May 2002 Article

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Poignant Plants On Way To Park In New York

May 4, 2002
Section: PLANT CITY
Page: 1

YVETTE C. HAMMETTyhammett@tampatrib.com
Memo: Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 754-3765.

LOCAL NURSERY SUPPLIES MEMORIAL

PLANT CITY - Huge red, white and blue bows fluttered on the front gates of Emerald Hill Nursery as workers loaded thousands of boxwood shrubs into a tractor-trailer headed for New York.

The 3,800 5-gallon plants will be part of a memorial garden dedicated to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

"We've loaded thousands of trucks, but this one's a little more special," nursery manager Rick Worrell said. "It's exciting to get them on their way. There's always that nervous moment, making sure everything goes right."

Nursery owners Jim and Pat Haggard watched with a bit of excitement Tuesday as their employees stacked the bright green shrubs into the 48-foot chilled trailer.

"We stopped everybody [nursery employees] and sent them this way when the truck arrived," Pat Haggard said. "Everybody's been a little excited, trimming, weeding them and watching them grow."

Pat Haggard, who is from New York, is especially pleased their nursery was chosen for the memorial garden.

Ping Panlilio, an international landscape designer who holds a multimillion-dollar, five-year contract on landscaping around the World Financial Center, said he chose Emerald Hill because of the quality of the plants grown there.

The World Financial Center, which houses Merrill Lynch and American Express, is near ground zero.

The memorial garden will be in Battery City Park in the financial district.

Initially, the centerpiece for the garden was to be a 45,000-pound steel-and-bronze spherical sculpture that once stood at the center of a fountain in the World Trade Center Plaza.

But residents near Battery City Park complained that the sphere was just too large a reminder of the tragedy, Panlilio said.

So instead, Panlilio planted purple pansies and yellow tulips at the center of the garden. "It's cheerful," he said.

He will switch the flowers every three months and may use tropical plants from Emerald Hill this summer, he said.

"Right now, we are just waiting for the boxwoods, which will surround the flowers," Panlilio said. Otherwise, the memorial garden is ready to open.

Manhattan's financial district was devastated by smoke and ash that covered much of the area after the World Trade Center collapse.

Jim Haggard said he expects to ship more plants to the district as Panlilio continues to replant the area.

Panlilio said he will visit Plant City in two weeks to discuss further shipments.

"The next load will be burfordi holly, which will go in another area of the financial district, but we don't have a firm date yet," Jim Haggard said. "He'll give us as much advanced notice as he can so we can have inventory available when he needs it, without interfering with the needs of our other customers."

Cutline: Tribune photos by DAVE GEIGER

Workers at Emerald Hill Nursery in Plant City prepare boxwood shrubs for their trip north in a tractor-trailer. The plants will surround flowers at a memorial in New York's Battery City Park.

Emerald Hill was selected for the project by Ping Panlilio, an international landscape designer, who praised the plants' quality.

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