What: The UF/IFAS Native Plant Sale.
When: June 21 and 22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: The UF/IFAS Native Plant Nursery, just west of the greenhouses located at 2333 Mowry Road, Gainesville.
About: Shop hundreds of native plant species this weekend at the UF/IFAS Native Plant Sale, the culmination of months of care by green-thumbed UF students, faculty and staff.
Proceeds from the sale fund the salaries of the undergraduate students who intern with the UF/IFAS Native Plant Nursery. Sales also fund materials, research projects and Extension efforts.
Every year, the interns grow an estimated 20,000 plants, creating an expansive inventory that includes grasses, shrubs, trees, wild blueberries and even legumes.
Milkweed, which attracts beneficial pollinators like butterflies and bees, is always a popular item, and sale attendees this year will notice a new variety: green antelopehorn milkweed.
Extension experts will be on hand Saturday and Sunday to answer questions about gardening, provide guidance about restoration projects and address wildlife-related concerns.
The UF/IFAS Native Plant Nursery project began four years ago as part of an effort to restore the Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, a 70-acre conservation area south of the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. As the scope of the project grew, it received support from the UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences, which provided space and greenhouses, as well as the UF/IFAS Office of the Dean for Research, the Native Plant Horticulture Foundation, the Florida Wildflower Foundation and other organizations.
“We started the sale due to community demand for plant materials and to fund internships at the nursery,” said Gage LaPierre, the nursery manager. “With the encouragement of faculty members, we started growing plants ourselves and decided to sell them.”
LaPierre estimates more than 500 people attended the sale last year, and they purchased thousands of plants, some destined for suburban yards and others for rural restoration projects.
“There’s a sizable demand for native plants, and it can’t seem to be filled because there’s a limited number of suppliers,” he said. “One thing I always try to stress to buyers is that certain plants always sell out quickly.”
A full inventory of plants is available on the UF/IFAS Native Plant Nursery Facebook page, facebook.com/UFNativePlants.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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