In small and large towns all across our country, flowers decorate public property such as post offices, police stations, libraries, and fire stations. When you pass by these places, even if you don’t consciously notice the flowers, you will probably sense that the people who live there care about their town. Our little town of Grantham, New Hampshire, is one of those well-cared-for towns.
For this blog, I decided to do a little digging into the history of garden clubs. Horticultural societies, some dating back to colonial times, restricted women’s membership. In response women formed their own clubs within their own communities. The first garden club in America was the Ladies Garden Club of Athens, Georgia, founded in 1891. According to information from the Women’s History Museum “While many garden clubs started with the goal of exchanging information and cuttings, they soon adopted larger missions, which indelibly shaped the American landscape.” The Grantham Garden Club was founded over twenty years ago and has been working ever since to enrich the lives of its members and the community. While they continue to share information and cuttings, they do so much more.
With a population of fewer than 3,000 people, Grantham boasts an active garden club of 80+ people. The Grantham Garden Club is responsible for container gardens throughout downtown. The photographs shown here are of the container gardens at the library and the town hall. Volunteers sign up for one week of maintenance and are responsible for watering, fertilizing, and deadheading all the flowers. Each Sunday, the volunteer hands off the watering kit to the next volunteer. The volunteers provide care from May through September every year. Amelia Lantz is this summer’s coordinator, and she runs the whole process like a well-oiled machine.
As I hope is evident, I am very proud of the Grantham Garden Club. I think this is a fitting quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
For this blog, I decided to do a little digging into the history of garden clubs. Horticultural societies, some dating back to colonial times, restricted women’s membership. In response women formed their own clubs within their own communities. The first garden club in America was the Ladies Garden Club of Athens, Georgia, founded in 1891. According to information from the Women’s History Museum “While many garden clubs started with the goal of exchanging information and cuttings, they soon adopted larger missions, which indelibly shaped the American landscape.” The Grantham Garden Club was founded over twenty years ago and has been working ever since to enrich the lives of its members and the community. While they continue to share information and cuttings, they do so much more.
With a population of fewer than 3,000 people, Grantham boasts an active garden club of 80+ people. The Grantham Garden Club is responsible for container gardens throughout downtown. The photographs shown here are of the container gardens at the library and the town hall. Volunteers sign up for one week of maintenance and are responsible for watering, fertilizing, and deadheading all the flowers. Each Sunday, the volunteer hands off the watering kit to the next volunteer. The volunteers provide care from May through September every year. Amelia Lantz is this summer’s coordinator, and she runs the whole process like a well-oiled machine.
As I hope is evident, I am very proud of the Grantham Garden Club. I think this is a fitting quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
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