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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Shopping for Plants

Once again it is the season for gardening. Zinnia 3

I get a lot of questions about where to buy plants. In addition to large home improvement centers, I usually suggest that people seek out a local plant nursery. Many of these small retail nurseries are very specialized and can provide some unique plant material and hard-to-find native plants that larger stores don’t have room to stock . Also, nursery professionals at local nurseries often have long time experience with the local area and can provide great tips and suggestions for plant choices or gardens with challenges.

Large home improvement stores do have some great specials and coupons so keep your eyes peeled for sales. As I see it, any money you save means more plants that you can buy for your garden!

Ironweed and a Gulf Fritillary Think Native: Native plants are often the ones best for butterflies and best for reduction of water use. Native and Florida Friendly plants are best suited to our unique environment and will likely thrive in your yard.

As there seems to be no exhaustive list of Tampa Bay nurseries, I put together a list of all the ones I could find that are still in business. Some of these specialize in native plants and I have marked them with an *.

You can also check the website to the Association of Florida Native Nurseries http://www.afnn.org/

One last trick of mine involves checking out produce stands. Many large scale produce stands also have plants at entirely reasonable prices like 4 inch pots of herbs at 25 cents each. It tends to be a mixed bag, but sometimes you can find some gems.

Do you know of a small nursery I have missed in the Tampa Bay area or do you have feedback on one of the nurseries listed? Please list it in the comments and I will make sure to add it to the list and map.


View Tampa Bay Nurseries in a larger map

Please note: By posting this list MOSI is not recommending any one garden center over another. Rather we hope to list as many nurseries as possible so that you can make your garden the best patch of earth it can possibly be for you, your family and the butterflies.

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