Florida centenarian pots plants for church bazaar

Over the years, Ruthie Squire of Eustis, Fla., honed her skills as a gardener and created a living legacy in her yard.

As she aged and her health became more fragile, all that rooting and stooping and toting slowed and finally stopped her at 96. Squire became another of Lake County’s typical seniors.

“For five years, I was someone who sat and looked at television and looked outside and went to church every Sunday,” she said.

Then came the unthinkable. Her church, St. Thomas Episcopal in Eustis, was planning its annual fall bazaar for charities, and Squire learned that no one would be selling plants this year.

“I just lost it. How in the world can they not have a flower booth? We’ve had it all these years,” she said. “I actually got mad. I’m going to do it.”

So, starting on the Fourth of July, Squires’ oldest son, Bobby Sams, along with her caretaker, helped her root cuttings of plants in oasis or soil, water them and coax them into health and beauty.

At age 101, Squire can’t stand for hours to work on the project, so she sits in her chair in her garage in front of a table where everything is assembled, mosquito spray at the ready.

She has potted about 150 plants since she decided television was a bore and her church needed her.

“It’s hard to keep up with the present. You don’t read as much, you don’t understand what they’re saying on the television.

“Things get lost, and things get lost very fast. Pretty soon, you think, ‘I’m losing it, and I don’t want to.’ You’re losing your friends. You don’t have the stamina and body to do what you want to do.

“After you get over that frustration, then you’re OK.”

Squire grew up in South Carolina and settled in Leesburg, Fla., with her second husband, Robert Squire. (Her first husband, Robert Sams, was killed in World War II while she was three months’ pregnant with Bobby). In 1950, they built the home where she still lives, and she joined the Camellia Garden Club of Eustis, where she remains a member today.

Recently, Squire was just finishing up her potting in her garage. She pointed out the colorful plants she’d been creating.

“This one here, it’s called devil’s backbone. That’s a good thing to take to the church,” Squire said mischievously. “And that one — it’s small crotons. It’s the first one I ever made.”

Her plan was to sell all the plants at the fall bazaar so she can start early on getting a fresh batch potted next year. She’s not going to get caught again with only a few months to get it all done.

LAUREN RITCHIE / ORLANDO SENTINEL Gardener Ruthie Squire, 101, has potted about 150 plants since she decided television was a bore and her church needed her.