Bill Copenhaver of Gainesville poses with a planter in the shape of a man’s head on Saturday April 23 during the annual Green Thumb Festival at Walter Fuller Recreation Center in St. Petersburg.
“This is a very good event,” said Copenhaver of Grassroots Nursery. “It has the largest and most enthusiastic crowd of gardeners you’ll find anywhere, and it’s well organized.”
Hundreds of shoppers turned out for the two-day festival; many pulled garden carts overflowing with their purchases. The Green Thumb Festival, started in 1986, is an annual event promoted by the St. Petersburg Parks Department as an Arbor Day celebration. It includes environmental and horticultural exhibits and vendors, a butterfly tent, soil testing, children’s and environmental programs, and free mulch and plants. An estimated 30,000 visitors attend over the two-day festival period.