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Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.

Kim Franke-Folstad

Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.

Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.

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Chamberlain High plant sale is back with good buys

Posted Mar 16, 2010 by Kim Franke-Folstad

Updated Mar 16, 2010 at 11:43 AM

So, I took one day off last week, and wouldn’t you know it, because I didn’t drive past Chamberlain High School on Friday, I missed the opening days of their annual FFA plant sale. I didn’t see the sign until Monday.

Fortunately, the sale lasts a lot longer than most – they’ll be out there every day until 1 p.m. Sunday.

I stopped by today and, of course, I had to buy something.

The first thing I spotted was a box full of candy corn plants (Cuphea micropetal).

I bought one of these at last year’s sale, and it has been a favorite ever since. I have it in a basket hanging from our pergola (dappled shade), and it blooms like crazy year-round. I brought it into the lanai and covered it during the coldest winter days, and it held up better than any other potted plant I have.

The plant is named for its cute little orange blooms, which really do look like candy corn. I bought three this time, but I left a few, so hurry and get yours!

I also bought a creeping Charlie, a plant I knew nothing about.

It’s beautiful, but now I’m seeing conflicting things about it online – good and bad—and I’m not quite sure what I have. Some plants called creeping Charlie are invasive, but I plan to keep this one in the hanging basket—and I’ll be hanging it over a paved area, so I should be OK.

They didn’t seem to have as many plants this year, but there were lots of azaleas, crotons and begonias, and a few trees. I also spotted the pretty baby sun rose that I bought last year. And there were some good-sized Chinese fringe flower shrubs – which I wish I’d known about two weeks ago, before I bought the tiny ones at Lowe’s.

You can’t beat the prices on these very healthy plants. Some are grown by students and the rest are provided on consignment by local nurseries. The money raised will go back to the FFA program.

The school is at Busch and North boulevards in Tampa.  Get out there if you can.