Green Thumbs Unite
Dallas’ garden clubs range from high-society to downright goofy. Here’s a sampling of some of the best clubs in town.
We are stardust,
We are golden,
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden.
Joni Mitchell-“Woodstock€VbCrLf
Joni, Joni, Joni. You’ve obviously never been to Dallas, where we’ve never left the garden. Dallas garden clubs have been a vital part of the community for ages, with new chapters-and strange varieties-cropping up every year. To give you an overview of what’s out there, we’ve put together some short takes on local garden clubs. Dig in.
Koi and Water Garden Club of North Texas
www.kwgcnt.org
Contact: [email protected]
This club was formed 10 years ago to teach and promote pond-keeping and koi-raising. Meeting topics range from garden accents to shielding shy violets from alpha-male koi. Don’t miss their September pond-tour fundraiser; it’s a great way to get ideas. Beyond monthly gatherings, some of the club’s 120 fish-keepers get together for trips to national meetings, out-of-state shows, fish sales, and other large- and small-scale events.
Texas Daffodil Society
Contact: President Dorothy Sable, 214-526-5379
We have this club to thank for the host of golden daffodils that gently blanket Dallas each spring. As their president Dorothy tells it, the society’s mission is to “teach the fine points of growing good daffodils.€VbCrLf Each year they host a flower show in mid-March at the Dallas Arboretum, where they introduce five new daffodil varieties to Dallas, cultivars with evocative names such as Salome, Trena, Kaydee, and Tahiti. So agreeable is the Dallas-area climate to growing these sprightly flowers, Dorothy herself has populated her lake-country farm with some 450 varieties.
Heritage Herb Club
Contact: Newsletter Editor Edith Hiett, 972-596-0299
For 20 years, kindred spirits have met to learn about the use of herbs in cooking, gardening, decorating, and, to some extent, medicine. The fragrant November program revolves around wreath-making. Refreshments are served at their programs: everyone brings a dish based on the herb of the month.
Greater North Texas Orchid Society
http://gntos.org
Contact: President Ruth Wright, 972-613-9312
Membership is flourishing, now that orchid mania has hit fever pitch. The club exists to “promote the enjoyment of orchids and to help them grow better, whether in a greenhouse or on the back stoop,€VbCrLf says member and orchid addict Sandy Lambert. Growers, judges, and famous orchidists from all over the world speak on such life-or-death subjects as the breeding of equitant oncidiums. The club mounts an orchid show every 18 months (swapping off with Fort Worth), with judges from the prestigious American Orchid Society.
Dallas Organic Gardening Club
Contact: President Magda Gurgis, 214-732-5504
Ten years ago “Dirt Doctor€VbCrLf Howard Garrett and friends started this club. Though he’s no longer involved, membership continues to grow. These naturalists meet to learn about organic principles such as water conservation through xeriscaping, attracting beneficial insects in the garden, and native plants. In the fall they organize a seed swap where everyone goes home with something from someone else’s garden. They’ve been instrumental in persuading Lowe’s and other stores to “mainstream€VbCrLf organics and to teach their salespeople the benefits of the organic alternative.
The Marianne Scruggs Garden Club Junior Group
By invitation only
First you have to get into the Dallas Woman’s Club. That done, you may join this community-minded club, which was founded in 1945 and claims some 160 members. These ladies are treated to presentations by such experts as Marian Buchanan, the herb lady, and Michael Cheever of Texas Discovery Gardens. Projects have included a baby shower for Bryan’s House, a tree planted at Hyer School in University Park, and an herb garden for the cook at Scottish Rite Hospital. Big draw: their April flower show (held, atypically, in March this year), where prizes are awarded for floral and horticultural arrangements.
Dallas Rose Society
Contact: President Cecil Stokes, 903-451-2027
An amateur society affiliated with the American Rose Society, their sole purpose is to encourage better growth of roses. They sponsor two competitive rose shows a year, in fall and spring, and, “No,€VbCrLf says member Charlie Turner, “don’t dig up your bushes. Just cut the flowers and bring ’em in.€VbCrLf Contestants can enter individual blooms, hybrid teas, grandiflora, floribunda, as well as shrub, miniature, and antique roses. The winner is crowned queen, even if it’s the Mr. Lincoln rose. And the runner up is king, even if it’s the Elizabeth Taylor.
The First Men’s Garden Club of Dallas
www.dallasgardeners.org
Contact: President John Hunt, 972-907-9911 or [email protected]
This is where the boys gather for education, community, and fellowship, with programs and seminars on urban-landscaping topics by the likes of Tony Cerbone, alias “the secret palm planter.€VbCrLf The club hosts two open-to-the-public, juried plant shows a year. You may know about their Beefcake Calendar, which depicts various members au naturel, camouflaged by cacti, daisies, garden hoes, and pitchforks. President Hunt (aka Mr. December) tells us they’ve donated tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to students of horticulture at Richmond College and underwritten therapeutic horticulture programs at Iris Place for the mentally and physically challenged.
Southwestern Fern Society
Contact: President John Watzling, 972-234-4027
Lacy, flowerless brake and bracken that reproduce by spore are the passion of the Fern Society. Its members see as their mission teaching people how to propagate, divide, and winter-over these ancient plants. Twice a year at the Home & Garden Show club members sell ferns.
Day Lily Growers of Dallas
Contact: President Binion Amerson, 972-241-1726
In existence since 1958, this club for day lily devotees features local hybridizers and other impassioned Dallas gardeners, except in spring and fall, when special guest speakers (out-of-towners) fill the bill. They host a show at the Harvey Hotel in Plano the first Sunday in June. From late May through June, the public is invited to see President Amerson’s technicolor garden in Farmer’s Branch, which features 500 varieties of day lily and 700 feet of hybrids he has grown from seed.
Garland Native Plant Society
www.npsot.com
Note: there’s no link to Garland, but the state will forward new members’ names to the appropriate chapter.
Contact: President Brigette Vinton, 972-818-3319
Just five years old, this sapling is one of 30 chapters of the Native Plant Society of Texas, which was founded in 1980 to protect the botanical legacy of the Lone Star State. The NPSOT’s mission is to promote the conservation of Texas wildflowers, trees, and habitats through education and research. At the chapter meetings, guest naturalists speak on an array of wildlife topics from butterfly gardening to backyard birding to propagating local species. The club maintains a native plant demonstration garden and a bluebird trail at Garland’s Spring Creek Park Preserve.
Brookhaven Garden Club
Contact: President Jeri Carlson, 214-361-8875
You don’t have to be a member of the Brookhaven Country Club to join their garden society. You’re welcome to join them as they gather on Brookhaven’s golfing green, and, after a social interlude followed by their business agenda, stay for lunch at the country club. Programs are shaped to meet the national standards of the Garden Clubs of America-a mixture of horticulture, design, and nature topics. Attendance at least one meeting makes you eligible for membership. President Jeri Carlson emphasized, “We’re not just social. We work on civic beautification projects and volunteer as docents at the Arboretum.€VbCrLf
