Our Mission
The mission of the Naples Garden Club™ is to provide opportunities for sharing and learning about horticulture, floral design and the environment in a congenial, supportive atmosphere.
Our Vision
Community-wide interest in horticulture, floral design and the environment.
Our Programs
Naples Garden Club™ general meetings are diverse. Horticulture, floral design and environmental topics are covered by nationally and internationally-known speakers and Naples experts who share exciting new points of view. These meetings are open to the public and guests are welcome.
At least five horticulture workshops are held each year. At each workshop, a member or visiting horticulturist gives a short lecture or tour. Each month, several floral design workshops are held at the Garden Club office. Instruction is given in applying the principles and elements of design as stated in the National Garden Club’s Handbook. Workshops are open to members only.
Our accredited flower show judges participate in the Florida Judges Council, flower show schools and symposiums and judge numerous shows each year.
The Reading Room Library, located in the activity center and office, includes books pertaining to horticulture, landscaping, flower design and the environment. The Reading Room is open to the public but books may not be removed.
Naples Garden Club™ is a member of National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.
Our Projects
Since 1955, the Naples Garden Club™ has conducted a House and Garden Tour™ of outstanding homes and gardens in Naples. Each home is decorated with members’ flower arrangements. This is the major fundraising project; the funds are used for civic beautification and improvement grants and the Naples Garden Club™ Endowment. The endowment annually awards financial assistance to selected students who conduct research in plant sciences at the Florida Gulf Coast University / Naples Botanical Garden Kapnick Education and Research Center.
The Naples Flower Show™ is a joint venture between the Naples Garden Club™ and the Naples Botanical Garden and welcomes thousands of visitors each year.
The Naples Garden Club™ Idea Garden at the Naples Botanical Garden opened in November 2010. It showcases creative gardening ideas for Florida gardeners
OUR HISTORY
Click on the book to read a version of the Naples Garden Club History book written by Lydia Galton. PDF will open in a new tab or download directly to your computer.
In 1953, when the founding 30 members of the Naples Garden Club™ came together for their first meeting, Naples was a community of only 2000 people. Its first hospital had yet to open and many other familiar institutions were still years away from development. The Garden Club focused its efforts on educating members about horticulture and conservation and raising funds to help beautify the growing community.
Those first years featured annual picnic meetings at Caribbean Gardens and speakers from the University of Miami. Southwest Florida was undergoing rapid changes, and the Naples Garden Club™ participated in many of them. Its first charitable endeavors were plantings at the Naples Community Hospital, the new high school on Third Street (now the site of Gulf View Middle School) and the brand new western entrance to Everglades National Park.
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Over the decades the Naples Garden Club has funded beautification efforts at most public and non-profit institutions in Naples, including many public schools, Big Cypress Nature Center (now the Conservancy of Southwest Florida), the City of Naples, the George Washington Carver Housing Project, Naples Depot, Palm Cottage, the Philharmonic and Rookery Bay. Its civic contributions have totaled over $600,000. It has given over $100,000 in scholarships.
In 1978 the Garden Club moved into new headquarters at the Naples Depot. Horticulture and design classes, monthly meetings and the Flower Show were held there until 2005, when we opened our new offices at the Naples Botanical Garden.