For the first time in three years, community members strolled through the Florida Museum grounds for its fall plant sale.
The Florida Museum of Natural History hosted a fall plant sale Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, with over 100 species of native and non-native plants to choose from. The museum previously held a plant sale every fall and spring but discontinued the fall sale in 2022 because of the stress the event placed on the plant sale coordinators.
The plant sale started in 2006 as a small booth selling plant species on Earth Day and later expanded to a larger sale in the museum parking lot. The sale eventually became too large for the parking lot, and the museum’s director moved it to the front grounds.
The Florida Museum closed in March for building expansions and renovations, including modernizing and adding more learning rooms to Powell Hall. It doesn’t plan to re-open until 2026. Organizers brought the fall plant sale back this year to engage with the community while the museum’s doors remain physically closed to the public.
Ryan Fessenden, the manager of the butterfly rainforest at the Florida Museum, has led the plant sale for 12 years, and he hand-selects the species to sell. Fessenden said he brought cacti onboard this year because they provide nectar for bees and butterflies. Plus, he thought people would be interested in the spiky species, he said.
“I love things that are new and different,” Fessenden said. ”Things that you don’t see in other nurseries or other sales.
Organizers divided the sale into native and non-native plants, creating additional separate sections based on whether the plants required shade or full sun.
Different plants and flowers filled the museum grounds with greens, blues, purples and pinks. Bees and butterflies flew around to each sweet-scented blossom to get their food for the day.
Jaret Daniels, the interim director of the museum’s Exhibits and Public Programs, has helped with the plant sales since 2004. He said the sale is a way to connect the community with each other.
People come from as far as South Florida to purchase plants and volunteer, Daniels said. The sale strives to provide a large selection of wildlife-friendly native and non-native plants, he said.
“They’re looking for those species that are unique and hard to find,” Daniels said, “and that’s kind of the niche that we fill with this plant sale.”
Darlene Waite, a 77-year-old Gainesville resident, strolled down the plant aisles carrying butterfly plants and a Flame Azalea, a plant with tiny orange flowers. She’s been to the museum’s plant sale a few times before and returned to enjoy the nice weather, where the high was 89 with a slight breeze.
“I like how they specify native plants, and they tell you full sun or give you tips on how to plant them, where to plant them,” Waite said.
The sale is very casual, she said, and very well managed.
Gainesville resident Robin Bauder has attended the plant sale for 15 years. The 63-year-old came to find host plants for butterflies and nectar food. She completed her mission, purchasing a popcorn senna and a spicebush, both plants with nectar for pollinators.
Bauder tries to purchase Florida-native plants, but the non-native popcorn senna was a nice addition to her collection, as she said she likes to try out her gardening skills with new varieties of species.
“It’s always fun to see, ‘Can I grow this?’" Bauder said.
Brittney Morley, an Alachua County resident, said she originally planned on coming to the sale as a customer, but she saw on the sale’s website it needed volunteers. She was interested in helping, she said, and took on a volunteering position.
This was her first time volunteering at the museum’s plant sale, and she said she plans to come back for the next one. Coming to the sale and seeing all the different species she didn’t recognize made her want to research how she can use them in her landscape.
Morley said she was able to have a lot of conversations with customers about plants. The community aspect and the socialization of the sale was fun, she said.
“I love to see so many people coming out and getting into agriculture,” Morley said. “I think plants are healing for humans, so it’s really nice to see that there’s such a big community for it.”
Contact Madeline Herring at mherring@alligator.org. Follow her on X @m_herring06.
Madeline is a first-year journalism and environmental science double major and the Fall 2025 general assignment reporter. In her free time she enjoys reading, binging new television series, and browsing the isles of target with her friends.
