Spring Fever set for this weekend

The 22nd Spring Fever in the Garden, hosted by the Bloom & Grow Garden Society, is set to return to West Orange this weekend. 

The annual event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7, on Plant Street in historic downtown Winter Garden.

The event will be filled with plant vendors selling a variety of greenery for spring planting and nature-themed yard and garden art, plus crafts. There will be an abundance of entertainment, children’s activities, interactive educational stations, live music and a sidewalk chalk artists contest. 

“Bloom & Grow Garden Society is a cherished organization; we are blessed to have such a dedicated group of individuals who are committed to promoting gardening throughout our city,” Winter Garden Mayor John Rees said. 

FEVER FESTIVITIES

There will be 105 vendor booths, many with multiple spaces. Together with Bloom & Grow booths, sponsor booths, and street food and drink vendors, there will be more than 140 booths to browse. There are 23 new booths joining the festival for the first time.

Vendor participants will include Angie’s Planties, Beautiful Bamboo, CareyBee Pottery, Driftwood Market, Ecofruits of Orlando, Groovy Growing, Lost World Exotics, Matthew’s Hope Chest Store & Boutique, Old Fashion Ice Cream, Southern Home Bakery, Duke Energy, Winter Garden Art Association and Writer’s Block Bookstore. The presenting sponsors are Orlando Health and Healthy West Orange.

In addition, Bloom & Grow members will have several booths set up, including one for T-shirt sales. It also will have a booth for their Pollinator Power project, where members will hand out information about the group’s imperiled pollinators. And at the Path of Life booth, attendees can make a donation to have a brick inscribed for their loved ones.

Fourteen of Central Florida’s best horticulturalists will be available for residents to ask questions, including Melissa Shepherd, a bedding plant expert, avid gardener and Disney horticulture cast member; Robert Bowden, a vegetable expert, avid gardener, author and former executive director of Leu Gardens; and Alan Shapiro, a bird and plant expert, as well as former owner of Grandiflora Nursery.  

The Avian Reconditioning Center will have an educational display with live owls and other birds of prey.

There will be free entertainment located in front of City Hall with a tent and chairs being provided for attendees to enjoy the show. Another entertainment area will be located at Woodland Street.

A Kid Zone also will be available, with free booths and activities geared to children with fun ways to learn about nature and the environment.

Artists of all ages also are invited to participate in a sidewalk chalk art contest. More than $2,000 will be awarded in several categories. 

Free shuttle parking will be available, courtesy of the city of Winter Garden, for the Dillard Elementary School lot and the Ninth and Plant Street lot. Parking within walking distance to the festival will be available at Veterans Memorial Park, the City Parking Garage, Winter Garden City Hall and the Sam Williams Little League Complex.

A FORCE FOR GOOD

With 190 members, the Bloom & Grow nonprofit organization has continued to be a growing driving force for good in the community.

Since its inception in 1997, Bloom & Grow has made $536,000 in charitable donations to West Orange County.

All proceeds from the Spring Fever festival go to spread the love of gardening and nature in many ways, such as annual scholarships to students in environmental and horticultural studies at the University of Florida and Valencia College. 

This year, additional financial support for various planting and education projects has gone to the Oakland Nature Center, Nehrling Gardens, West Orange Habitat for Humanity and Ocoee High School. 

The society also supports school gardens at local elementary and middle schools.  The organization’s sweat equity is visible at projects such as the Butterfly Garden at the West Orange Trail, meditation garden at Health Central Park and a sensory garden at the United Cerebral Palsy West Orange Campus.

Libby Drose, Spring Fever chair, fell in love with Winter Garden when she moved back to Florida 12 years ago. A moment of serendipity led her to Bloom & Grow. 

“I was still working but faithfully volunteered with Spring Fever for years,” she said. “Retirement opened the door to chairing the festival, and it’s been a job and joy ever since. We do make the festival look easy, but there’s real work behind the scenes, and it’s absolutely rewarding to see all the happy faces enjoying what Winter Garden has to offer that weekend. It makes my heart smile. The ‘fever’ is such a huge factor in allowing Bloom & Grow to be a force for good in so many ways. That’s what keeps us inspired and ready to keep the festival going for the next 20 years.”