The Coral Gables Garden Club is excited to fund pollinator gardens throughout the city's urban landscape and to schools for our Centennial Project in the 2024-2025 club season.

These gardens are another testament to the value of partnerships.  To celebrate our Centennial, the Coral Gables Garden Club has offered grants to schools in Coral Gables and neighboring communities to create pollinator gardens.  Schools that have already accepted the terms of our grants are St. Philips Episcopal School, Coral Gables Elementary, Crystal Academy, West Lab, Coral Gables High School, Southside Elementary, Riviera Day School, Sunset Elementary, & Ponce De Leon Middle School. Stay tuned; we will post pictures of our progress as we plant gardens.

If you would like to plant your garden to support our pollinators, the most important plants you could buy right now are native Firebush, Tropical Sage, Milkweed, native Lantana, Corky Stem Passionflower, Coontie, Privet Cassia, Florida Keys Blackbead, and a favorite Scorpion Tail. The club will sell these plants at the Coral Gables Farmers Market on March 8th. See you there.

FEBRUARY 5, 2025, THE CORAL GABLES GARDEN CLUB PLANTED ANOTHER POLLINATOR GARDEN FOR THEIR CENTENNIAL PROJECT AT SUNSET ELEMENTARY.

Diana Millares and Katherine Norman, both teachers at Sunset Elementary, were excited to get this garden added to the school's beautiful landscape. They planted their pollinator garden with a second-grade class and parents, along with our hero, Dalton Goolsby from the IFAS/UF Miami Dade extension office. They have created a beautiful space for all to enjoy. Lesson plans and art projects will be incorporated for the kids to learn about our native pollinators. Coloring books were presented to the teachers as an additional gift from club created by our members Beth Werner and Betsy Tilghman.

NOVEMBER 6, 2024, THE CORAL GABLES GARDEN CLUB, PLANTED THEIR THIRD POLLINATOR GARDEN AT SOUTHSIDE PREPARATORY.

Erika Pflucker, a 2nd-grade teacher at the Southside Preparatory School near Brickell Avenue, planted their pollinator garden with garden club members, Dalton Goolsby from the IFAS/UF Miami Dade extension office and volunteers from Treemendous Miami. They have created a beautiful space for all to enjoy. Lesson plans will be incorporated for the kids to learn about why pollinators are so important and the life cycle of butterflies.

OCTOBER 30, THE CORAL GABLES HIGH SCHOOL GARDEN CLUB, PLANTED THEIR POLLINATOR GARDEN

For the last 74 years, since 1950, the Coral Gables Garden Club has been beautifying the patios and entrances of the Coral Gables High School. On October 30, another collaboration took place as the planting day for the Coral Gables High School pollinator garden began. 

The community once again came together at this remarkable school, where the high school garden club, Nattacha Lezscano, the IB coordinator; Jackie Kellog, alumni, past PTA president, and master gardener; Steve and Scott Pearson of Treemendous Miami; Jorge Lopez, and Officer Gertz helped get the garden in the ground. The Coral Gables Garden Club is grateful for the dedication of these community volunteers, students, and teachers who understand the importance of planting for pollinators.

OCTOBER 21, THE HENRY S. WEST LABORATORY SCHOOL, PLANTED THEIR POLLINATOR GARDEN

A beautiful community event took place today at the Henry S. West Lab school to plant a Pollinator Garden, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Nicole Jose, the teacher who applied for the Coral Gables Garden Club’s centennial grant. She organized the day with enthusiasm, involving the 4th and 2nd-grade classes, along with an engaged community of parents.

Special thanks to Dalton Goolsby from the IFAS/UF Miami-Dade Extension Office for delivering the plants and leading the hands-on planting session. Dalton showed the students how to properly release a plant from its container, dig the right-sized hole, and plant it with care. The event was a great success, as seen in the joyful photos, and Dalton will be returning soon to teach the children all about butterflies.

Springtime 2023 in the McFarlane Pollinator Garden

Lots of activity in the garden with new species of insects finding their way to 100 Florida Ave.

The Coral Gables High School Garden Club Enhances the Mcfarland Pollinator Patch with Hand-Painted Rain Barrels

In March 2022, the garden club of  CGHS came to have a workshop with Barbara Mcadams to learn about rainwater collection and to paint the rain barrels at the Mcfarland patch. The Miami-Dade Extension office donated three rain barrels, and the kids were delighted to paint three different themes.

Weekly maintenance at the Macfarlane garden

It's fun to get together and observe what's happening in the garden. The summer of 2022 was very dry, so watering was very important to get the plants established.

Maintaining the Macfarlane Garden post-Hurricane Ian

Lots of fun pruning and straightening up some plants that needed a little tender loving care.

Presentation with residents at the Macfarlane Homeowners Association Meeting October 26th.

Talking about planting for wildlife.

The Macfarlane District pollinator patch.

The pollinator garden on the corner of Jefferson Street and Florida Avenue is dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Julia Morton a University of Miami, economic botanist.  Louis Duncanson the owner of the property, had one condition for our garden, that Julia would be honored. So with that in mind we have gathered the community of the Macfarlane district, Coral Gables High School garden club members, the UF Miami-dade extension office, and the City of Coral Gables to create a pollinator paradise.