Mother Nature treated members of the Garden Club of Indian River County very well this year, delivering sunshine and warmer temperatures to their 23rd annual Gardenfest! Nature’s Finest Marketplace event at Riverside Park.
The weekend was all about growth and regrowth, so it was a particularly happy sight to see the Riverside parking field area completely covered with vehicles. It had only just been reopened after its use as a staging area to dispose of the massive debris caused by Hurricane Milton’s devastating tornadoes.
The gardening extravaganza enticed thousands of visitors from all over the state, from novice gardeners to full-on, green-thumbed horticulturalists. Many brought along their own trusty wagons to tote goodies back to their cars, while others were assisted by volunteers from the Boys and Girls Clubs, who were on hand and happy to help.
As they’ve done for many years, Barbara Russell and Karen Vatland co-chaired an industrious committee of more than 200 Garden Club member volunteers – easily identifiable by their trademark green aprons – who cheerfully sold raffle tickets and answered questions.
Many buyers sought items to enhance their homes, patios, gardens and yards with statuary, lighting, fountains, pottery and furniture.
Some 90 vendors displayed their wares along the pathways, configured by organizers in a figure eight pattern to make it easy for people to navigate the crowds. As longtime vendors are placed in the same spots year after year, many visitors made a beeline for their favorites before spreading out to the rest. Other attendees adopted a different strategy, surveying the entire show before returning to purchase their preferred items.
New vendors this year included some selling outdoor power equipment, such as lawn mowers and weed whackers; aquatic plants and pond kits; and recycled plastic orchid baskets, which don’t rot like wooden ones can.
Some of the more unusual offerings were orchid varieties such as the ‘smiling’ Mokara and colorful Vandas, butterfly plants, Kokedama moss balls, ginger plants, desert roses, edible and medicinal fruit, succulents and bonsais.
The Garden Club, organized in 1928, uses proceeds from the floriculture fest for scholarships and to fund the numerous countywide beautification projects it undertakes each year.
For more information, visit GardenClubofIRC.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
