A garden club is an organized group of people with a shared interest in

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

, gardens, and plants. A flower club is a similar group with a focus on flowers.

History

The first and oldest organized garden club in the United States is the Ladies' Garden Club of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the stat ...

. It started in 1891 with a gathering of twelve women friends who shared plants and plant cuttings. It was formally organized the following year. Garden clubs formed in other American communities. The growth of garden clubs was one manifestation of the broader

women's club movement The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a part ...

of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1913, the first national federation of garden clubs, the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the recor ...

, was established. It was followed in 1929 by the National Council of State Garden Clubs, now National Garden Clubs, Inc. By the 1930s, local garden clubs had formed in communities throughout the United States. Initially a women's activity, over time the garden club movement also engaged men, leading in 1932 to the establishment of the Men's Garden Clubs of America organization (now The Gardeners of America/Men's Garden Clubs of America). Garden clubs did not limit themselves to the improvement of members' private gardens. Many clubs took an interest in civic

beautification Beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a town, city, or urban area. This most often involves planting trees, shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights an ...

, planting trees along public streets, maintaining flower gardens in public spaces, and campaigning against

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s, which were considered "eyesores". The Garden Club of America began to crusade against billboards in 1919. Highway beautification and roadside improvement were a focus of attention for the Garden Club of Georgia from the time of its founding in 1928. In 1938 the Mississippi state garden club federation combined with the state federation of women's clubs and state roadside improvement council to campaign for state legislation to "get rid of ... unattractive signs and billboards that clutter the roads". Many club members engaged in flower arranging as an activity. Clubs sponsored flower shows and club members participated in competitions as contestants and judges. This aspect of the American garden club movement led indirectly to the flower club movement in the United Kingdom in the years after World War II, when Julia Clements and other U.K. women who had observed flower arranging activities in North America returned home and encouraged their countrywomen to engage in similar activities.

Federations

Many local garden clubs in the United States are affiliated with one of three national federations: the

, National Garden Clubs, Inc. (originally the National Council of State Garden Clubs), and The Gardeners of America/Men's Garden Clubs of America. In the United Kingdom, many local flower clubs are affiliated with the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies. The U.S.-based National Garden Clubs claims 447 affiliates outside the United States, in countries including Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.

References

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External links

1891 First Garden Club
historical marker
America's First Garden Club
historical marker Horticultural organizations Clubs and societies

History

Federations

See also

References

External links