Pompano Beach Garden Club

10/08/2026

WORKSHOP INFORMATION
Workshop Name: Fall Kickoff Gardening Workshop
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24, 2026 | 9:00–11:00 AM
Location: Susan Whelchel Community Garden, 1300 NW 8th Street, Boca Raton, FL 33486 (Across from Boca Middle School in Meadows Park)
Registration Fee: $15 per Participant
Parents/legal guardians accompanying registered minor Participant(s) attend free.
20% of workshop registration proceeds will be donated to the community garden.

Weekend gardening workshops in South Florida: soil health, composting, seasonal planting, pollinators, and seed saving. Practical, hands-on, beginner-friendly.

09/09/2026

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Recently we did a webinar on growing vanilla as part of our Get Your Grove On series. Try vanilla if you are looking for a unique plant to grow. It is a tropical plant, so cannot withstand a freeze, but you can keep it in a pot and it propagates easily from cuttings. Vanilla does require a special pollination technique so is usually hand pollinated. If you are lucky enough to get vanilla beans, they need to be cured and then soaked in alcohol to get vanilla extract. Several researchers at UF/IFAS are working on cultivating vanilla in Florida as a commercial crop since it can be highly profitable.

09/04/2026

08/20/2026

Join us for our next meeting in October!

07/05/2026

Happy Independence Day!

06/13/2026

What is this thing? DON'T TOUCH IT

Recently discovered on an orchid attached to an oak at Sample McDougald's was the larvae of the Southern tussock moth - Dasychira meridionalis.

Tussock moth caterpillars use their sharp, urticating (stinging) hairs as a defense mechanism against predators. If these hairs break off and embed in human skin, they can cause a severe, itchy rash. If you encounter them on outdoor furniture, walls, or cars, it is best to leave them alone to avoid a reaction.

Tussock moths and their caterpillars are vital ecological contributors, primarily serving as pollinators, important food sources for local wildlife, and natural recyclers of plant materials.

06/13/2026

Exciting news at Sample McDougald House, our club's Heritage Garden is now home to a colony of Atalia Butterflies. Once abundant in South Florida, the population completely collapsed and the butterfly was presumed extinct in the wild until the 1950s due to the severe overharvesting of its host plant, the native Coontie (Zamia integrifolia). A small, surviving colony was later rediscovered in 1979 near Miami. Since then, thanks to conservationists and homeowners increasingly planting Coontie as ornamental landscaping, the Atala has made an incredible comeback.

06/11/2026

There are natural ways to deter Ratatouille!

Florida gardeners are growing these herbs right now to repel rats naturally. They work without traps or poison and look great in any yard too.