JOIN US IN THE IDEA GARDEN!
The NGC’s Idea Garden at Naples Botanical Garden was created in 2010 as a place to inspire and encourage visitors to grow plants, flowers and vegetables in unusual and creative ways.
Visit today and get inspired!
Ideas À LA CART – Programs & Videos
Check back next season for more fun in the Idea Garden. This year we learned so much and had a blast with the hundreds of visitors that came to be inspired by some great ideas! Looking for a fun project while at home? How about sprucing up some of those boring clay pots.
Take a Walk through the Idea Garden
Ever thought about topiaries for your garden? Take this virtual walk through the Idea Garden to visit Irma the Alligator and her flamingo friends, see the new sea creatures and learn how to make them. You’ll find out about growing roses and vegetables in Florida, making Tillandsia strings, growing and using herbs, and a vertical wall.
We hope you’ll be inspired to visit the Idea Garden in person.
Idea Garden Scrapbook
Ever thought about topiaries for your garden? Then you need to visit Irma the alligator and her sparkling flamingo friends, who enjoyed a relaxing summer break and are back in the Idea Garden with fresh new looks. Decorative pots and column baskets brimming with fall foliage enhance their domains.
Visit today and get inspired.
Idea Garden Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Idea Garden?
The NGC’s Idea Garden at Naples Botanical Garden was created in 2010 as a place to inspire and encourage visitors to grow plants, flowers and vegetables in unusual and creative ways.
Where is it located?
The Idea Garden is centrally located in the Naples Botanical Garden between the Lea Asian Garden and the Scott Florida Garden
What have been some of the ideas?
Column Planter Baskets
Living Walls
Patio Ponds
Pizza and Cocktail Gardens
Espaliered Fruit Trees
Planting Ideas for Garden Pots
Why is NGC involved?
What is NGC's current project?
Pop Up Educational Programs via NGC’s Idea Garden á la Cart presented on a weekly basis.
NGC Member Ambassadors in the Garden
Creative plantings in baskets, pots and on topiaries
How many people have visited?
Thousands of people have visited, asked questions and been inspired
BEHIND THE CART
Check out these cool videos!
reflections from the garden
IDEA GARDEN WATER FEATURES COMPLETE
Naples Garden Club was honored to create an exciting new water feature for the Idea Garden at Naples Botanical Garden. The water feature was “unveiled” on November 1, 2021. The construction of our exciting new water feature, designed to show visitors the many...
TOPIARY BUDDIES SETTLE INTO THEIR WINTER HOME
Irma the Gator and the Flamingo twins are happily adjusting to their winter homes. Dry weather and moderate temps are just what the doctor ordered.
POP-UP PROGRAMS WILL SOON BE BACK
Watch the schedule on this page to learn about upcoming Pop-up programs. We’ll be putting this year’s schedule together soon.
BORDER COLUMN BASKETS ALA’ PAMELA CRAWFORD
Would you love color and texture along a garden path, sidewalk or patio edge? Stop in the Idea Garden to see what kinds of things we have planted in these unique border column baskets that are space saving and easy care.
DECORATE WITH ORCHIDS
If you want to adorn your landscape or lanai with orchids, here is how it is done.
MEMBER POTS
Naples Garden Club members periodically “loan” their own pots to the Idea Garden. These pots display many types of easy-care plants that you could use to create your own beautiful pots!
Idea Garden Update
Things are moving fast in the NGC Idea Garden! We recently lost a beautiful lychee nut tree to disease, but are replacing it with a water feature designed to inspire. Watch as the design becomes reality!
Succulent Ornaments
The first Ideas a la Cart pop-up program was held on December 13, 2017 in the Naples Botanical Garden. Sandy Lasch and her team, Lynne Duncan, Fran Lockwood and Kathy Hume showed quick and easy ways to decorate simple holiday ornaments with small succulents. These...