History of Late Bloomers
Late Bloomers Garden Club, founded in 1990, is a member of The Garden Club of America and the Garden Club of Jacksonville.
The purpose of Late Bloomers Garden Club is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening and flower arranging; to share the advantages of association by means of meetings, conferences, correspondence and publications; and to restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment through programs and action in the fields of horticulture, conservation, civic improvement, and education.
Late Bloomers Garden Club contributes to the community through its civic projects and grants. Its first major project was the replacement of the fountain in the Italian Garden at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in 2000. Current grants are to Jacksonville University for a Botany Honors Project; to Greenscape’s Blue Tree Project; for landscaping in Downtown Jacksonville at Hemming Park; and to Dreams Come True.
Recent grantees include NE Florida Land Trust, Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens and Student Conservation Association. In 2010 – 2011, Late Bloomers made a grant to Gateway Community Service for “Serenity Park”, for which it was a finalist for the GCA Founders Fund Award in 2012.
Since 2007, Late Bloomers Garden Club has partnered with Greenscape of Jacksonville, Inc. on the Root Ball, a fundraiser to help raise awareness of the importance of trees in Jacksonville and to assist in the support of Jacksonville’s only tree planting organization. Founded in 1975 by Late Bloomers members Susan Fisher and the late Ann Baker, Greenscape is nationally recognized for its leadership in enriching the Jacksonville Community through the planting, protection and promotion of trees.
Late Bloomers Garden Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.