Community
Gardening, Education & Community
More than a social club — since 1929, a working commitment to horticulture, conservation, and civic life in New Smyrna Beach.
Neighborhood Recognition
Garden of the Month
Each month the Club recognizes an interesting, creative, and thoughtfully maintained home landscape in the New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, and Edgewater areas.
The program celebrates homeowners who love gardening and have had a hand in designing, creating, and caring for their landscape — gardens that inspire others, benefit the environment, and show the joy of gardening.
What We Look For
Gardens that reflect the homeowner’s creativity, environmental awareness, and personal style. Selected gardens may feature:
- Beautifully designed, well-maintained front or back yards
- Native and Florida-friendly plants
- Creative, distinctive landscape designs
- Zero-lawn or reduced-lawn landscapes
- Butterfly and pollinator gardens
- Plants that attract birds, bees, butterflies, and other beneficial wildlife
- Unique plant combinations, garden features, or artistic elements
- Sustainable practices and thoughtful stewardship of the landscape
Nominate your own garden or a neighbor’s by sending your contact information to the committee.
Chaired by Wendi Kappers and Sandra Capuano · GOM@nsbgc.org
Monarchs & Milkweed
Butterfly Garden Certification
The Butterfly Gardening Certification Committee certifies gardens as butterfly habitats and offers advice on butterfly and pollinator gardening, plant replacement, and maintenance.
The committee also runs adult and youth education and community outreach, teaching the value of Florida native plants in home and community landscapes.
Certify Your Garden
Send your application for a Certified Butterfly Sanctuary Garden to Butterflycert@nsbgc.org. Once it’s received, a Garden Club member will contact you to schedule a visit to certify your garden.
Site Visit
Scheduled by a member
$25
Donation, collected at certification
Certificate
For your records
Garden Sign
Certified Butterfly Garden
Chaired by Mary Heasley · Butterflycert@nsbgc.org
Schools & Scholarships
Investing in Our Youth
Proceeds from the Festival of Trees and Annual Rummage Sale fund scholarships and programs that grow horticultural knowledge for students and neighbors alike.
Our Support Includes
- SEEK Conference — tuition for 4 high school students to attend SEEK (Save the Earth’s Environment through Knowledge), an annual four-day summer environmental conference sponsored by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC).
- Camp Wekiva — tuition for 10 students to attend Camp Wekiva’s summer program, a non-profit residential nature camp for first- through ninth-graders. The FFGC-sponsored camp instills a love for nature and conservation.
- College Scholarships — for 4 graduating students pursuing environmental studies.
- Future Farmers of America — support for the New Smyrna Beach High School chapter, helping students gain hands-on experience in agriculture, animal science, and related fields.
- School Gardens — funding for garden design and ongoing maintenance at many local pre-K and elementary schools, such as Upward Trend Academy and STEAM Station Learning Center.
Together, we are helping young people learn, grow, and cultivate a deeper connection to nature and their communities.
Giving Back
Community Involvement, Civic Beautification & Conservation
Pollinator gardens, native plantings, and hands-on projects that restore habitat and beautify public spaces across New Smyrna Beach.
Community Gardens
Since 2023, members have helped maintain the two butterfly garden plots at the New Smyrna Beach Community Gardens.
Floral Design
Members create a floral arrangement each month for the Advent hospital, one of the Club’s standing community projects.
Conservation
We use native plant material suited to a site’s unique needs to support pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds.
While You Wait
Get to Know Us
Come to a public event and see the clubhouse in action, or visit one of our monthly meetings which open to visitors during the months of October, November, and May.