Ours is a garden club of active folks who like to garden, learn new things and enjoy each other's company. If you are looking for camaraderie and to be actively involved in gardening and selected environmental issues, we are the Garden Club for you.

Our mission statement: Gardeners Out East shall promote the beautification of gardens and the general area, shall educate ourselves and others concerning Florida gardening, and shall be advocates for environmental issues.

GOE is a proud member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. (FFGC), in the Deep South Region, Inc. of the National Garden Clubs, Inc.(NGC)

A Short History:
In the summer of 2014, several folks in Lakewood Ranch (LWR) who wanted to form a garden club met at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, LWR, FL with representatives from the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC) to learn how this could be accomplished. Carolyn Lowry-Nation, our current President, was the tour-de-force behind this new garden club.

The first meeting of our newly-formed club, now called Gardeners Out East (GOE), was on August 20, 2014 at the Belleisle Club House in Country Club East, LWR, FL. Present were prospective members and members from FFGC. Since then we have gone on field trips, listened to presentations, put those presentations to practice and had fun while learning about gardening and environmental issues.

Our first community project began on March 2, 2015 when GOE resurrected and expanded the Butterfly Garden in Summerfield Community Park located in Community Development District 1 (CDD1), LWR, FL. This was accomplished in cooperation with the CDD1 Board of Directors, the LWR Operations Department and Pinnacle Academy.

The garden continues as an ongoing project, lovingly maintained by GOE members. The garden dedication took place October 17, 2015.

Our second community project was  The Marigold Garden (now called the Circle Garden) adjacent to the Butterfly Garden and was planted October 10, 2016. This garden is also lovingly maintained by GOE members.

Our third community project was the Blue Star Memorial, erected in front of Lakewood Ranch, FL Town Hall. Monies for this project were raised by GOE's Charity Golf Tournament on May 6, 2017. The dedication took place May 28, 2017.

Our fourth community project was the Gold Star Memorial, erected in front of the Lakewood Ranch library.  The dedication took place May 4, 2024.  

Gardeners Out East has been recognized by the Florida Federation Of Garden Clubs for these and other activities.