As they sat in a car parked on a traffic island at McKnight and McIntyre roads in Ross, the aroma of marigolds permeated the inside.

Paul Parobeck, Kris Johnson and Lynn McGuire-Olzak had just been "deadheading" hundreds of the flowers in a garden that borders McKnight Road, removing old blooms to encourage new flowers.

The three had slid inside the car to escape the sounds of traffic on one of the North Hills' busiest roads while they talked to a reporter. Essence of marigold wafted in with them.

For the past 12 years, the three have worked together to make this Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Community Garden a spectacular sight, and the labor has paid off. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has recognized the garden with its Community Greening Award which rewards extraordinary gardening efforts throughout Pennsylvania and part of New Jersey.

The long narrow bed on the traffic island is filled with nearly 4,000 plants, including tall zinnias in every color, short blue salvia, and luminescent yellow marigolds. At each end of the bed there are perennial plantings anchored by huge ornamental grasses.

Ms. Johnson has been the garden steward at the garden since the beginning, and she also is in charge of the environmental committee of the Berkeley Hills Civic Association. She oversees all aspects of the garden, including the volunteers who help her keep the planting area pristine.

More than a decade ago, the conservancy began expanding its gardens in the suburbs, and the McKnight Road location was picked as a garden site because of its had high visibility and the added bonus of a water line under the traffic island. Ms. Johnson was the perfect person to build the garden.

"I was raised a gardener. My mother always had a garden and she used to sell raspberries to the fruit markets," she said. "It's in my genes."

She added: "I love to [tend the Mcknight Road garden] because I want to give back to the environment and give back to the community."

She spends four to five hours a week this time of the year, but more when the garden is nearing its peak.

Most gardeners enjoy their time alone in silence, but that's not possible when thousands of cars drive by each day.

"I'm used to it," Ms. Johnson said. "It's quiet and solitary to me because I get involved in what I'm doing. I just enjoy each flower as I'm deadheading."

But every once in a while, she'll be reminded that there's an appreciative audience driving by. "People actually get out of the car and say how beautiful it is. People drive by and toot the horn and say, 'Great job.' It's very rewarding."

Ms. McGuire-Olzak is the volunteer coordinator for the 140 community gardens that the conservancy oversees. She had nominated the garden for the Community Greening Award.

"I drive it by every day. The colors are just fabulous," she said.

"I sit in traffic, and it just calms you down. It's like a mini-vacation for a couple of seconds to look over there and go 'Wow, that's beautiful.'"

Mr. Parobeck agrees. He's the president of the Berkeley Hills Civic Association and has been working with the team since it started the garden. He's proud that the garden can be seen by so many, and he enjoys the beauty created on the island.

"Otherwise if it was not here, it would be a totally blighted area like a desert with burnt grass. It's sort of the entrance into this McKnight shopping area."

Each spring and fall, a group of more than 100 seventh-graders from the North Hills Junior High School, along with parents and teachers, come to volunteer in the garden.

Heather Cobbey has supervised that operation for the past 10 years and sees it as an important opportunity for her seventh-grade science students.

"I think it teaches them how to be part of a bigger project," she said. "I think it's a good team-building activity. It's something that they can take home with them."

The garden can offer science lessons, too, about the importance of plants and photosynthesis. She also sees her class involvement as an opportunity for thousands of passersby to recognize that there's something good going on with these young people.

"I personally think just the community seeing kids doing something positive is huge. When they are out there on a busy road to try and make their community a better place to live, I think that speaks volumes."

And Ms. Johnson is happy to have them at the garden too.

"It's been a wonderful partnership. We wouldn't be able to have the garden without them, because it's an unbelievable job."

After winning this award, though, the pressure is on for her and the team of volunteers that has turned a grass island into a beautiful garden.

"It just means more work for us now because we're going to have to live up to our reputation," she said, laughing.