80th Anniversary Slideshow

Tips to viewing the 80th Anniversary Slideshow

  1. The Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis started as the Men’s Garden Club of Minneapolis on October 1, 1942 as a charter of the The Men’s Garden Clubs of America (now called the Gardeners of America) and consisted of 20 men.
  2. The first meeting of the Men’s Garden Club of Minneapolis was held in the Lyndale Park under the large Cottonwood tree across the street from the current Mixed Border Garden.
  3. Later meetings were held at the Minneapolis Athletic Club, followed by Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Judson Memorial Church, and our present locations: Lake Harriet United Methodist Church and Lakewood Cemetery Mausoleum.
  4. November 1942 the first club newsletter came out and was titled The Garden Spray, a name we still use today.
  5. For the tenth anniversary in 1952, 200 crab apple trees were planted by the club in Lyndale Park. Three of those trees are still alive today.
  6. In 1954, Arbor Day Committee planted 85 trees in the Roberts Bird Sanctuary, including 10 Buckthorn. Little did they know.
  7. The club played an instrumental role in the 1958 establishment of the University of Minnesota Arboretum, petitioning and fundraising for its creation, to aid further research into plants that would survive our northern climate.
  8. To date, all of the Arboretum directors were/are club members.
  9. From 1971-1996 the club planted and maintained a garden near the Minneapolis Society for the Blind called the Community Fragrance Garden. It was located in what is now called Wedge Point Park at 1920 Aldrich Ave S, Minneapolis, MN.
  10. In 1989 the club began admitting female members.
  11. The Garden Spray went digital in 1992. Read the details in the Editor’s Desk section of the newsletter.
  12. Since 1992 the club has awarded over $79,000.00 in merit based scholarships to students of horticulture.
  13. In 1996 the club entered into an agreement with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the University of Minnesota to plant and maintain a Perennial Trial Garden at Lyndale Park in Minneapolis.
  14. In 2013 the club changed its name to Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis.
  15. Around 2014 the Lyndale Park Perennial Trial Garden ended, and the club took over the design of the gardens which are now call the Mixed Border Gardens, and Native-Shade Garden.
  16. The Native/Shade Gardens at Lyndale Park were developed in 2015.
  17. We currently have over 130 members who come from all over the Twin Cities metro area, and even beyond.

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