What is “March in the Park”? It’s the Garden Club of Cape Coral’s major fundraiser! This will be our 16th annual plant, garden and art sale.

Our special event is being held at Cape Coral’s beautiful Jaycee Park, 4125 S.E. 20th Place, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The Garden Club of Cape Coral is a non-profit organization with all the events proceeds going to high school senior scholarships, Habitat for Humanity projects, local middle school and high school garden projects, and other club objectives.

There will be over 40 vendors with plants of all kinds, trees, palms, shrubs, ground cover, native plants and, of course, the Garden Club will have over 1500 plants grown by members. There will be garden art, essential and fragrance oils, glass reflections, fish faces, metal works, stepping stones and an assortment of planters.

A kids’ booth, with a face painter, will have activities and take-home projects for all ages. Come and enjoy the food and music. There will be opportunity drawings throughout the day. Best of all admission and parking are FREE.

A little background on the Garden Club of Cape Coral … The formation of the non-profit Garden Club was 1997. The club was founded by Master Gardener Marty Ward and longtime gardening friend Beverly Ray. The 23 paid members had their first meetings at Wards’ home under the direction of President Sherie Bleiler. The club quickly established affiliations with the National Garden Clubs Inc., Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council Inc.

Early on, the club participated in many projects, including planting and maintaining planters along Cape Coral Parkway and maintaining the Tiny Tots Garden for children at Four Freedoms Park.

As membership grew, meetings were moved to a local church, then to bigger venues. The group also has an important part of history on its side. It maintains the prestigious Rose Garden at the Cape Coral Museum of History on Cultural Park Boulevard. The roses were originally part of a national tourist attraction, called Cape Coral Gardens, which also included the famous Waltzing Waters, lakes and water ski shows, plus hosted many celebrities such as Bob Hope. The garden included more than 40,000 roses. The attraction, facing funding issues, closed in 1969, giving way to development. It is now the site of Tarpon Point. But the roses were soon to bloom again. In 1990, Lois Herbert wanted to pay tribute to the memory of her father, Russell Herbert, and asked the museum to pay tribute to him and to the roses. A new rose garden was redesigned in 2007 with raised flower beds. A team of garden club members visit the rose garden to take care of the precious flowers.

The Garden Club continues to educate the community about important landscaping and environmental techniques through various events and in our weekly column in the Cape Coral Breeze newspaper.

Mark your calendars … March 9 … 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. for a huge plant sale. You won’t want to miss this fun event for the entire family. It’s March in the Park at Jaycee Park, 4125 S.E. 20th Place. For more information, visit gardenclubofcapecoral.com.

I’d like to leave you with Audrey Hepburn’s inspiration… “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

Ann Block is Past President of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.