The Tribune

THREE Bahamian women were recognised for turning their favourite method for escaping the stresses of every day life into a passion for excellence.

Last week, the Bahamas National Pride Association presented awards to Rochelle McPhee, Aileen Spencer and Merrier Bell for their success as amateur landscapers over the last year.

Ms McPhee, of Sunshine Park, is a cancer patient who felt inspired by the award and her doctor’s compassion in releasing her from hospital to receive it.

She said she wants to share her plants with others.

“Every Thursday when I’m off, we started going to the nurseries, getting plants and this is like three years now and I just kept working on it until it became like this. I like to work on it in the evening.

“When I found out I had cancer, I was uplifted by my plants. I trust in God that I will be healed,” Ms McPhee said.

“I wasn’t here when they voted for me, I was in hospital. When I got the news it really uplifted me and I told my doctor I was waiting for them to nominate me for Best Yard and I’m in the hospital. So they said we’ll reschedule you for tomorrow, to take my medication, so they allowed me to come out and I’m happy they did.”

Ms McPhee shared memories about her favourite plant.

“This Sunburst here that I got at Christmas, this is really, really beautiful. What happens is, this enables me to give other people plants because it drops a lot of plants and when it gets bigger it’s hard to take out of the ground and everything. But I gave a lot of people a part of it.”

Ms Spencer, of Excellence Estates, said: “This is my recreation. In order for me to ventilate or relax I just come in the yard.  I just like the yard.

“From I got the house, that was my inspiration, to fix my yard. I’m happy I won the award because I see hard work pays off and most women don’t believe in being in the yard.

“That’s my inspiration – cutting grass and trimming trees.”

Ms Bell, of Gladstone Road, thanked the National Pride Association for recognising her landscaping, which she said was inspired by lessons she learned from her grandmother.

“From growing up, I always had a green thumb. When I moved in my home, I always had this concept that a home is not a home without a nice landscape and no matter how nice and big your home is, it’s the yard that actually makes your home.

“So I decided that I was going to take upon myself and landscape it. So I did it by myself.  I bought all the plants and the grass and I did it bit by bit,” said Ms Bell.