I don't think there is one, at least locally, but I would like to join a garden club. It would be fun to meet more gardeners in my area. It would also be nice to have someone to tour gardens and nurseries with, although my mom and I do that now. We're kind of a mini-garden club :)

I have been in a garden club for a long time and really enjoy it. Most have a range of people, from people who are avid gardeners to people who enjoy the club as a community activity. The more involved you get, the sooner you will get to know people and who shares your interests.

My club has dirt gardeners and flower arrangers (not my thing) and some who do both. We work with people in nursing homes on garden activities, school children, community gardens, a historic garden and more.

We meet once a month and have lectures or demonstrations. We go on field trips and visit each other's gardens in season.

Most clubs in the US are part of their state and national federation. If you want, you can then take advantage of lots of garden learning and doing opportunities. I've met some of my very best garden buddies thru our state group.

Some people think garden clubs are snobby. They are not. Maybe many years ago but the world has changed. If you like some aspect of gardening, they will be thrilled to have you.

I think I may have encountered a snobby one :-) The year we were asked to be a host garden on the local tour, we were given a gift membesrhip in the local horticultural society that runs the tour. We decided we should at least attend one meeting to see what it was like. The tour organizers we had met weren't at the meeting and not one person there spoke to us or make us feel welcome. So we never went back.

I attended a meeting last spring to see what it was like. In our area, the garden club is exclusively a service organization. They plant and maintain all the highway gardens and some of the municipal building beds. There wasn't much in the way of lectures or classes. Nor were there any longer garden tours. They do a wonderful job but this isn't what I was looking for in a garden club. Carrie, I hope your local group is more in keeping with your interests. Have fun!

I have belonged to a garden club since 1980 and it is a great way to meet other gardeners. We have a parlor show most months for those that are interested in exhibiting, we have guest speakers almost every meeting. Workshops usually in someone's garden on pruning or for other hands on demonstrations. We have a fantastic library for the members benefit. Bus tours to view lovely gardens, nurseries too :). A big plant sale in the spring, plant auction in the fall. Never let the title Horticultural Society scare you off, most like ours is just another garden club where all gardeners are welcome, exhibitor, collector, flower gardener, veggie gardener, or if you just like playing in the dirt. There's always someone to answer any questions and if by chance they don't have the answer at their finger tips they'll do their best to find an answer for you (NO QUESTION IS STUPID).

Annette

I belonged to a small (14 people) club for a couple of years. We were part of the national organization and it was fun. We had speakers at our monthly meetings, but we met in the evenings (rotated homes) and it was hard for me to get up the next day for work-most of the members were retired! If a speaker canceled, we would have a video-it happened very rarely. A lot of clubs meet during the day which is fine if you don't work or are retired-didn't work for me. I hear that a club may start in our neighborhood, so maybe I'll try it again.

Cynthia

When I called to see about joining our local club the lady I spoke with was so excite I was going to be joining. She took time to ask about me and my family. She told me our club meets once a month on the last Monday at 7:00pm - 9:00pm (I have decided that it will okay for Daddy to handle the bedtime route one night a month.) and consists of 17 members. She mention nearly everything that Ginny and Annette mentioned. And she must have said five or six times that it was not a snobby club. Which until she was so admit, I hadn't really considered. But it must be a miss conception they get often. I can't wait!! It sound like so much fun.

Woodyoak - I'm so sorry you had that experience.

Carrie

I think it is a good idea to check the garden clubs out online and visit a meeting of all the ones in your area before you join. I joined one in late Dec. but wasn't able to get to the first two meetings this year because of husband having knee replacement surgery. He went with me last month and we were both pleasantly surprized. I wasn't looking for a garden club of snotty people, trying to climb the social ladder. I remember growing up in NC and reading the write ups in the newspaper on the Garden Club events and I thought to myself, I'd never join anything like that! That was 50 yrs. ago; I never thought I'd enjoy flower gardening so much. Mama only had one rose bush, and a gardenia bush and that was it. I wanted a Club that met during the daytime hours but there are none in this area that meet then. I wanted one that is close if I was going to be going out at night. Ours has only $10 a yrs. membership dues, and I found out that membership is for a household, so I don't have to pay for another membership for my husband to go with me. If that membership was per person, it wouldn't have made any difference. I was looking for a club that offered interesting lectures, garden tours, and was organized. Programs are planned for the entire year and they give us the schedule so we know what each month will be about. There are light refreshments afterwards, which provides the members a chance to meet others. I wanted a group where I could learn something I didn't already know about. The club has over 60 members and seems to be an active one and well organized. I look forward to getting to know more members and maybe be able to exchange seeds or plants with them. They have a plant sale coming up to raise funds for a special cause, which right now I can't think of what the profits go for. By visiting meetings ahead of time, one can determine if it is a club with certain age groups or just all women or a co-ed/unisex group. There were at least 10 or 12 men there last month. The ones that participated in the discussions was very knowledgable. I wondered if some might be landscapers or Flower gardening was one of their hobbys. Great question and you've rec'd some good input. Keep us informed how your choice goes.

I tried to talk to some of the people at the door and got a rather rude response. I have some obvious physical disabilities and I know that can make people uncomfortable so do try to make the first approach. But people were clearly giving us a wide berth, which I found rude and insulting, especially since we had been asked to help them by being a host garden.

Woodyoak- Some people are so rude! It's their loss, because they'll miss out on meeting so many fun and interesting people that they might have known, with a little effort.

Garden clubs do have a reputation for being a bit snobby. It can be kind of elitist, depending on the area and why people are joining. If it's a social climbing group, gardening is usually not as important as "being seen" at the meetings and events. As long as gardening is the reason people want to join the club, it should be a lot of fun. I wish we had one in our area...maybe I'll have to talk to a few people and see if we can start one :)

We had a community garden club here for many years, and I met many of my gardening friends there. It was great while it lasted but it petered out. I found that more and more, folks were joining who wanted free gardening and landscape advice and each meeting was becoming either a lesson (taught by me) or sitting around eating and talking not about gardening. They kept up the local swap for a few years but it's stopped now.
Instead we just have a very nice group of local gardeners who know each other and help each other out - the new and the not so new gardeners.
I've been to club meetings before, everyone was nice there (I knew a few folks) and the "Famous" from the South all seem to go (Erica Glasner) and I found them eager to speak to the "newbies" and they asked us lots of questions. It was a Salvias meeting. My friend on GW grows lots and is good with them (me, not so much good with them :) and I brought seeds to share with everyone from my collection and explained how I start most of the garden from seed. These are not seed oriented people (Perennial Plant Society) and sometimes they still contact me to either locate seeds or to grow something they can't find in commerce for their customers. It was a really nice experience, but the club meetings are too far away for me to get to!

I never have joined anything! Just not my thing. I love gardening and talking gardening and sharing. I just
don't seem to have time to do the "organized" thing with meetings and too much busywork. Sorry girls. I hope you enjoy your tremendously.

Also we live in the country and no really close neighbors and those are elderly (more than me!) and don't garden. I would have to drive to town and most meetings seem to be night....I don't do that either.

Yes I belong to a garden club and have met so many wonderful friends there. Our club meets once a month at our local Nature center. We have a speaker most months except in the summer. During the summer we just meet and tour a members garden who has volunteered. Our meetings are held in the evenings. I have learned so much from joining and I would highly recommend joining a local club. Our club is always thrilled when new people come.
Joann

I joined the local garden club when we moved to this zone 3 climate from zone 5. It helped me a lot as they had a list of plants that grew well here, had interesting speakers, plant exchanges, free plants, and garden tours. I don't go any longer as the meetings are on Saturdays and we are usually doing something else. We've been to the garden tours they sponsor which are always beneficial and fun. Gardeners are (usually) nice people so I recommend trying out a garden club to anyone who wonders about it. Ours here charges a drop in fee or a yearly membership.

Woodyoak - I completely agree with Lavender Lass, it was diffently their loss. I would love the chance to say hi in person :o)

I see Ginny's point and I think a lot of the time what she is saying is right. Sometime new ones might be accidently over looked. But this obviously wasn't true in your case. Which is really too bad, they missed out!

Take Care,
Carrie

Carrie - if you're in the neighbourhood, come say Hi... :-) (I have me one person through GW in 'real life'. We're now friends and we dog-sit their dog when they're travelling...)

I suspect I'd get a different reception from the Hort. Soc. now. That first meeting was before the tour and I suspect a lot of people wondered what I was doing there, thinking I couldn't be a serious gardener. After the tour, they changed their minds I think! We had never gone on the local garden tour until the year we were asked to be hosts. We've gone every year since and there has been lots of Hort. Soc. people who seem to make a point of talking to us. The lady who was our primary contact for the tour organizers regularly walks her dog in our neighbourhood and often stops to see what is happening in the garden. I check the Hort. Soc. web site from time to time but have not found anything on their agendas to entice me to go back to a meeting.

Woodyoak..I'm very sorry you got the response you did from your visit to the local garden club. I know it may seem that you'd be tattling like a kid does when somebody does wrong, but I think you need to write a letter or call the President of that club and bring this matter to her attention. It is possible that she was not aware of what you encountered. Does that club have a monthly newsletter that goes out to all its members? If she is any kind of a person/President, she would mention this in that newsletter to prevent it happening to somebody else that has disabilities. I'm sure you are not the first one that has come there with a disability, so it's obvious that it should be addressed. Are there other Garden Clubs in your area that you could check out? The lady that you said walks by your house, is she in the same Garden Club as you? If so, bring up the subject one time she is visiting? Invite her in for a cup of coffee/tea while she tours your gardens. I am on our hosptiality and worship committee at our church, and our leader has taught us to walk up to people we don't normally recognize or act like they are new, and start a conversation by introducing yourself and say "I don't think we've met before but I'm so and so and ask if this is their first time visiting with us? Sometimes it turns out to be somebody that is not a regular attendee and they've belonged to the church for many years. At least, that introduction breaks the ice and you'll remember that person and vice versa the next time. If you can't remember that person's name the next time, you'll probably recognize his/her face. A smile and a friendly Hello does wonders. I know a lot of people are reluctant to join groups or organizations because they fear not knowing anybody. That's a cope out, I'm sorry! I hope that this helps. Don't give up!

I belong to a local club and while most of the people are very nice and the programs are interesting I find that all the work they ask me to do interferes with getting things done in my own garden.