What do you get when the city of St. Petersburg crosses Earth Day with Arbor Day? (Besides some confused environmental activists.) The answer's the Green Thumb Festival, a family-friendly celebration of all things natural and horticultural.
More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the 16th annual event, taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, in Walter Fuller Park. Spread throughout the 133-acre park will be a plant give-away (pine seedlings) while supplies last, trees for sale ($3), free mulch, a plant diagnostic clinic, a tool sharpening clinic, kid's crafts, food and entertainment.
Inside the park's community center, The Garden Club of St. Petersburg hosts Flower Power, a flower show/competition with awards in various divisions, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. A children's plant fair also takes place inside the Community Center, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, during which kids can brings plants to be judged.
The festival's scheduled seminars feature brief programs on such topics as drought-tolerant plants, butterfly gardening, Zen gardening, edible landscaping and protection of the Florida Black Bear. (Presumably Buddha, butterflies and bears are capable of getting along together.)
Other highlights include the Linda Nash Trio playing live jazz at noon and 1:30 p.m. both days, and Cripple Creek Growers, the largest growers of hot peppers in the Southeast, giving a presentation titled Hot Peppers Plus at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The festival's sponsors include the St. Petersburg Women's Chamber of Commerce, Pinellas County Extension Service, Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association and the Florida Division of Forestry.
For more info or a complete schedule, call 727-893-7335. Walter Fuller Park is at 7891 26th Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
This article appears in Apr 24-30, 2002.