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LAWN & GARDEN SHOW DELIGHTS LOCALS

By Jeannie Nugent/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Sunday, February 17, 2008 3:05 PM CST

Choosing a cranberry, paper-wrapped bar of brown soap, Darla Kelsay pressed it to her nose and inhaled deeply. Her eyes widened and she smiled her approval at Nikki Bond who stood behind the display, hair twisted in a long braid down her back and her face untouched by makeup.

“Try this,” said Bond, twisting open a bottle of lotion for Kelsay.

Both Bond and Kelsay were in town Saturday to promote their various enterprises — Nikki’s Naturals of Heber Springs and Garvan Woodland Gardens of Hot Springs — at the 21st annual Lawn & Garden Seminar & Show at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.

The event, produced by Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service, Jefferson County Master Gardeners and the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Clean & Beautiful Commission — featured dozens of display booths ranging from landscaping designs to canvases of brightly-colored roosters by state-renowned artists.

The crowd was lighter than usual, which some speculated was due to the rainy day. But the enthusiasm was high.

Crowds excitedly circled an animated performance of the “Star Peeler” which built a mountain of quickly sliced potatoes. Others watched as an employee with Shell-Ross Co. worked to set-up a brass bucket that spilled over into a fountain once it was full. The company had transformed a side strip of the arena into a garden complete with alternating purple and white ornamental kale, strategically placed ferns and borders of pansies. Intricately designed rock formations and benches were dispersed through the wonderland.

Lines of anxious spectators queued at the extension service booth, picking up the literature.

“Are these trees free?” a teenager asked excitedly. A volunteer assured her the saplings were a gift to encourage growers, then placed one in a bag to hand to the teenager.

Bob Davis of Redfield was likewise fielding one question after another as the guests perused his collection of home-grown Bonsai trees. Davis, who obtained a degree from the MiraCosta College in California in the art of raising Bonsais, nurtures the tiny trees on his patio.

A diesel mechanic by trade, Davis was inspired to sell his creations when he saw dozens of people walking out with them during a visit to Disney World.

“This one here is 18 years old,” he says, pointing to a stately Bonsai sitting amidst a stone design.

Scattered between the menagerie of exhibits were classes like “So You Want to Start Your Own Herb Garden” and Top 10 Mistakes in landscaping.

The day ended with the “Art of Recycling for the Garden.”

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