Are you an avid gardener, a “want to be” gardener, or maybe you just love nature and being outdoors? Perhaps you’ve considered joining a Garden Club, but just don’t know how to get started. To learn more about us and to find an application to join, please click here.
Read a testimony from one of our beloved members, Dorothy Hurley.
The benefits of being a Garden Club Member
The Beautification of Oxford was the goal when 15 ladies decided to organize the Des Fleurs Garden Club. Indeed, since 1959, the club has achieved that goal in ways that are evident as one drives through our city during the summer months. I joined the club after my retirement in 1993, as a way to give back to the community that has been so good to me and to my family.
The motto of the Club is Knowing, Growing, Showing, and Sharing – and I am going to add friendship. As garden club projects developed over the years, I learned so much about the details of gardening that makes my yard feel like a bit of paradise as I live out my senior years. Perennials have their place in my garden but I soon learned that flowers that return each spring also multiply and have to be dug up, spread out or given away. I learned that one must count on annuals to give the continuous summer color, but to do so at their best, they must be fed on a regular basis. Seems simple but each perennial and each annual has its own characteristics.
The Des Fleur Flower Shows have taught me that there is a bit of art to putting together the flowers that we grow or purchase at a Floral Shop. A show with a wedding theme is most memorable and a show that asked the designer to replicate a piece of art was challenging. Participation in the Cincinnati Flower Show brought a spotlight on the Des Fleurs Club – not only did I make many friends, I shared in the joy of the satisfaction of the first-place blue ribbons placed on DF member’s designs. The Tour of Oxford Gardens is a great way we show off not only our club member’s gardening skills, but that of Oxford residents. It was a stress filled experience for me, but I learned so much as I managed a show garden. Perhaps the greatest satisfaction comes from visiting a good friend’s garden who decided after visiting my garden – “she could create such a garden.” Create indeed she has – it is beautiful and she became a great member of our club.
Friendship gardens have their own stories and mine is filled with reminders of friends who gave me a plant from their garden. Many of those friends have passed away, but their memories remain in my flower beds for me to enjoy year after year. For that reason, I am always glad to share my plants with others. As age makes life a bit more difficult, my garden club friends bring me much joy. It is not as easy to pull the weeds or dig the holes but my friends are always available to give me a hand or to simply appreciate whatever I have accomplished. I attend the Spring and Fall Ohio Association of Garden Club meetings. The speakers are always interesting, but it is an opportunity to share time with longtime friends from all over SW Ohio. Over the years, I have been in many nurseries – some just down the road, others across the State of Ohio and a few in Indiana. I have visited gardens in Ohio and spent a day in the Chicago Botanical Garden with GC friends. Perhaps the best of friendships grew while creating, planting, weeding, watering gardens around the City of Oxford and the “Thank You” of those who pass by. Belonging to the Des Fleurs Garden Club has been a joy and I recommend it to all who love plants and appreciate the knowledge of those who might know just a bit more!
Dorothy Hurley