PLANT DOCTORS
The Plant Doctors
The 60th Apopka Art and Foliage Festival is delighted to welcome our Plant Doctors once again. “The Plant Doctors” are experts in their fields, willing and ready to advise you on how to improve the health of your foliage or how to keep those brand-new plants looking vibrant.
On Saturday, look for..
9am-11am Moh Leng Kok-Yokomi
Moh, a PhD in Agriculture Entomology from the University of California, Davis, has researched and taught classes in the entomology field. She retired in 2016 from the University of Florida, Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka, where she conducted research on agricultural pest problems in ornamental and vegetable crops. Moh has given our festival her expertise for several years and we welcome her back. Let Moh give insight to making your garden its best.
11am-1pm Teresa Watkins
Teresa is a landscaper designer, horticulturist, garden author, and consultant. She designed the landscape for the first certified ‘green home’ in Florida on 2001. Watkins co-hosts the weekly syndicated Better Lawns and Gardens with Tom MacCubbin on 24 Florida radio stations. iHeart, iTunes, and Amazon. Teresa’s first gardening book series, A Gardener’s Compendium: Gardening in a Twitter World in 140 Characters or More has three published volumes. Come welcome Teresa to our beautiful festival and bring your horticultural and landscape design questions.
1pm-3pm Deborah Green
Deborah, a native Floridian, earned her Ph.D. in the field of entomology from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked in Puerto Rico for three years and then returned to Gainesville, her hometown, for an additional three years before settling in central Florida. She taught biology and environmental sciences at several universities and retired from Valencia College in 2014. Deborah currently serves as president of the Orange Audubon Society. We welcome Deborah as a Plant Doctor and appreciate her service as a member of the Apopka Woman’s Club.
On Sunday, come see
10am-12pm Randy Strode
Randy Strode acquired his degree in Biology from Illinois State University. He taught high school biology for 5 years and served as a basketball coach. In 1975 seeking to learn more about horticulture he traveled to Florida and began working for Ray Oglesby. He moved on to work at Weyerhaeuser in 1981. In 1985, he opened Agri-Starts and began specializing in tissue culture. Randy has been an industry leader for 38 years and has been honored with many awards which include the Adam Putnam Environmental Award for water conservation and irrigation practices, the Agriculture Environmental Leadership Award in 2014 and was initiated by the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association into their prestigious Hall of Fame.
12pm-2pm Tom MacCubbin
Mr. MacCubbin is the author of six books about Florida gardening and landscaping. He has been honored by the Florida Nurseryman and Growers Association as the Best Horticultural Writer. He has hosted the “Better Lawns and Gardens” radio show for over 18 years and The American Horticulture Society recognized Tom as the National Teacher of the Year. In March of 2007, Tom was promoted to the distinguished position of Extension Agent Emeritus with the University of Florida upon his retirement after 36 years of service. Come ask Tom your questions and he will give you the information you need, just as he does in his articles with the Orlando Sentinel.
12pm-2pm Joani MacCubbin
Joani has been a gardener since childhood helping maintain the family nursery in Maine for a number of years. After moving to Florida, she continued her interests working in her own landscape and helping others. She helped husband Tom write several Florida books and has been a co-host of Better Lawns and Gardens, a Saturday radio program for over 25 years. Joani helps produce the Better Lawns and Gardens webpage with a feature “Joani’s Corner.” She is very active in her craft room with garden art and has been a contributor to “Kids in the Garden” projects for the Orlando Sentinel’s former gardening section. Her favorite plant is an orchid of any type but she appreciates most plants with color.
2pm-4pm Commissioner Alexander Smith
Apopka Commissioner Alexander Smith graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) with a degree in Agricultural Education with a minor in Horticultural Science. He is one of the founding board members and past President of AIA (Apopka Improvement Association) and one of the founding board members of the Billie Dean Community Garden as well as Past President of the Florida Association of Agricultural Educators; Past President of the Florida FFA (Future Farmers of America) Board of Directors; Past President of the Orange County Agriculture Teachers Association; served on the Orange County Board of County Commissioner Agricultural Advisory Board as well as on the Advisory Board for the Orange County Agricultural Extension Service. He is a member of the first Agriscience Leadership Team for the State of Florida and of the Orange County Farm Bureau.