History
TUCSON GARDEN CLUB HISTORY
The Tucson Garden Club (TGC) was organized and became affiliated with AFGC and NGC on March 21, 1935. It was incorporated in 1948.
From 1935 to 1946 meetings were held in the Fiesta Room of the Santa Rita Hotel on Scott Street. Methods of gardening in the desert area have always been a high priority, but during WWII years the members became quite involved in civic projects: bond drives, creating a Patriotic Garden at the Southern Pacific Railway Station and many others. Membership rapidly grew to 200 members.
TGC moved its’ meetings to the YMCA in 1946. It was then that a Club House of Our Own became the members’ goal. Through the efforts of many members, land was donated by the City of Tucson at the corner of 6th and Campbell Avenue. Funds were then raised for a club house. The Tucson Garden Club moved into their building in 1958 and members continued their many fund-raising events to furnish and care for the building. Unfortunately, TGC members had to sell the club house when the City of Tucson made plans to widen Campbell Avenue.
TGC started meeting at Tucson Botanical Gardens in 1976 and met
there once a month September through May until 2015. During that time, we supported Tucson Botanical Gardens in many ways. We donated the row of Crepe Myrtle Trees along the wall facing Alvernon Way. We donated a portable professional sound system to the gardens. We also supplied the bulk of the finances for the installation and completion of the permanent fountain in the herb garden in 1994 and made a generous
donation to the new educational building.
Because of budgeting issues, TGC moved its meetings to Atria Valley Manor, an independent living facility.in September 2015. We continued meeting at Atria until 2023 when we moved to El Rio Neighborhood Center because of meeting space
limitations.
In 1985 to honor the Club’s 50th Anniversary TGC endowed a $6,000 scholarship at the University of Arizona for a student in horticulture, landscape architecture, or an allied field. We have since increased this endowment to $10,000. We follow through with our scholarship recipients, as much as possible. We have been lucky with our choices and are enormously proud of their achievements. Since then, we have offered an annual scholarship of $1,000 to a suitable recipient in the field of horticulture, landscape architecture or allied fields.
We have a long history of staging NGC Standard Flower Shows at various venues. In April 1991 we staged our Flower Show at Park Mall and then in 2007 we took part in the Southern District Standard Flower Show at La Encantada Mall. We staged several NGC Standard Flower Shows at Tucson Botanical Gardens on a bi-annual basis. In 2014 we
held our Flower Show at the Joel D. Valdez Library in downtown Tucson and in 2016 and 2018 we held our Flower Show at the Wilmot Public Library.
Through the years we have won many AFGC and NGC Flower Show Achievement awards. Over the years TGC has been represented on the AFGC Executive Board and/or committees as well as the office of President of AFGC. TGC also has had many members who were NGC Accredited Flower Show Judges, Ikebana Masters, Master Gardeners, and Landscape Design Consultants. TGC played a key role for AFGC Southern District
in hosting the AFGC Convention at the Desert Diamond Casino in 2009 and again in 2019.
TGC supports and works for the community, helping where needed. In the early years landscaping was done on the Cerebral Palsy Grounds, the YWCA, Tucson Blind Association’s (new grounds with garden therapy for members), the YMCA/YWCA eastside grounds, Posada del Sol Nursing Home, the E. Nye Fish House in the Historical area of downtown Tucson, and the Fort Lowell project of tree planting. Other projects included sponsoring a Junior Garden Club for 12 years and therapy for shut ins. In 1995, St. Luke’s Home for Elderly Ladies grounds were landscaped and renewed in cooperation with the Men’s Garden Club. A Winter Garden was planted in the flower bed at the entrance of the home.
In 2006, we relocated our Blue Star Memorial Marker to Southern Arizona Veterans’ Cemetery in Sierra Vista. This was initially installed on a Tucson highway but was taken out by ADOT during major work on the highway in the late 1990’s and placed into storage. When the marker was found, and we were contacted by ADOT we decided to place it where it wouldn’t be moved again.
In 2007, we were asked to plant some of the courtyards at Peppi’s House, a hospice at UMC. We planted two large courtyards and two small ones as a club project. We planted another small courtyard as part of the Southern District.
In 2012, we continued to work with Peppi’s House. We planted a Texas Mountain Laurel on their grounds and in 2013-2014 we designed and implemented a sanctuary garden at Peppi’s House. There were several plantings plus four nine-inch “Eye” of God mosaics on rebar and one five-foot “Eye of God” hung on a wall. There was also a river of blue Mexican stone running through the garden.
From 2015 to the present the club has donated plants and flowers for the front entrance of Peppi’s House.
