Homestead Trip!

I finally got to go with Jenny to Homestead/Miami area to pick up plants from out whole salers!

It was a short 3.5 hour drive across the state and our first stop was Silent Native.

They had this amazing exotic milkweed!

Next was Kelly’s Tropicals where we picked up a ton of our 3 gallon species! Next we hit up an amazing smoothie/milkshake/fruit/veggie stand called Robert Is Here! It’s been around for over 75 years and it was amazing.

Our last stop was Doug Ingram. This is where my little plant lady heart became overwhelmed. WE HAD TO DRIVE AROUND IN A GOLF CART TO GET FROM ONE PLACE TO THE NEXT because this place was so enormous!! 

These were just a few of the beautiful exotics that they had in stock! If you’re curious to see more from Doug and his huge crew be sure to follow him on instagram @dougingramnursery!
-The Plant Lady

My Dream Job

Logan and I had the chance to visit the Naples Botanical Gardens over Thanksgiving weekend. 

We arrived there at 9:30 and met up with my contact who is also a Hanover Alum! We connected immediately and he and Logan even talked about some awesome educational ideas. I was so happy that I could merge those two sides of my life for a few hours! 

We walked around each section of the gardens and Chad showed us some amazing plants! We got to totally nerd out about our passion and it was the perfect end to the holiday weekend! But enough talking, I know you all want to see these amazing pictures!

Their orchid garden was amazing. I have never seen so many species in one area!

We saw some huge palm trees and of course some beautiful purple flowers!!
My favorite plant of the day was this itty bitty pineapple!! 

Chad also hooked us up with some Miracle fruit! They were so cool! We ate the flesh off these berries

And they made the most sour fruit we had (limequats – a mix between a lime and a kumquat) taste like the sweetest candy on earth! I was also eating lemons like they were candy too! It was a crazy experience!

I hope I get to work at the NBG one day. I would be the happiest Plant Lady ever. Continuing to work with and learn more native plants and exotics, would be a dream come true. I’m super passionate about the place, so I’m sure working here wouldn’t feel like work at all.

-The Plant Lady