PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The ARTIST
Whimsy artist Judy Coffman has made her home
garden an outdoor art gallery of sorts. Her handiwork
is part fun habitat, part plant potpourri
that was created as Coffman honed her skills
with the horticultural training she received locally through
the Master Gardener program of the University of Florida/
St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension office. Through the
Master Gardener program, she earned a Certified Florida
Yard distinction.
For more than a decade, Coffman has concocted an eclectic
collection of castaways found in dumpsters as far away
as Lakeland, where she picked up oversized snowy egret
cutouts used to make the intaglio designs on interstate buffer
walls. They are stationed in her garden ‘‘rooms’’ that make
up a handful of offbeat nooks in this galleria of palms, fruit
trees and vines.
Marrying her passion for plants and her fanciful artwork
meant bringing unconventional materials into outdoor
settings. Discarded stairs-turned-sentinels became vertical
portraits of famous artists: O’Keeffe, Warhol, Kahlo and Dali
greet visitors across the pool area. Her husband, Skip, lends a
hand at the table saw when the need arises.
A variety of castoffs adorn corners here and there. A pair
of bright red wrought iron chairs serve as plant stands and
bowling balls, painted like stained glass, sit atop stacked
clay pots. Captivating and clever ornamentation is sprinkled
above and below, some the products of the Art Chicks, a
group of Coffman’s colleagues who have been making art
together for more than a decade.
Coffman’s upbeat personality is reflected in her design
sense where gaiety is seen throughout: A chandelier hangs
in her blue room and a border of topsy-turvy, cobalt wine
bottles — their necks dug deep in the dirt — draws attention
to the shade-loving plants above.
The entire garden is a work in progress, always needing
tending. The range of trees competing for attention includes a
flowering ylang-ylang, the kind said to be a key ingredient in
Chanel No. 5 perfume, 12 varieties of palms and her new passion:
bromeliads. Since joining the Bromeliad Society, she has
added a significant amount of new species to her collection.
The Master Gardener program trains people who then
volunteer in their communities by giving advice on yard
pests, plant identification, research and more. Free advice on
Florida friendly landscaping is offered at the St. Lucie County
Morningside branch library. To retain the Master Gardener
certification, a donation of 35 hours of service and 10 hours
of continuing education are required every year. Coffman’s
volunteer hours account for well beyond the requirement.
It was her creativity that made her a prime candidate to
organize a plant fashion show for the Master Gardeners’
annual spring garden festival and plant sale, which Coffman
has been doing for 16 years. Each year, plants are selected according
to a theme. Last year’s was Native Plants and models
dressed as Native Americans. She writes the script, lines up
volunteers, designs costumes for the models and selects the
plants that are raffled following the runway presentation.
42 Port St. Lucie Magazine
JOHN BIONDO
Judy Coffman, a Master Gardener, has created spaces of solitude she calls “rooms” that emulate an art gallery array of her whimsical works. The lush,
tropical landscaping is integrated with castoff furnishings she has rescued from trash as far away as Lakeland.
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BY DEBRA MAGRANN