With just a few members and no public meeting space, the earlier version of the club reportedly faded away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This past summer, however, area residents who are passionate about planting and nurturing plants and trees, and sharing their enthusiasm with others, formed the latest Crestview Garden Club. It’s affiliated with the University of Florida Extension Service in Okaloosa County and currently has 37 members, club President Jillian Harker said today.
While most club members are in the Extension Service’s Master Gardener Program, novice and less experienced gardeners are welcome to join the organization, Harker said.
“Our purpose is to educate people about gardening,” she said.
Sharing seeds
In October, the club celebrated the debut of a seed library at the Crestview Public Library, 1445 Commerce Drive. The seed library has dozens of varieties of seeds: while most of them are for vegetables, there are also seeds for fruits, flowers, herbs and other plants.
At the seed library, patrons can use their library card to check out various types of seeds year-round. Each seed packet contains three to five seeds. There is a checkout limit of five seed packets per month and per household. The seed library’s seed catalog provides helpful growing tips and information.
Harker, who has a 400-square-foot home garden, encourages other home gardeners to donate their extra seeds to the seed library. She said suburban gardens and container plants are growing in popularity and are helping to bring back bees, which are top-notch pollinators.
Starting in 2026, the Crestview Garden Club plans to host biannual seed library events that will include hands-on activities for kids and discussions on topics such as how to grow container plants, harvest seeds, and preserve what you grow.
Helping hands
This spring, club members plan to fix up the butterfly garden at the McMahon Environmental Learning Center, 130 Butler Ave., install landscaping in front of the new Hope Starts Here Thrift Store, 1116 N. Ferdon Blvd., and help plant trees and do other chores at the future Higher Ground Community Garden.
This garden will utilize a 10,000-square-foot space next to New Bethel Methodist Church. The church stands at 5986 Highway 85 North in the Silver Springs area just north of Crestview.
Harker said the garden will include community spaces where gardeners will pull weeds and prune trees, a section for pollinator plants, a compost area, and raised beds. The raised beds will be adopted by families, who will be able to keep the produce they grow.
Next June, the Crestview Garden Club plans to join the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, which among other benefits will help the soon-to-be-nonprofit local club obtain grants for its various projects.
The Crestview Garden Club meets at 10 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month, typically at the Extension Service office at 3098 Airport Road. Harker said the club’s existing 18-month membership fee of $20 is expected to be replaced by an annual $15 fee once the club joins the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.
To join the Crestview Garden Club, send an email to crestviewgardeners@gmail.com.