Credit: Photo via Visit Tampa Bay
Fall has officially arrived and that means it’s time to spruce up your porch and front yard with plants that usually don’t survive the summertime. Luckily, the USF Botanical Gardens’ annual plant sale is right around the corner and its wide spread of vendors offers Tampa Bay residents with green thumbs more than enough options to choose from.

Its annual Fall Plant Festival happens from Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 14-15 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. The popular botanical gardens are located at 12210 USF Pine Dr. in Tampa.

Alongside dozens of plant and nature vendors—from professional, commercial businesses to local growers— there will also be a variety of food and drink options to choose from, too. USF students, members of the botanical gardens and kids under the age of 12 can attend this weekend’s festival for free, while regular tickets cost $10.

In addition to this weekend’s fall plant sale, the USF Botanical Gardens also hosts a guided “Poisonous Plant Tour” later this month, where guests can learn about the deadliest plants that call the grounds home.

This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2023.

Kyla Fields is the food critic and former managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay who started their journey at CL as summer 2019 intern. They are the proud owner of a charming, sausage-shaped, eight-year-old...