By Frank Stickney and photos by Kate Reali

In Their Own Words is a special section in Portico Eastern Shore Magazine that highlights profiles of local residents. Each season, we get to know some of the people that contribute to our beautiful and unique community, and we tell their stories here.

Here, we feature Linda Gibson, the Wisteria Garden Club Publicity Chair.

“The Wisteria Garden Club was organized “to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening and flower arrangement among amateurs, to encourage study and appreciation of flowers, native trees and shrubs, and to encourage civic beautification.” Our club has been instrumental in working with the city of Fairhope in setting up the Treasured Tree program. Trees were being cut, and we wanted a way to save them. Old trees of all the species in the city were identified and measured for size and a few had state records. These trees are identified with plaques, funded by us, and can be found in town, on the Coastal Alabama Community College campus, at the Fairhope Beach Park, and Knoll Park.

One of my favorite stories occurred the first year we were here, in 1974. The city was going to pave Burgundy Street and cut an old tree in the middle of the street. The Wisteria Garden Club ladies held hands and circled the tree to prevent it being cut. Today the street curves around the tree!”
-Linda Gibson