Hibiscus Society plant sale set for Saturday
The James E. Hendry Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society will hold its Hibiscus Hybrid Plant Sale from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Salvation Army in Fort Myers.
There will be 500 hybrid hibiscus plants, 50 varieties, from Sarasota business, Sun-Fire Nurseries, with a price of $15 for small and $30 for large.
Those who choose to become a member of the chapter that day, will receive $5 off per plant. Members of the chapter receive a discount.
“Last year we got 26 new members in June and most of them are coming to our meetings to raise these beautiful plants. A lot of them showed up at our first meeting and they are hooked all of a sudden,” Wanda Schmoyer, a member of the chapter, said.
She said the plant sale has been very successful.
“We always do it in October,” she said. “We switched it up so the snowbirds would have a chance to buy our plants. We decided to let them get a taste of our hibiscus this time.”
The hibiscus for sale are grown on their own roots and are easy to maintain. Some of the plants have blooms more than 8 inches in about every color imaginable, reds, yellows, blues, greens, purples, oranges, pinks, whites and some with up to five colors on the same plant.
In addition to the plants there will also be books, pruning shears and fertilizer for sale.
She said there will be four different boards on display featuring the plants for sale.
“They have to come and see the rest of the varieties. We don’t even have the names yet,” Schmoyer said.
Members of the James E. Hendry Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society will be wearing their orange shirts ready to answer any questions one might have on growing hibiscus.
“We know everything about them,” Schmoyer said.
All of the money raised during the sale goes towards charities. She said there is a church in Lehigh Acres that has a horticultural program to encourage teenagers to get involved in growing plants, which they are supporting.
The Salvation Army is at 10291 McGregor Blvd.
The chapter meets on the second Sunday of each month at 1:30 p.m. at Berne Davis Gardens, 2166 Virginia Ave., Fort Myers. The next meetings will be held Sunday, Feb. 9, Sunday, March 8 and Saturday, May 9.
For more information, visit www.hendrychapterhibiscus.com.