Under a ceiling of dark and stormy skies, the Garden Club of Stuart hosted a tree dedication ceremony at Kiwanis Park in downtown Stuart on Tuesday, February 26. The tree, a Conocarpus erectus (Green Buttonwood), is a clone of a Florida champion tree and was generously donated to Stuart-in-Bloom by the Martin County Agricultural Extension Service through former Martin County Extension Director, Dr. John Alleyne.

Stuart in Bloom is a relatively new organization and is a 'branch' or local chapter of the nationwide organization America in Bloom. Since 2001 America in Bloom has encourages and helped over 150 communities, like Stuart, improve the quality of life for residents and quality of experience for visitors to those communities.

The goal of Stuart in Bloom is twofold. First, to win the national competition that America in Bloom hosts each year. Judges will be arriving in Stuart in late April and will judge the community of Stuart in eight different categories: floral displays, landscapes, urban forestry, turf and groundcover areas, heritage conservation, environmental awareness, tidiness and community involvement. And second winning the competition has great rewards and benefits community wide: improved quality of life, increased civic pride, increased economic development, increased tourism, environmental awareness, preservation, increased property values and much more.

The donation and dedication of this tree is an example of the community coming together to make Stuart a better and 'greener' place to live, work and play. For more information contact Lauren Palmero at 772-485-9092.