I am not a member of a garden club but my mother was at one time. They also met once a month and took trips to different gardens and I think I remember her going to a garden club conference one weekend. They also once a year took 3rd graders on a field trip to a big garden.

I belong to a garden club--because there is not any other gardening type club (like a rose club) in existence in this town. Our big thing is every other year organizing a big city garden tour--over the two years, 6 or 8 or so gardens are picked and toured in our monthly meetings. Then the tour is given to the public (can't remember how much they pay--something like $16.00) and the local press gives it lots of free publicity. The town loves it! And we usually have $2-3-4 thousand dollars in our treasury, as a result--so we give out small grants for gardening projects around town.

We sometimes have speakers, but not very often. There just don't seem to be many speakers around--maybe our town is too small to have sufficient speakers. I have never really learned anything from the ones I heard.

By the way, the city gardens tour involves a lot of work, so if you are interested, make sure you do a lot of checking to see what all is involved.

But they know nothing about roses, nor do they care to learn anything.

Nice group of mainly women, but there are a few men involved also. However, I only attend about half the meetings.

Kate

I don't belong to a garden club, but I do belong to a Rose Society. I have gone to meetings that are joint garden/rose club and we've had garden club speakers and orchid club speakers at our rose meetings. I also went to an arrangement seminar hosted by a garden club (they have very different criteria than rose arrangements, but were horrified to learn that rose arrangements can only feature roses grown outdoors, no florist roses). The joke among rosarians is that garden club members know nothing about roses. At a recent Rose Show in Valdosta, we did a garden tour. The home was historic, but all the roses at the site were KOs except for one other rose. We, of course, were all horrified. And the KOs did not look that good at all. We recommended several historic roses that would do much better (I told them they MUST get tea roses). So maybe that will be a start.

For Lavender Lass's mother, she needs to worry about insurance for any club she starts and has her name on as a person of responsibility. At one time, clubs could just happen among people with similar interests. Now clubs really need to have insurance, especially if they are going to promote walks down slippery garden paths with big (and little) dangerous rocks near by. (only slight exaggeration in a world where children don't know what skunks are and their parents panic if a cow gets loose.)

The one thing the American Rose Society does that is irreplaceable is to provide proof of insurance to member societies so that venues that require it will then allow them to have rose shows.

Getting together for a meal is one thing, getting the public in and involved can be a whole different can of liability problems.

She might look into affiliating with the Garden Club of America--there are state clubs everywhere. I am a member of a local club that is a member of The Garden Club of Georgia. Some members are very into the organization and the projects and others are just interested in the gardening. But there are interesting things to do and support at any level.

The garden clubs here meet during the week day, so they are out for me. I do belong to rose societies, and I give two or three talks a year to garden clubs on rose selection and care.

The insurance issue is important. If your mother is planning to have meetings at a location such as a church or hall, the management will require a certificate of insurance. Agreed, she may want to talk to the local or state representatives from the Garden Club of America. If she is thinking of holding the meetings at her home, she definitely needs to discuss with her homeowners insurance company.

Yes, there is a garden club around here, and no, I am not a member.

Years ago my husband and I visited Hortico nursery to see and ask about English roses. The people at the nursery sent us to the rose fields around the corner: "The boss is doing a tour for a garden club, just follow them". We found them and trailed around behind them. When all members had asked their questions, at the very end, I asked whether they had a particular rose growing there. Bill sent us to the end of the field, so we went over to look, careful to stay on the little path. As we were coming back, one of the club members came over and bossily told us that we were not supposed to stray. When I explained that the owner had allowed us to take a look there, he was still not pleased. We got back to the nursery, and in the shade there was a table with lemonade and glasses, and a stack of catalogues, enough for three times the number of people present. I was looking around for a cool spot on that hot day, not taking anything, when one of the ladies came up to us and told us curtly that the lemonade and catalogues were for members only. After that show of hospitality I decided that at least that garden club was not for me ;-).

gdinie,

That was no lady.

Thank you. And my non-gardener husband was the gentleman and waited for me to make up my mind about which roses to order in the burning sun. Now it is a good story, but at the time I was so disappointed. I was a beginning gardener then, and the idea of a gardening club was so exciting... Grin.

gdlnie you would have been welcomed with open arms at my club.

I belong to a local neighborhood club. It's a great way to keep up with things gardening and non-gardening going on in the neighborhood, and I've made a lot of friends within a brief walking distance. Not every member is a fanatical gardener, but the neighborhood vibe and networking has been wonderful. We chip in for guest speakers, tour each other's gardens, trade plants and cuttings, make snacks and compare them, do craft projects, go on garden field trips, and support the local elementary schools with money for seeds and fertilizer. It's made the neighborhood a better place, to know so many people who live nearby.