Local gardener mines decades of experience for Halifax Garden show

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

Watch out: Stephanie Mayfield's passion for plants could be contagious.

BY EMILY BLACKWOOD | STAFF WRITER

Stephanie Mayfield's love for gardening has infected almost everyone around her — even her college-aged kids.

"I get a bunch of emails from all these college-aged boys asking me how to make a terrariums," Mayfield chuckled. "I think maybe the science of it interests people. There's something for everyone."

A self-proclaimed horticulturist and a member of The Garden Club of the Halifax Country for 15 years, Mayfield knows her stuff. She started gardening with her mother in Missouri when she was only 8.

"I did it but I didn't know what I was doing," Mayfield said. "We planted a lot of annuals because they have a lot of harsh winters. I really like flowers, I've gotten into plants more because the climate here is easier."

Mayfield basically had to relearn her gardening skills when she moved to Ormond Beach 20 years ago with her husband, who is also a frequent planter. The weather is better here, she said, but the terrain is more difficult to work with.

"Where we live is not exactly tropical but its not really northern, either," Mayfield said, "so you don't get daffodils and tulips and other stuff. We're kind of stuck in the middle."

A table in her back patio currently holds a variety of different plants which she'll use in the March 20 and 21 Hollywood & Vine Show, at Oceanside Country Club, 75 N. Halifax Drive.

Hosted by The Garden Club of the Halifax Country, the show will feature horticulture entries in 42 classes, floral arrangements in five classes, photography entries in four classes and a conservation and education exhibit. The three divisions to be judged will express interpretations of movies, such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” ”Finding Nemo” and “Star Wars.”

"We are a part of the Garden club of America," Mayfield said. "The purpose of the show isn't for us to piddle around and bring our plants in. It really is for educational purposes. They have very strict guidelines so we don't do the shows very often. Any time we do it is like reinventing the wheel."

The public is invited to attend for free 1-4 p.m. Thursday, March 20, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 21.