The Garden Club of Palm Coast turns 50 years old in 2025; making it older than the City itself. The club was formed in 1975, with a rich history that can be viewed on their website. Garden Club member and Festival Chair, Denise Garcia, explained that they are always looking to get involved with the community.
The Club is comprised of many members, committees, and two guilds; the Arrangers Guild and the Propagation Guild. These Guilds work with many of the committees on different community oriented events, activities and celebrations. A few of the committees include the Selection of the Month committee, the Arbor Day committee, and the Scholarship committee.
In 2022, the Garden Club was able to launch their Jr. Garden Club, which works with kids, teaching gardening. Currently they are in Rymfire Elementary School and Belle Terre Elementary School. Old Kings Elementary school is hoping to bring back the Jr Garden Club, although nothing official has been confirmed. Denise talked to us about her plans to hopefully involve some of the older kids in middle/high school in the future as well.
One of the biggest events they hold every year is there Spring Festival. This year the festival will be held on April 6th, at the FPC High School gym. 100% of the proceeds from this event are used in the scholarship fund. The primary focus of the scholarship fund is to award scholarships to high school students, help with summer camps, including Whispering Meadows. The secondary function of the Scholarship fund, if there are excess funds, is to help adults with scholarships for different classes they may wish to take in different areas of gardening.
The club itself has many moving parts, with many subgroups within the club, such as a seed savers group, and many others. While this is a club of like minded plant people, they all agreed that being out in the community and helping people is something they all have a passion for.
If you would like more information on this club you can visit their website here.