favorite that is great food for people — or for butterflies if you let it go to seet

And we’re still sharing a bounty of native plants that Mother Nature has gifted to us.

• Native Porterweed is happily spreading and ready to share
• We have baby firebush popping up all over (plus a very limited number larger plants that need to be dug up). Firebush is my all-time favorite plant, it attracts bees, including the bumblebees I really love, butterflies, particularly zebra longwings, hummingbirds and regular birds like cardinals, bluejays and titmouses.
• Wild coffee is one of the most spectacular shade plants in a native garden. It gets pretty white flowers that attract bees and butterflies, then spectacular red berries that birds love. It’s an amazing plant that really wants to grow in a shady location.
• Simpson stoppers – volunteering from a mama that was gifted to me more than 10 years ago – also are popping up in spots where they’ll need to be transplanted.
• There are a few beautyberries popping up in a shady spot at the back of the farm, but we’ll probably start mowing back there soon, so they’re looking for happy new homes.
• The elderberry is blooming early this year, and we’ll have lots of cuttings on this native plant that’s been used medicinally for centuries.
• A couple of native cannas are popping up in my ditch. They’d be happier in a spot where they could get cut back after they finish blooming so you get another big flush of beautiful golden flowers.

Before you leave,  I’d like to remind you that the mulch fairies gifted us with two giant piles of the prettiest oak mulch we’ve seen in years. Bring your own containers and help yourself. We also have a limited number of wooden pallets and bamboo that can be cut to stake plants. Bring heavy-duty clippers if you want bamboo though!