Margaret Rodwell presented People's Choice Award

The meeting of the Plant City Garden Club before the summer break featured a pot luck dinner for members and spouses, awards and installation of officers. Margaret Rodwell was presented with The People's Choice Award for her capsule table design for one at the Club's Flower Show "Storybook Gardens". Vivian Ojeda received the Novice Award for her Functional table design for two in "Storybook Gardens" Flower Show. To receive the Novice Award one has to win his or hers first blue ribbon for floral design in a flower show. Each year the club members vote for a member to receive the "Garden Clubber of the Year Award". The recipient is someone who the members feel have best promoted the Garden Club and its mission, who has been actively involved with the all the various club projects. For the year 2009-2010 Mikie Snyder was voted Garden Clubber of the Year. They each received a beautiful Hergesheimer container, which they can use for floral designs or as art work in the home.

New officers Eileen Reed as 2nd Vice President and Sandra Lodato as corresponding secretary were installed by Mikie Snyder.

2009 Garden of the Year Award

Bill and Elisa Carr of Plant City were presented with the Garden of the Year Award for the Garden Year 2009 by the Plant City Garden Club.

In the front of the house around the palm tree are bromeliads and adding color are pansies in flower pots and a ground covering of beautiful purple lobelia. As you wind around the walkway to the left of the house you'll see the rose garden with roses in bloom of red, pink and yellow as well as many kinds of cactus. There is one kind of rose in particular, that goes by the name of Julia Child, which was in full bloom with huge yellow flowers. There is also another rose, a floribunda, that' been in the family for 100 years. A Kumquat tree with fruit can also be found among the roses. Along the white picket fence entering the backyard are red roses full of bloom and containers of purple and yellow pansies.

In one area of the yard is where Mr. Carr takes plants for the extra care they might need. It is where he takes his bromeliads that have bloomed and died but the pups live and are separated and then planted once again. So in a sense he has his own plant nursery. As you walk the pathway to the left are beautiful kale in full color in containers. Along the lanai is his herb garden where he has fresh parsley, basil and other herbs, frequently used by Elisa in her cooking. As you enter the lanai you can't help but notice to the left the running water of a waterfall which is host to fish and beautiful exotic orchids. One orchid in particular a cattleya hybrid is in full bloom. The lanai is home to many species of orchids, ficus, begonias and other tropical plants.

Upon exiting the lanai you cannot help but notice the pindo palm surrounded by bromeliads. This palm is 35 years old which he started from a seed. As you go over the bridge you notice a beauty of bromeliads, ginger, crotons and azaleas in bloom. All plants are watered by misters and drip irrigation. As you continue walking you'll see candy stripe and red camellias on the same plant. In the corner are bamboo stalks with some being 25 to 35 years old with some having shoots 6 inches thick. You'll notice a dioon palm which is in the sago palm family, a cardboard palm, as well as birds nest fern which are 10 years old.

Mr. Carr points out that the camellia sasanqua is unappreciated due to people don't know enough about it, that it is a fast grower and flowers. On the other side is a sun garden with Mexican sunflowers, various kinds of salvias, as well as holly and hibiscus. Mr. Carr has long been a gardening enthusiast and is well known for his gardening. He does a lot of pot planting which makes it easy to move the plants from place to place. He states that placing things in the ground reduces your options and that landscaping helps to hide the pots.

No matter where they have lived whether it is South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama, Georgia, or Houston one thing is for sure he has brought his green thumb!