Bring Your Games and Play With Us!

On Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 from 10am to 2pm, we will be hosting a Spring Fling Game Day at the Community Church of Cocoa Beach located at 126 S. Atlantic Avenue.  Bring your friends, cards, and games for a day of fun, food and prizes! Lunch is included as well as door and table prizes.  There will also be plants for sale, 50/50 raffles as well as themed raffle baskets to make it even more exciting!  Reserve your table now and purchase tickets priced at $15.00 per person by calling  321-868-7393 or 321-783-5115.  

The Many Uses of The Mighty Moringa Tree

Club member , Marion Anderson,  presented five fun facts on the Moringa oleifera; which is a fast-growing, deciduous  tree native to South Asia and now found throughout the tropics and right here in Cocoa Beach! It can reach a height of 32 - 40 ft and the trunk can reach a diameter of 1.5 ft.  The leaves have been used as part of traditional medicine for centuries. The leaves are loaded with vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, antioxidants, and more.  It has anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, cholesterol-lowering, and cardioprotective properties.  Moringa seeds even work better for water purification than many of the conventional synthetic materials in use today.  If you have access to a moringa tree, you can use the fresh leaves in your meals; they have a flavor similar to a radish.  Toss them like a salad, blend them into smoothies, or steam them like spinach. 

Wonderful Holiday Arrangements Made By Merry Members!

At our December meeting, Rockledge Roses and Wine instructed members on making beautiful holiday floral arrangements.  Grace McDade - Hicks and Len Beckett did a marvelous job with giving tips on required tools, cutting techniques, required materials, placement techniques of the assorted evergreens that were used, ribbon tying and overall design.  Cedar, holly, cephalaria, pine cones, ribbon and candles were used to assemble some of these festive centerpieces:

"Gourds Galore"

It was " Gourds Galore" with Gail Gowdy from the Brevard Gourd Patch at our October meeting of the Cocoa Beach Garden Club. On display were many gourds of sizes, shapes, and varieties as well as what they can be turned into; water pitchers, bowls, a pie on a cake stand and even a shoulder bag! Who knew gourds were fashionable??? The presentation highlighted the types, growing requirements, shaping process, harvesting and uses of gourds.

We're back....

Please join us at our September 9th meeting at the Community Church in Cocoa Beach.  We'll have a fun "hands on" floral arranging session.  Stay tuned for detail

s.

Pond and Garden Tour

The 19th annual Ace Pond and Garden Tour takes place — rain or shine — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 6. The event is free. No registration is required. A guide to the featured homes is available at Ace Hardware of Merritt Island, 1005 N. Courtenay Parkway.

For additional information, call 321-452-3484.

Nightbloomers Meetings

Although the general meetings are on break until September, our Nightbloomers continue meeting through the summer.  Join us at the Cocoa Beach Library the first Wednesday evening at 6:30 every month.  It's informal and informative!

Buy a shirt and support our efforts

Here is a chance to get a fun shirt and at the same time support the Cocoa Beach Garden Club.  Lots of styles and price ranges so check out this link for more info.
https://www.bonfirefunds.com/green-up-cocoa-beach

scholarship information

Scholarships available!
To qualify for the scholarships, the applicant must be a Florida resident, a citizen of the United States, and have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The Applicant must study agriculture, biology, botany, city planning, conservation, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape/architecture design, or related fields.

FFGC College Scholarships ($3,000) 

Available to seniors entering college and for all levels   of college coursework

Must attend a a Florida college/university

Course of study must meet garden club objectives

Several scholarships available; one per student

Completed application deadline is May 1

 

 

 

Hummingbird Feeder

Follow this link to find a way to make your own butterfly feeder

http://www.ehow.com/way_5484767_homemade-butterfly-feeder.html

Day Trip

Only 15 spaces left!

Make sure to contact us very soon to reserve your seat on the bus.  Our Day Trip on April 8th to the Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum in Del Ray Beach will be a wonderful trip that you don't want to miss.  Call 868-7383 for more info!

5 Inspiring (& Easy!) DIY Indoor Gardens

Check out this link for step by step indoor gardens

http://www.refinery29.com/urban-gardening#slide

Gardening Is Good For You

Here is a link to an interesting article about why your brain needs gardening activities.  We're not necessarily promoting the book being sold at the end of the article, but think many would agree with the content of the article.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/21/gardening-impacts-brain-health.aspx

Exciting Garden Tour

Sign up now to join us for a day trip to the
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
in Delray Beach, FL

We are planning a group trip and taking reservations now.  We will leave the Cocoa Beach area at 8:30 a.m., and return around 6:00 p.m.  We looking to secure 40 people who want to go, so that we can take a tour bus.  If there are only 22 people, we will have two travel vans.  For only $45 you can reserve your seat.  Everyone is welcome!  Interested?  Contact Julia at n1990new@yahoo.com 

Botanical Fest

Coming March 7, 2015


March 7, 2015
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Free Admission!
The event will be held at:
Florida Institute of Technology
150 West University Blvd.
Melbourne, FL 32901
The Fest is located on Crawford Green. Signs on both West University Boulevard and Country Club Road will point the way.
The annual event will showcase some of Florida’s finest plant and garden vendors, offering palms, exotics, native plants, ornamental shrubs, bamboo and flowering plants. Free guided tours of the Botanical Garden will take place throughout the day, and master gardeners will be on hand to answer gardening questions. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
For more information, please email botanicalfest@fit.edu or call 321-674-8537.