The annual spring plant sale at
Leu Gardens, in Orlando, never fails to be spectacular. We went with wagon in hand looking for a plant we couldn't live without. Hundreds of people were there, scooping up plants as fast as they could because if you blinked, someone might buy the plant you were looking at. On sale were tropical fruit trees, ferns, succulents, roses, herbs, orchids, flowering tropical and subtropical shrubs and trees, and many more types of plants.
We were able to get nice international variety of herbs:
African blue basil, French thyme, Spanish lavender, dill fenneleaf, pennyroyal, lemon-scented thyme, chives, extra triple curled parsley, and
Foresteri rosemary ,that I'm going to add to flowering containers, while Tony found 'Window Box Roma' tomatoes, cubanelles, serrano 'del Sol', and banana peppers for his raised vegetable beds.
I was going to be stalwart and not buy anything else, but I eventually succumbed to getting
Kangaroo Paws, Macropidia fulginosa, an unusual Australian xeric native in full bloom and a lovely 'Green Velvet' Alocasia,
Alocasia frydeck.
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| Kangaroo Paws |
My determination to not buy any more plants was easy to keep under control through most of my search until I came to the
Orlando Area Rose Historical Society's booth.
Antique roses are great to grow in Florida with very low maintenance, no pest - no disease issues. Depending on the variety, they can bloom over and over again all year round. Reading the sign's descriptions, one caught my eye: "Heavily fragrant, long-lasting pink cabbage roses." I fell for the
'Duchesse de Babrant' tea rose. Into the wagon it went with my other terrestrial indulgences.
Another unique find was a bamboo obelisk that folded up easily. Tony was adamant that the $15 cost was a bargain for all the details, material, and labor involved in making it. We'll use it to allow our beans to grow up.
Unusual plants and finds were the 'Mammalaria plumosa' and Episcia cupreata 'Pink Brocade' hanging baskets,
terrariums with fluttering butterfly devices, pvc bird garden accents and wrought iron plant holders.
Great start to our spring garden.
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| Episcia cupreata 'Pink Brocade' |
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| Mamallaria plumosa |
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| All three wrought iron pot holders are connected at bottom. |
Leu Gardens Plant Sale Vendors
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