Education Center

We are Back!

Since our beginning in 2011 education has been a big part of our mission. We have conducted numerous educational classes, workshops and events since then benefiting residents and visitors.

In 2021, we had a dream to create an onsite Education Center that would allow us to expand our educational opportunities and provide an indoor area where visitors could check out our plant nursery, displays and gift shop at their leisure.

We broke ground on our new Education Center and progress was swift until Hurricane Helene struck. While the partially completed building was flooded, it miraculously survived the storm.

After months of recovery, our dream is about to come true, and we’re so excited to announce that our new Education Center is almost complete and will open soon!

Education Committee members, headed by chairperson Debbie Clark, are working hard preparing for the opening and the resumption of classes.

We’d like to say a big thank you to local contractors, K Enterprises, Inc., for their insights and excellent construction of the building. We want to shout out a very big “Thank you” to Keys Open Doors Foundation for providing us a grant that paid for almost all of the new equipment, supplies and displays that are now in the center. And, most of all we thank all of our generous supporters who have helped us make this dream a reality. We couldn’t have done it without you and we can’t wait for everyone to see our new building.

The stained glass window, custom made for us by local artist Dee Montgomery, was installed December 3rd, 2025. The window is in memory of Bill Bay and was made possible by donations from friends of Bill Bay.

Education Programs

The center will include classes and workshops on horticulture, environmental science, arts and crafts and family learning activities while visiting the gardens. We will also have special guest speakers from the horticultural community.

Classes will be held in the Education Center

Learn about plants for visitors to browse.

Learn about pollinators in the gardens. ↑

Curated plants, including hydroponic plants. →

Construction

The building has a small footprint, but it offers huge opportunities! Our design measures only 24’ x 36’ with a ceiling peak of 12’ and a porch across the front.

Hurricane Helene

While the partially completed building was flooded, it miraculously survived the storm. We were able to remove the mud without damaging the floor.

Be sure to follow us on FACEBOOK or check back to see more photos of the progress here on our site.