The GCA Supports Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Proposed Towers Threaten Sunlight to Garden’s Greenhouses

The Garden Club of America has joined the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) “Fight for Sunlight,” opposing proposed changes to zoning rules that would allow construction, including two thirty-nine story towers, immediately adjacent to the BBG that would impact the amount of sunlight the garden receives.

Read more

The GCA's 2020 Conservation Study Conference Goes Virtual
“This Land is Your Land” Focuses on Conservation through Conscientious Land Stewardship

Following in the footsteps of the virtual success of the GCA’s Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference, the GCA's Conservation Study Conference “This Land is Your Land” brought thousands of club members together for a unique opportunity to engage in a discussion about the importance of conscientious land conservation.

Read more

Protecting Endangered Women-Designed Landscapes
The Cultural Landscape Foundation focuses on Women Landscape Architects and Designers

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) recently released Landslide, its seventeenth annual report and exhibition about threatened and at-risk landscapes. In honor of the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, the 2020 report focuses on endangered sites across the country designed by women. This year’s digital exhibition entitled Landslide 2020: Women Take the Lead features works by Beatrix Farrand, Martha Schwartz, Ruth Shellhorn, and Harlem Renaissance Poet Anne Spencer, and includes more than twenty video interviews.

Read more

Longevity in the Rose Garden—The Bloom Is Still on the Rose
GC of Irvington-on-Hudson Preserves an Historic Rose Garden

How many projects start with great expectations, but over time become lackluster? Not so with the Garden Club of Irvington-on-Hudson (GCI) and its perennial care of the rose garden at Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York. In 1968, GCI members brought new life to the deteriorating rose garden that had once flourished in the early 1900’s. Fifty-two years later, the club’s meticulous care has not waned.

Read more

News: GCA Annual Report 2019-2020
Documenting the GCA’s Accomplishments

The Garden Club of America celebrates accomplishments made during its 107th year in this 2019-2020 Annual Report. The year began with a celebration of the resounding success of the Second Century Campaign with the goal of increasing the GCA’s endowment, securing a financial future, and enabling the leadership and vision that have always characterized the GCA. Adapting to the pandemic, GCA leadership responded with creativity and commitment in creating opportunities for member clubs and club members to stay connected virtually through a series of online conferences and on-demand speaker videos. The report highlights the new Restoration Initiative, advocacy efforts on behalf of native plants, and education in the fields of horticulture and creative arts. We encourage you to read more on our 201 member clubs and their nearly 18,000 members, whose contributions have made significant, positive change to landscapes across the country.

Read more

WATCH: Scholarly Showings with Naya Jones, PhD
A Conversation with the GCA President and One of Our 2020 Scholars

2020 GCA scholar Naya Jones, PhD, uses oral history 
and ethnobotanical and archival methods to understand how the Great Migration shaped Black medicinal plant use and gardening beyond the South. Recently, GCA President Debbie Edwards invited Naya to join her for a video conversation about her project. They discuss the role of oral history in our field and the relevance of Naya’s project for preserving botanical knowledge and for resilience in the context of global migration and climate change.

Click read more for the video!

Read more

Rooftop Garden Yields Food Pantry Donations as Well as Camaraderie
Middletown Garden Club Continues Collaboration

For many clubs in The Garden Club of America, 2020 has provided some interesting challenges, as well as unique opportunities. Fortunately for the Middletown Garden Club in Connecticut, one of their key activities is thriving. For eight years, the club has collaborated with the Community Health Center and MARC Community Resources, a social services non-profit that works with adults with developmental disabilities. Every Thursday morning, a crew of as many as eight club members meets to garden on the rooftop of the health center—complete with a beautiful view of the city.

Read more