Chad Hardy didn’t intend to give away thousands of native plants every year during Plantapolooza. It started as a party for his friends to celebrate cleaning up after Hurricane Ian. “I had about 50 native plants that I thought I’d sell for a dollar to pay for the pots and soil,” he recalled. “I didn’t sell a single plant.”
The next year, he decided to give them away – and then made enough in donations to cover his costs. Three years later, he and a group of volunteers from the Pinellas chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will be giving away more than 3,000 plants on Jan. 25 from noon to 4 p.m. at Sunken Gardens for the price of admission.
“They’ll be small plants or seedlings, b/ut they’ll be perfect to plant now,” Hardy notes. “It’s cooler, and they won’t need as much water to settle in as they would in the summer.”
It’s an impressive list, from 72 climbing asters to 63 wood sages with a total of 3127 plants of 65 different species, all natives and all ready to go in the ground.
It’s part of Hardy’s plan for a Community Wildlife Corridor that’s being built homeowner by homeowner from Boyd Hill Nature Preserve to Fort De Soto Park. “We want to connect the two largest open spaces in south Pinellas County with wildlife habitats, including native plants,” he said.
Along with free plants, three seminars on native plants are scheduled:
- “Living Shorelines for Florida: Building Coastal Resilience” — Marjorie Shropshire, renowned author of native landscape design books and editor of the Florida Native Plant Society’s official magazine The Palmetto
- “Native Plants for Florida Gardens” — Stacey Matrazzo, co-author of Native Plants for Florida Gardens, and executive director of the Florida Wildflower Foundation
- “How to Plant and Maintain Native Landscapes” — The Wise Hands, native plant landscaping services and nursery.
Additionally, multiple native plant growers and organizations will have tables with information and more plants, including:
- • Wilcox Nursery & Landscape
- • The Wise Hands Native Nursery
- • Living Roots Eco Design
- • Little Red Wagon Native Nursery
- • Hello Flowers
- • Florida Wildflower Foundation
- • Florida Native Plant Society – Pinellas Chapter
- • UF-IFAS with Florida Farm Bureau and Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association
- • A Piece of Tropical Paradise
- • The Pollinator Shop
- • Momma Hippie Cat’s Shakedown
- • Sunken Gardens Forever Foundation
- • Shaybali
- • Safety Harbor Garden Club
- • Native Plant Play LLC
- • Native Plant Horticulture Foundation
- • WK Preservation Group
“This is an outstanding opportunity to obtain native plants – for free or for sale – that aren’t always easily accessible in Pinellas County,” Hardy said. “Along with all the free plants we’ll be giving away, we’ve invited some of the region’s top growers to participate so there’s a wide selection of plants to help build a wildlife corridor in our community.”
Celebrate Florida Arbor Day in January
Local governments across the region also are giving away plants in January to celebrate Florida Arbor Day on January 16, 2026.
Pinellas Urban Forestry is hosting its drive-through event on Saturday, January. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon . Aat 4550 126th Avenue North in Clearwater. Each household can select two trees on a first-come, first-served basis including:
🌲Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
🌳 Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine)
🌲 S.FL. Slash pine (Pinus e. var. densa)
🌳 Simpsons stopper (Myrcianthes f.)
🌲 Southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicola)
🌳 Live oak (Quercus virginiana)
In Hillsborough, join Urban Forestry Agent Alyssa Vinson at the Extension office in Seffner for an interactive educational workshop about trees and then take one home, Friday, January 16 from, 9 to 11 a.m. Registration is required.
The city of Tampa will celebrate with a Tree Town Hall Saturday, January 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a free consultation with a certified arborist to determine which tree is right for your space, and then give you the tree that fits. Learn more here.
Pasco County will celebrate on January 17 with tree giveaways and hands-on planting demonstrations in multiple locations. Preregistration is required.
By Vicki Parsons, originally published January 10. 2026. Photos courtesy of the Florida Wildflower Foundation, where much more information about each plant is available.
