We just started our 5th year as a club. Two friends and I were the originator's (is that even a word:)?). The top 2 crafts we did were stone troughs and stepping stones. These were so enjoyed, we did them 2 years in a row.

Our best fund raising was taking our annual plant share-potted and labeled perennial shares, seedlings, seeds and houseplants- and making it a silent auction with each plant having a minimum 25 cent bid. We also sold crafts at this-garden related that members had made and we invited folks to come to it.We also sold flats and baskets of annuals other years which raised funds but wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the auction.

Some enjoyable programs-we had a lady from an herb society make food while talking about herbs 2x. Once it was all spreads, another time it was a meal.Another time we brought flowers from our gardens and containers. A lady demonstrated some flower arranging and we did one also-everyone shared their flowers.We had an open forum with a horticulturist from a local metro garden-he was a great talker and let us ask anything.I think we've had a lot of different guests-wildflowers, native flowers, ponds, raised beds-how to's, propogating from cuttings, dahlias, easy perennials, landscaping, etc.

A fun thing we did one year that we are doing again this year is a garden tour-of members' gardens and asking some local non-members if they'd share their gardens with us.Afterwards, we'll do munchies and visit.

Good luck with your club and hope this helps!

I have never taken cuttings from my dahlia tubers. Can any one give me help and advise on the best way please?

Hi! I am interested in programs too. I am in charge of programs this year and would love to hear some different ideas.
For one of my programs I hope to get this man who makes his own artificial rocks. I know in my own garden I just can't have too many rocks, and when I do go and find them, some of them weigh a ton. His are light yet heavy enough not to be blown away, and, according to him, easy to make. Helen

hi nancy, Our garden club pres. brought this site to my attention. This is my first year to do programs. We are going to a shop that does alot of things with mosic tile. We are making stepping stones for our gardens, you could decorate bird baths, bird houses exc. its very easy. I have also planned a landscape lighting comp. to come out and give us ideas and how too's on decorative landscape lighting. This winter we are visiting a conservatory in Fort Worth Texas and in the spring we will be taking a tour of acres of Our State flower "The Blue Bonnett" and then we are having lunch with a speaker from a sister garden club who is an expert on Blue Bonnetts. My mind is turning with ideas for the club. Hope this helps. Rosemary with the Ovilla garden club.

Good for you, nancy-mi! Tour your nearest Botanical Garden or historical garden site; definately, stepping stones (and you can make $ selling them and/or teaching non members to make them); local nurseries probably have people who can talk on a variety of subject (some of our best have been "winterizing your garden", "planting for the birds, bees and butterflies", "proper and timely pruning", "herbal crafts"...Let your mind go to whatever you want to learn more about). We volunteer our time to maintain small gardens at the military post, decorate historic sites for Christmas, do a Christmas tree at the shelter for abused women. Look around to see if there is a larger group you could affliate to, if you want that sort of thing (i.e. Garden Clubs of "your state name". Let your plans/programs go with the flow of members' interests/needs/abilities. Above all, have fun and enjoy gardening! (And thanks, come-n-up-roses for a great idea for a program on landscape lighting!)

Sharing is caring must hurry along places to go things to do

Hi Nancy. I belong to several garden clubs. I live in IL so during the summer months we visit gardens and have what we call mini garden walks. Some of these are at members homes and some aren't. During the winter months we have speakers or go to local garden centers for programs. For our fundraiser we sell plants that we have divided from our own gardens on May 1st at a local farmers market. For my other club we use to have a garden walk every other year. We decided for next year not to have a walk because there has become alot of competition in my area for garden walks. So we have been brainstorming for ideas too.LOL

Hi! I am the new Chairperson for the Ways and Means Committee in our club. I am brand new at this...so any advice or suggestions would be wonderful! For those of you that have sold the stepping stones....how much did you charge? Was it a good money maker?

Thank you,
Deborah
Milton Garden Club

Actually I'm posting this for a friend who has moved to Pensacola and wants to find a community garden where she can garden. Up here they are run by the city Parks & Rec. Apparently this isn't the case in the US> Couls anybody point me in the right direction so I can pas it on to my friends.

Many thanks
Ginny in Winnipeg, Canada

hello to all the plant lovers and growers. I have recently started a gardening club to motivate like minded people in my city where gardening is still not considered a serious and great hobby. I need all the ideas and suggestions to convince
people to adopt and grow plants for their better and do a good to mother earth.

At our last meeting in May, we went to a local nursery and brought with us a planter or some container we wanted to fill. The owner gave a short talk on the plants that survived in sun, shade, etc. He supplied the soil and fertilizer and helped us to choose plantings that would work for us. We all came home with beautiful planters. He had a great area to eat, so we brought our lunch and had a great time.

Anyone wanting to meet and share plants, please contact me; after the East Tennessee Plant Swap, we still have plants to share.

Our garden club has a fund raiser where we raise money through a combination of silent and live auctions. We do it in November at a country club in our neighborhood. Each member has to bring an item worth $100 (can be less) and we invite friends to come and bid and we bid ourselves; additionally we have about 5 items that are in a live auction and that's where the fun begins. Usually the big items are art or someone's beach house for a long week-end.
We provide lunch for $20 each/wine is an open bar. It is in November and people are in a Christmas shopping mood. Last year we raised $9200 in four hours. It's unbelievable and much more fun that those hard ardous projects we had when we sold live greenery and had to deliver it Thanksgiving week for a profit of $2000! Venues can be much less expensive and auction items cheaper, but results will be the same! And such fun - it has become the social event of the season. We had about 200 last year! Town and Country Garden Club, Durham NC

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This post was edited by thejardiner on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 11:49

Any good ideas for November meetings?

Our club had a 'Tool Talk' for our meeting last November. Members brought in their favourite garden tools and talked about why they were their fav's. It was very casual and there were a lot of good tips to be learnt from all our experienced gardeners.