Wellington Garden Club is a nonprofit organization in the Village of Wellington that promotes home gardening, preservation of natural resources and public education.
The group is hosting Gardens of Distinction, a tour of six local garden, on April 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature orchids, native plants, butterfly gardens, vegetable gardens and shade gardens.
Founded in 1981 by Mary Clark, Wellington Garden Club began with 14 members and has grown exponentially.
The garden club is part of several civic projects. For example:
• Wellington’s Adopt-A-Street program consists of morning park meet-ups to pick up litter. Wellington Garden Club has been an active participant for several years.
• Habitat for Humanity helps in-need families build homes. Wellington Garden Club is one of several nonprofits in Palm Beach County that participate in landscaping Habitat homes.
Wellington Garden Club also contributes to educating youth. It's Youth Garden Clubs program, founded over 10 years ago at elementary, middle and high schools, now sponsors garden clubs at Binks Forest Elementary School, New Horizons Elementary School, Pine Jog Elementary School, Wellington High School and Palm Beach Central High School. Wellington Garden Club also supports a butterfly garden with Boy Scout Troop 125.
Wellington Garden Club volunteers have worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Wellington to create a community butterfly and native plant garden with eight beds. Volunteers educate the public and children in vegetable gardening and other gardening techniques.
Wellington Garden Club provides several scholarship opportunities. Students pursuing environmental sciences, horticulture or related fields in college can learn more at wellingtongardenclub.org/academic-scholarships.
Younger kids can receive scholarships to attend events such as SEEK and Wekiva Youth Camp.
SEEK, an acronym for Save Earth’s Environment Through Knowledge, is an environmental conference for high-schoolers sponsored by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. The conference focuses on environmental issues and includes workshops, field trips and information about careers in environmentalism.
Wekiva Youth Camp at Wekiwa Spring State Park in Apopka teaches nature study and conservation. Volunteers work with first- to eighth-graders. Younger campers participate in Critter Camp, where they learn about nature, make crafts and enjoy s’mores. Older campers spend more time learning about naturalism while taking part in activities including canoeing and camping.
Wellington Garden Club donates informational gardening books to the Wellington Branch of the Palm Beach County Library to spread home gardening.
Tickets for the Gardens of Distinction are $25 for advanced purchase and can be purchased at the Wellington Community Center on Saturday, April 2 for $35. For tickets click here. For more information on Wellington Garden Club and upcoming events, visit wellingtongardenclub.org.
