I am President-elect of the Bloom and Grow Garden Society of Winter Garden. It is a very active community group with a focus on projects involving plants and trees to enhance the community, both aesthetically and environmentally. I recently retired from the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association (FNGLA) where I served as COO for nearly 40 years.
I am a retired professional horticulturist having served for 24 years at Disney's Horticulture. I am now actively engaged with the Bloom & Grow Garden Society with a passion for planting trees. Our first program was "1000 Trees for 1000 Years" in 2020 when we planted 1000 Bald Cypress at Tucker Ranch. Next was the Winter Garden Heritage Tree Walking Tour with a brochure that offers a self guided walking tour of the trees in the historic district. We spent 3 years planting Pink Trumpet Trees throughout Winter Garden in our program called PLANT IT PINK. Over 1000 Pink Trumpet Trees were planted in this program. Now we are engaged in a new program "100 Trees for 100 Years". In honor of Mayor John Rees and his love of Live Oaks, we will be planting 100 Southern Live Oak Trees throughout Winter Garden in the next 5 years.
