By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Rick Lewis of Riverview has high praise for the annual plant auction at the Hillsborough County Fair, calling it “the biggest event of the year for plant and landscaping enthusiasts.”
Held the last Sunday of the 12-day Hillsborough County Fair, which this year is Nov. 10, Lewis said he is a repeat attendee and likes that the proceeds benefit youth scholarships and mini-grants for conservation projects.
Just a sampling of last year’s donations for the Super Plant Auction at the Hillsborough County Fair
“The auction has been the only place I’ve bought plants for the past five years,” Lewis said. “I wait for it all year long.”
Lewis said he keeps notes for the types of plant materials he needs to build and beautify his property’s landscaping, then takes those notes to the auction in hopes of finding top material at great prices.
“Last year I bought two trees and 28 plants and they are unparalleled in my mind,” Lewis said. “The plants are perfect. They’re donated by the biggest growers in the area, and you’re paying 10 to 25 percent of retail prices. I would think that for anybody who had landscape damages from the hurricanes, this would be the time to replace those trees or plants.”
The super-sized plant auction for years has been organized by Betty Jo Tompkins, who, since last year, has been doing so under the auspices of the Florida Conservation Coalition, an alliance of combined action that engages youth and adults in programs, projects and activities that preserve and enhance the world and its natural resources. Founded in 2023, the nonprofit’s aim is to make a difference through education; hands-on activities; civic and community engagement; and the discovery, use and dissemination of best practices.
“No nursery is going to donate plants that are second tier,” said Tompkins, who serves also on the fair’s executive board. “They want to showcase the best of what they’ve got, so you know you’re starting with the best quality material.”
Moreover, “You’ll see plants here that you might not see in a normal setting,” Tompkins said. “This year, for example, we’re expecting tropicals to include avocados, mangos, guava, papaya, banana and cocktail citrus. It’s very unique for one tree to grow three fruits, and I have one that grows lemons, limes and oranges.”
Another plus is the auction environment itself.
“People like the competitiveness of it,” Tompkins said. “Our prices are very good, so people get high quality plants at great prices and the money is reinvested in the kids. It’s a triple win.”
Since its inception, the auction chair and auctioneer has been lifelong nurseryman Roy Gene Davis, 92, whose grandson, Eric Davis, received this year’s Harvest Award in the Young Farmer/Rancher/Nurseryman category. A third-generation horticulturist, Eric Davis runs Eric’s Land Management (ELM), which specializes in residential and commercial lawn services. Over the years, the Harvest Award for Farm Family of the Year has been issued 23 times and once to the Roy Davis Family.
“Roy has a storied career,” Tompkins said. “He’s been president of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association, and he’s won numerous awards in the nursery industry, having run a very successful operation himself.” Davis in 2006 was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame, which honors men and women who have made lasting contributions to agriculture and to mentoring youth.
Davis has been instrumental in working to secure auction donations.
“We cannot emphasize enough the generosity of so many producers in the Tampa Bay area,” Tompkins said. “They know that we reinvest the money we raise in young people.” In good part, that’s done by providing $250 mini-grants to any group of five or more youth participants, with one or more adult sponsors, whose conservation project application is accepted.
According to Tompkins, educational conservation projects can involve such things as recycling paper, plastics and electronics; road, river and beach cleanups; and pollinator, community and school gardens.
As for this year’s $1,000 Student Achievement Scholarship recipient, that would be Eliana Holt, who studies nursing at Florida College in Temple Terrace; for years she has volunteered at fairs and festivals and for many conservation action awareness projects.
Linda Chion Kenney
Eliana Holt, a volunteer and youth scholarship winner, with donated plants for the Super Plant Auction at the Hillsborough County Fair
“I’m going to use the scholarship to help cover tuition for my first semester,” Holt said, adding that volunteerism has helped her hone life skills that will help her in her life at school and beyond. Holt is involved with the annual plan auction, where she said attendees get a chance “to see a lot of different plants.” Moreover, she said, “the proceeds are for different things that benefit youth and conservation, and that’s always a good thing.”
The preview for this year’s Super Plant Auction is set to begin 11 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds in Dover, at 215 Sydney Washer Road. The auction is set to begin at 1 p.m. for annuals, perennials, landscape and butterfly plants, ferns, shrubs, bushes, trees and more, as well as allied products, including mulch, fertilizer and custom-made skinning knives made from deer antlers.
For more information, call Betty Jo Tompkins at 813-477-8332 or visit www.hillsboroughcountyfair.com/.