Project Orange Thumb Ribbon Cutting

MOSI staff and employees gathered in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove to cut a bright orange ribbon. This ceremony marks to completion of the Fiskars Project Orange Thumb grant that allowed MOSI to plant 9 thematic gardens. Each garden is themed to one of the historic trees in our grove.

MOSI President Wit Ostrenko had this to say about the new gardens: “MOSI is very proud of the nine gardens planted through the Project Orange Thumb grant program. Thanks to Fiskars MOSI was given an opportunity to uniquely interpret nine of our historic trees through gardening and also the tools to maintain these beautiful areas.”

The gardens were planted over a three day period and have been seeing regular tending over the past few months. Over 40 volunteers have worked on these gardens to date. You can read more about the gardens that were planted by following the links below.

Ray Charles Live Oak Sensory Garden to encourage the use of non-sight senses, specifically touch and smell, to experience a garden in a way similar to someone who is blind.

Moon Sycamore Moon Garden uses plants with white anf blue flowers and foliage that best reflect moonlight or bloom at night.

Clara Barton Red Bud Medicinal Garden highlights plants from which medicine is derived or plants with healing properties.

Frank Lloyd Wright Ginkgo Jurassic Garden contains fossil plants which, like the Ginkgo, have lived since the time of the dinosaurs.

Olustee Longleaf Pine Flatwoods Garden highlights native plants of the Florida Flatwoods ecosystem community similar to those that would have been found at the site of the Civil War Battle of Olustee.

George Washington Carver Persimmon Edible Garden focuses upon edible plants including Carver’s favorite plant, the peanut.

Wright Brothers Sweet Gum Air Plant Garden is composed of plants that can live above the soil, like orchids and tillandsias.

Fort Matanzas Red Ceder Settler's Garden focuses upon plants native to Florida that would have been found by our original settlers.

Juliette Gordon Lowe Rose Garden highlights several species of beautiful roses with a companion planting of chocolate mint in honor of the founder of the Girl Scouts.