Close up of a pink hibiscus flower
Credit: Nnattalli/Shutterstock

If you like big blooms and you cannot lie, we’ve got an event you can’t deny.

Folks at the Lealman Exchange this weekend are selling hundreds of plants and promising guests they can “see blooms 10 inches wide or more that are so spectacular that you will ask if they are real or plastic,” per the event description.

Originally from Asia, the most common hibiscus came to Florida via Hawaii around 1900. But Florida also has nine native species that have sprouted from its marshes.

Oh, and as part of the mallow family, hibiscus are related to cotton and okra.

There is no cover for the Hibiscus Show and Plant Sale happening Saturday, May 23 in St. Petersburg

Hibiscus Show and Plant Sale


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Selene San Felice is managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Prior to joining CL in 2025, she started the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter and worked for her hometown paper, The Capital in Annapolis,...