VERO BEACH — Thousands of green thumbed garden enthusiasts and thousands more who only dream of having green thumbs descended on Riverside Park in Vero Beach on Saturday to take in the 12th annual Gardenfest. The event continues Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 80 vendors from all over the state of Florida are displaying their wares of everything herbaceous related.
Sponsored by the Garden Club of Indian River County, the 12th annual Gardenfest, a verdant, healing maze of sensuous delights, attracted more than 20,000 visitors last year, is a veritable garden of earthly delights, right from the Herbal Essence Shampoo bottle.
Each year, the rain-or-shine event draws a diverse crowd devoted to growing things. On Saturday, from early morning until nearly sunset, there was a steady stream of people, who were spreading around the other kind of green, in the quest of the perfect garden.
Landscape architects, garden centers, and flower sellers came from around Florida to sell their wares. Many local businesses and natural resources were represented, including McKee Botanical Gardens and the Environmental Learning Center
Gardeners and green-thumbed wanna-bes of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages, wandered through the welcoming white trellises into a maze of paths of Riverside Park, pulling red wagons and sporting sun hats. The dazzling array of plant paraphernalia was a magnet for the many locals and visitors.
“They go out a lot slower than when they came in,” said one garden club volunteer, who was enjoying the day, watching people ogle the plants. “They leave their stress and their money behind, but they go away with beautiful things.”
The plant and flower aromas mixed with the carnival scents of kettle corn, gyros, and barbeque, to evoke the essence of a carnival. Gardenfest volunteers shuttled visitors from the parking lot into Eden, as the cars backed up onto the Barber Bridge, trying to gain entry.
Boys and Girls Club volunteers assisted exhausted buyers, pulling their purchases to the parking lot in wagons.
Several experts spoke on a variety of topics such as herbs, square foot gardening, the benefits of bats, orchids, protecting the Indian River Lagoon, and cold hardy palms and native trees.
People ambled along the paths, taking time to smell the blooms and blossoms, as they unplugged from the everyday world of modern technology. Neighbors gossiped and shared garden tips, while sitting in comfortable Adirondack chairs, resting weary feet.
Believing that communities make gardens grow and that gardens help communities, the Garden Club has been involved in several civic projects, including landscaping the Heritage Center in downtown Vero Beach, supporting the Gifford Youth Activity Garden and programs, providing scholarships to Indian River County students with horticulture related majors, and donating trees for the Hibiscus Children’s Center.
The only difficulty of the day was remembering where one had parked the car three hours earlier, but friendly volunteers successfully located lost cars for people weighed down with their garden gold.
