Calusa Garden Club of Marco Island is a 501 (c)3 charitable organization. The Club’s goals are focused in three areas: horticulture, floral design, and environmental protection. The Club meets monthly, October – April, to educate members on plants, Marco Island gardening, environmental matters, floral design techniques, and community matters relating to its goals. Each meeting includes presentations from educational speakers, and the Club invites the community to join them for the presentations.
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving), Calusa Garden Club plans to hold its second Plant, Thanksgiving Arrangement, and Succulent Dish Garden Sale for the community. The sale will be held outdoors in the Marco Lutheran Church parking lot from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This sale promises to be an epic event with many beautiful items to choose from.
Last year, the Club held its first Plant, Thanksgiving Arrangement, and Succulent Dish Garden Sale on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We had over 200 beautifully tended plants donated by members, in addition to over 25 artfully arranged succulent dish gardens as well as about 30 fantastic flower arrangements in the Thanksgiving theme for the community to purchase. The sale was such a resounding success that the Club is expanding on the sale in 2022. The sale will include pretty indoor and outdoor planters planted with complementary plants and container herb gardens, in addition to flower arrangements and succulent dish gardens. There will also be plenty of garden plants suitable for our Marco Island soil and climate for the Marco Island gardeners. Club members who are avid gardeners will be assisting buyers with choosing the right plant for the buyer’s location, taking into account the buyer’s sun, shade, and water availability. And local orchid growers Charlette Roman and Linda Shockley will offer cuttings from their wide variety of beautiful orchids.
The money raised from the Plant, Thanksgiving Arrangement, and Succulent Dish Garden Sale will support Calusa Garden Club’s civic and charitable activities. The Club awards two college scholarships to Marco Island resident high school seniors who plan to study botany, agriculture, environmental studies, water conservation, marine biology, or related fields such as environmental law. The Club works to benefit and beautify our Marco Island community by maintaining the Butterfly Garden at Calusa Park on Winterberry Drive, maintaining memorial markers on the Island including the Pineapple Marker on S. Barfield Drive, the Calusa Garden Club marker on Winterberry Drive, the Calusa Garden Club plaque at Leigh Plummer Park, and the Blue Star Memorial Garden in Veterans’ Park (the Memorial is currently in storage until the Veterans’ Park construction is complete). The Club presents educational seminars at the library and other venues, and is pleased to pair with Friends of the Library who underwrite a flower arranging workshop at no cost to participants that is held at the library once a year. And in January of each year, on Florida Arbor Day, the Club plants a native tree in Leigh Plummer Park to commemorate the Club’s founders who were instrumental in establishing that park as a native plant showcase. For more information about Calusa Garden Club, go to the Club’s website, calusa.org, or visit our Facebook page Calusa Garden Club.
The Club continues to work for civic beautification and horticultural education. Last year, Calusa Garden Club responded to a request from Brixmor Properties to design the plantings for the patio at Marco Town Center, near Margarita’s restaurant. A committee worked on planters and suggested plants to beautify the area. In April of this year, the Club presented a Home Garden Tour, featuring 4 distinctly different Marco Island gardens owned by Club members, which was enthusiastically supported by the community – it was sold out! The gardeners personally presented their gardens to the attendees, peaking about their plants and their landscapes and answering questions. And to commemorate Calusa Garden Club’s 40th Anniversary of its founding, the Club has planted and will maintain a fantastic orchid, bromeliad, and Florida-friendly plant garden near the entrance to Leigh Plummer Park.
Come join Calusa Garden Club on Tuesday November 22, 2022 at Marco Lutheran Church parking lot to buy your Thanksgiving flower arrangements and beautiful accent plants for your home, indoors and outdoors! We hope to see you there!
# # #
Contact:
Sara Wolf
Publicity Chairman
Calusa Garden Club of Marco Island