Bloom & Grow Garden Society partners with community to celebrate Earth Week

The Winter Garden-based organization volunteered in the community by planting trees, hosting garden tours, assembling a public garden and more.

By Annabelle Sikes
| 4:18 p.m. April 30, 2024

Bloom & Grow members helped lead attendees on a Pollinator Garden tour.

West Orange Times & Observer
News

Bloom & Grow Garden Society partnered with the community to host several events throughout the week of April 14-22 in honor of Earth Day.

The Winter Garden-based organization, which spearheads community projects through gardening, has been a driving force in the West Orange County area since the club’s inception in 1997.

Bloom & Grow showcased its Pollinator Garden located on Tildenville School Road at the West Orange Trail in Winter Garden.

The week's celebrations kicked off with a Pollinator Garden tour hosted Saturday, April 20, at the garden located at 1061 Tildenville School Road, Winter Garden.

The club teamed up with Orange County Utilities to conduct the tour, where attendees discovered the secrets to attracting bees and butterflies, as well as received two brochures on pollinator plants and butterflies, a seed packet, and a rain gauge.

Next, two Bloom & Grow members opened up their pollinator garden at their home to the club on Sunday, April 21. The club has been working to help convert the home's front and backyard since 2020. Now, the home is filled with multiple varieties of flowers, bushes and trees to attract pollinators.

Bloom & Grow members helped convert society members' home garden into a pollinator heaven.

Bloom & Grow also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the The Path of Life, the club’s serenity garden at Chapin Station in Winter Garden. The path was the first major project of the club in 1999 and garnered national attention with the prestigious Kellogg Award upon completion. With its brick pathway, towering trees, lush plantings and seasonal flowers, the path affords a peaceful respite for all who visit.

Then, on National Arbor Day Friday, April 26, Bloom & Grow members, Duke Energy employees and volunteers visited Tucker Ranch in Winter Garden. The site is where the club started its 1000 Trees for 1000 Years planting in 2020. Crews went to each zone to count, weed and cut away undergrowth to give the bald cypress trees a boost to grow. The club even had a crew to eradicate the invasive species in one of the areas of the park. Afterward, members hosted a special ceremony for Bloom & Grow members Sue Crabtree and Linda Bouton, who chaired the club's Spring Fever in the Garden festival over the years. Both were given bouquets, and a bald cypress tree was planted for each in honor of their dedicated service to Bloom & Grow.

On National Arbor Day, Bloom & Grow members, Duke Energy employees and volunteers gathered at Tucker Ranch to help maintain the site and participate in a special ceremony.

author

Annabelle Sikes

News Editor Annabelle Sikes was born in Boca Raton and moved to Orlando in 2018 to attend the University of Central Florida. She graduated from UCF in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in sociology. Her past journalism experiences include serving as a web producer at the Orlando Sentinel, a reporter at The Community Paper, managing editor for NSM Today, digital manager at Centric Magazine and as an intern for the Orlando Weekly.