![Navarre Garden Club member Jodi Volmert holds a camellia in the process of a type of gardening called air layering. [Special to the Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-4ac9930b-070d-6182-e053-0100007fe93d-6c6bddc9.jpeg)
Editor’s Note: This continues our Celebrate Community series on nonprofit organizations that improve Santa Rosa County residents’ quality of life.
MILTON — The Garden Club of America, since its 1913 founding, has focused on horticulture, conservation and civic improvement, according to its website, www.gcamerica.org.
Among its 200-plus member clubs are three in Santa Rosa County: the Azalea Garden Club of Pace, the Milton Garden Club and the Navarre Garden Club.
The Azalea Garden Club of Pace is the newest such group in Santa Rosa County; it was founded in October of 2015 and has 24 active members, according to incoming club President Sandra Sherman.
The club has placed first in the Community Garden at the Pensacola Interstate Fair and started hosting a children’s program four times a year with the Pace library. Youth projects have focused on pollinators and growing food at home; they have included take-home, hands-on assignments, according to Sherman.
The Milton Garden Club, established in 1948, is divided into two chapters, known as circles in garden club terminology: the Morning Glory Circle and the Dogwood Circle. The differences between the two are size and activity level, according to club Vice President Jennifer Weber.
“The Morning Glory … they're a smaller group. The Dogwood Circle is much larger and a little more physically active. Most of our topics are kind of the same. We both go over the same mission statement,” Weber said.
The Milton Garden Club promotes gardening, civic beautification, protection of native plants and resources, and floral design, according to its website, www.miltongardenclub.com.
The Dogwood Circle will host its sixth annual Christmas Tour of Homes in December; Morning Glory Circle held its Tour of Tables Feb. 9 and 10.
“The Christmas Tour of Homes is a tour of four local homes with their seasonal decorations and one church,” Weber said. “The Tour of Tables event is a competition at the club. Each table is designed according to a theme. Then they are judged and there's usually a fun luncheon at the tables.”
Coming April 8, the Milton Garden Club circles will come together for the plant sale at the Spring Festival of Flowers at Pensacola State College’s Milton campus. Admittance is free to the public.
Betty Pullum and other founding members established The Navarre Garden Club 42 years ago, according to a document from Navarre Garden Club Civic Development Chair Ginger Eisele.
When Navarre Park was an empty stretch of beach on the sound, the Navarre Garden Club began planting trees and flowerbeds, in addition to installing sprinkler systems, Eisele wrote.
The club sponsors three Junior Garden Club programs in local schools and annually awards two scholarships to local students.
One club is at Navarre Intermediate School and two clubs are at West Navarre Elementary, according to club member Wanda Veal.
The Navarre Garden Club’s website, http://www.navarregardenclub.org, includes information on the club’s educational, community, horticultural and social projects.
Azalea Garden Club of Pace
Meetings: 1 p.m. second Mondays, August through May, at the Pace Fire Department, 4773 Pace Patriot Blvd.
Dues: $33 annually
Contact: Jean Rognstad at 380-2256 or Sandra Sherman at 623-6321
Milton Garden Club:
Morning Glory Circle
Meetings: 9:30 a.m. second Thursdays, August to April, at the club center, 5256 Alabama St., Milton
Dues: $25 for active members, $30 per couple
Contact: 626-2003 or miltongardenclub@yahoo.com
Dogwood Circle
Meetings: 9:30 a.m. second Tuesdays, August to April, at the club center, 5256 Alabama St., Milton
Dues: $25 for active members, $30 per couple
Contact: 626-2003 or miltongardenclub@yahoo.com
Navarre Garden Club
Meetings: 8:30 a.m. monthly, September to May, at Hidden Creek Golf Course, 3070 P.G.A Blvd. in Navarre
Online: http://www.navarregardenclub.org/contact-us.html
Dues: $30 per individual, $50 for couples
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Garden clubs promote beautification, community growth