Bump into Kaimuki resident Gail Atwater on any given day, and she’ll likely be surrounded by plants and flowers — tending them, picking them, arranging them, photographing them, enjoying them to the fullest.

Atwater, 68, is a retired urban planner who grew up in Elwood, N.Y., a sparsely populated area of Long Island. Her father was an avid gardener who designed the landscaping at the family’s home.

“Our yard had spring-blooming trees such as crab apple and dogwood and flowering plants like azalea, roses, lilacs and peonies,” Atwood said. “Picking Dad’s flowers was verboten, but there were many meadows and woodlands where we lived. I loved to explore and gather wildflowers to make posies for my mother.”

Her appreciation for nature’s beauty deepened over the years. She has studied ikebana for more than two decades, developing enough expertise to earn teaching credentials. A longtime member of Central Union Church, she creates arrangements measuring at least 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall once a month for Sunday services.

Atwater also volunteers monthly at the Ask a Plant Question booth at Kapiolani Community College’s Saturday farmers market. The booth is sponsored by the University of Hawaii’s Master Gardener program, for which she is working on certification.

She is also a member of the Garden Club of Hono­lulu’s board, and her primary focus right now is preparing six entries for Rooted in Paradise, the club’s upcoming exhibit, a major flower show held once every three years.

“Every time I enter a show, I throw caution to the wind and hurl myself at each of the four juried divisions: horticulture, floral design, botanical arts and photography,” Atwater said. “As I prepare my entries, I think about the people who will come and see the show. My aim is to please them and please myself. If the judges like my entries, even better. It’s all about discovery and sharing the result.”

Horticulture entries must have been owned and grown by the exhibitor for at least three months. Atwater always looks for categories in this division that incorporate design and allow collaboration.

“The show’s happiest entrants seem to be the ones who enjoy the creative journey, often with a friend,” she said. “Team projects take at least five three-to-four-hour sessions; however, the great thing is you are adding to your list of BFFs.”

Entrants in floral design will have four hours on Wednesday and two hours on Thursday to assemble their arrangements at the show site, the Honolulu Museum of Art. Atwater’s creations often reflect her training in ikebana; for example, they have strong lines and make judicious use of open spaces.

“Floral design centers me and lowers my blood pressure,” she said. “It inspires me to search for the beauty of form and helps me be in the moment and achieve complete concentration.”

The botanical arts division has two categories: needlepoint and botanical jewelry (earrings, combs, necklaces and headpieces fashioned from dried natural plant materials). In the past, Atwater has entered both categories, but she’s submitting just a jewelry piece this year.

“That discipline is a roller coaster,” she said. “You have to decide what you want to make, find suitable materials and paint or contort them to look like something else. Dead plants come alive in your mind as you imagine them transformed. Processed materials are forbidden. For example, instead of rice, I once searched grocery store grain bins for a look-alike and wound up using spelt.”

Atwater took up photo­graphy as a serious pastime six years ago; since then, she has won several awards for her images at national Garden Club of America shows. She continues to hone her skills by taking photography classes year-round, and for three years she has chaired the Garden Club of Honolulu’s photography committee, which organizes the photography division of the show.

“Photography opens my field of vision and makes me more observant of everything,” Atwater said. “It challenges me to make the camera see the world the way I do and inspires me to take better pictures, which is rewarding unto itself.”

Since Rooted in Paradise’s dates include Mother’s Day, she hopes families will come and enjoy it together.

“It’s about so much more than plants.”