McKee Botanical Garden was awash in magnificent flowers at an inaugural Vero in Bloom Ladies Hat Luncheon to benefit the Green Heart Tribe – the Women’s Beautification Committee of Vero Beach. The sold-out affair raised funds to support the enhancement of Vero’s barrier island with creative and colorful flowerbeds and hanging baskets.

Dressed in flowery garden party attire, complete with elaborate hats and fascinators, the ladies were escorted by bow-tied Saint Edward’s students in green shorts, sons of some of the guests, along a carpeted runway to a tented pavilion. Once there, they sipped on champagne while shopping for such goodies as jewelry, orchids and floral arrangements.

Many also had photos taken amidst a colorful floral frame; it and the other gorgeous flowers that graced the overall décor were from Lara’s Theme Flower Shop.

A seated luncheon ensued, at round tables set up in the Spanish Kitchen, and along the “world’s largest mahogany table” in the stunningly decorated Hall of Giants.

“Jordan Wakeland and Deana Marchant started the Green Heart Tribe in 2022,” said Cindy O’Dare.

“They then asked me to join and also Stephanie MacWilliam, Dori Stone and Margaret Anne Evans. We really hatched this last year and did our first fundraiser in my garage. So we went from my garage to this,” said O’Dare with a laugh.

That first fundraiser garnered an impressive $37,000 and enabled Phase One, which included having floral pots installed along Ocean Drive. They also spruced up the entire Sexton Plaza, including new royal palms, hedges, flowers, rocks and sod, before moving on to the median across the street.

Phase Two, said O’Dare, involves ongoing negotiations to obtain leases from the city for the corner bump-outs.

“We have met with our landscape designer and they have already got a plan,” said O’Dare, referencing Peter Benedict at Aiello Landscape.

“Phase Three, our dream, is to have lamp posts with hanging pots. That has proved to be much harder to do. But people didn’t think we could get done what we’ve done so far. So we’re determined,” said O’Dare.

The luncheon speaker was New York City fashion designer Liz Lange, CEO of Figue, who is also the owner of Grey Gardens, the East Hampton estate made famous by its eccentric residents, Big Edie and Little Edie Beale. Since purchasing it in 2017, she has overseen the complete restoration of the house and grounds.

Rochelle Wolberg, McKee’s executive director, also spoke, saying that they consider the Green Heart Tribe to be comparable to the determined community volunteers who banded together in 1994 to rescue the garden from developers.

“When I first met with the ladies, one of the things we talked about is, how can we not do this?” said Wolberg, “We could not have found a more formidable group than the Green Heart Tribe.”

The ladies fashioned the event after the annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon, aka the Hat Lunch, which was founded in 1983 by the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy to restore the then neglected park and pay for its upkeep.

Photos by Joshua Kodis