Plants & People @ Landscape Show Orlando

10 Minute Video Compilation of the Day

Barbara walked 1 mile to this show, in Florida heat, from her hotel room, then, at the end-of-day happy hour reception, practically climbed into a trash can to get her drink ticket — for what? Not a gin and tonic. Her petite gray skirt and thin red-shirted back leaned into the giant trash box. I put my hand in to help, but she didn’t need it. She pulled out, ticket held in triumph, and shook her soft gray bob.

“I need a bottle of water so I’ll be hydrated to walk back to the hotel.” She charmed me. “Gardening, faith, and keeping up with things have kept me young and engaged,” she told me only after she got that ticket. It was tacky, I know, but all that energy, frankness, vivaciousness, and I had to ask; late seventies, she said.

Plantpeople share ready. Y’all are into it, even if a bit nutty and committed? We need more of us.

Enjoy some of the movers and shakers of Florida horticulture and wait till the end for the best — Barbara, who’s exactly who I want to be like when I’m a little older.

Y’all, the best thing about a trade show like this is that the people showing off their wares and plants have a million secrets. I edited out all the dirty secrets, but don’t worry; I stored those away to write about later. In the video, we’ll meet plantpeople and get some of their secrets for what’s coming up in the next few years of the plant world.