Open Greenhouse & Plant Swap, Saturday, March 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 602 Ronele Drive, Brandon, FL 33511
We’re highlighting wild violets this month because they really have been amazing. They’re native to Florida (and most of the US) and I’ve been growing them for years, carefully cultivating them in pots in damp shady locations. At some point, they “escaped” and are taking over part of the yard where nothing else will grow. They make me smile every time I see them. (And for people who only food or medicinal herbs, they’re pretty amazing too.)
Some highlights on the potted plants:
- Firebush is my all-around favorite native plant because it’s always alive with bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
- We also potted up some non-native rain lilies which aren’t as spectacular as the firebush every day, but when they bloom, they’re show-stoppers.
- Everglade tomatoes, $3 rooted cuttings or you-dig for free and we have some tiny seedlings started in the greenhouse. (Most of the you-digs have burnt leaves from the cold but they’re still healthy.)
- Potted aloe plants that came from the last swap
- And, of course, we have free mulch too, and one nice pile that’s pretty much broken down into compost.
Also on the free plant list for March:
- Native elderberries are covered in berries but they also spread by runners so we have lots to share
- Bleeding heart and pagoda plants, both of which do need to be contained because they spread underground.
- Lady palms, a slow-growing hedge that’s tough as can be once it’s started
- Yellow native cannas
- Crinium lilies are beginning to snap into bloom now, and we have plenty of babies to share.
Cuttings
- Moringa, we need to cut our trees back and these root with nearly 100% success.
- Ever-bearing mulberries with fruit that is just now starting to ripen, to the delight of children and birds.
- Sweet almonds are thriving and are covered in bees.
- Coral Porterweed which gets butterflies all year long and hummingbirds when they’re here in the winter. It’s also very attractive and very easy to root.
- Dark blue salvia and lavender or red firespike. There’s one big red firespike you can take as a you-dig.
- 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.
Seeds
- Everglade tomatoes
- Daikon radish (mooli) is easy to grow. If you let it flower, it provides nectar all winter long, even when everything else is frozen
- Blackberry lily, another native that came through the cold with blooms
- Native spiderwort, another favorite native that thrives almost anywhere it gets enough sun
- The cosmos growing here are a new favorite, they attract lots of bees and butterflies even though they bounce when a critter lands. I’ve planted a small forest to take advantage of these highly entertaining flowers.
- Candlestick senna is a show-stopper plant but it’s also the larval food for sulfur butterflies, which are gorgeous on their own.
- Bachelor buttons are super-cute plants that attract all kinds of bees and butterflies.
- Gaillardia, or blanket flower, is no longer considered a native but it grows so well in Florida that it was considered native until last year.