2023 Award Winners

Events

2023

Meeting of Board of Directors in Lewiston, Idaho October 2, 2023. Fellowship, sharing and decisions decided during the one day meeting.

Southwest District Meeting September 25. Golden Garden Club hosted the meeting. Door prizes, raffle items, sales table and guest speakers were the activities for the day.

Nampa Garden Club members busy making holiday tree decorations for the Canyon County Historical Society’s Nampa Train Depot. The Nampa Train Depot will be selling the tree decorations to raise funds.

Nampa Garden Club Meeting – Caring for houseplants and plant exchange Sept 11, 2023

Western Idaho Fair August 2023 Entries and Awards – Garden Club Members

Nampa Garden Club Volunteers To Help a Fellow Club Member

Sharon Viorel, Charlene Hammons, Anna Marie Yokley, and Jeanette Corso assisted with the weeding at the home of fellow club member, Donna Rose.

August 2023 potluck dinner at Robyn and Mark Dawson’s home.

Large shade trees and a pond provided much appreciated shade and atmosphere for our dinner.  Great food and fellowship!

(These photos are of Chinden Garden Club.)

Garden Clippings

Valley Garden Club Hosts Clearwater District Meeting

March – Clearwater District Meeting

Valley Garden Club is a local organization, with membership from Kamiah and Kooskia, extending as far as the Selway, and is affiliated with Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. and National Garden Clubs, Inc. And because of such affiliations, is also a member of the Clearwater District: including clubs in Moscow, Nezperce, Lewiston and Kendrick. It is the custom of these 5 clubs to meet biannually, with the hosting club changing on a rotating schedule. Valley hosted last Thursday. This is big news because it was the first District Meeting since 2019! Seriously!

There was much to do to prepare, however, with President Cheryln Pankey at the helm, the preparations flowed smoothly. When I arrived at 8:30 for registration and coffee hour, the Community Center at the Kooskia City Hall was decorated to look like a Gardening Shed: including the entrance and weed cloth covering the tables, miniature flower pots with nuts and chocolate for favors, bouquets of fresh flowers and baskets of pansies and primroses on every table. Even the raffle and auction items went with the theme. The ladies were dressed in nice gardening clothes and hats. And there were homemade baked goods and a fruit salad to accompany the hot coffee.

The best part was the smiling faces: some familiar and others not so much. I heard “Hi we’re Bonnie and Carol, weren’t you at Edith’s tree planting memorial in Pomeroy in 2019?” And ‘Hi I’m Cathy, we met at the State Convention in Boise in 2018. I didn’t recognize you, except by your voice.” And “Hi I’m Candace, I recently relocated to Nezperce to spend time with my aging mother after retiring as a commercial airline pilot.” I must say she looked more like a retired fashion model, no I wouldn’t have guessed.

The formal meeting opened with the presentation of the flag by the American Legion. New officers were nominated and voted in. There was the usual business. And Committee reports. A thoughtful memorial service for members who passed on during the preceding 4 years. A yummy lunch of croissant sandwiches and assorted salads served in bucket shaped bowls and served with garden tools. Members made their favorite cookies to share and in concert with the theme: chocolate mousse, covered in chocolate cookie crumbs inside miniature greenhouse looking containers, with a gummy worm and fondant leaves on top.

Member, Robbin Johnston, recently retired from a career with the Nezperce-Clearwater National Forest, was the program presenter. He talked about the long history of growing food here in Idaho, focusing on both Boise farms and farming on the Palouse near Moscow. Titled ‘A look at who feeds who? Is there food security?’ Robbin offered a brief synopsis of these ever changing trends. We already have a date and location for the Fall District Meeting. It’s a relief to be back on track. 

This article is dedicated to the oldest and longest member of VGC, Joan Thomas, now living in Oklahoma. We miss you Joan!

Nampa Garden Club Annual Yard Sale

Nampa Garden Club held their annual plant and yard sale on May 13, 2023. Customers kept streaming in and purchasing plants and yard sale items that members and friends donated. This is the major fund raiser for Nampa Garden Club that is held each year.

Boise Flower and Garden Show

March 24-26, 2023 – Boise Centre

Unseasonably cold temperatures this year did not deter or dampen the spirits of those attending the Boise Flower and Garden Show. The Southwest District had a booth at this year’s event with the goal to promote interest in garden club membership. Pictures of individual club projects and gardens that they attend were displayed. The Southwest District banner was colorful and easily identified the booth. Pamphlets and leaflets were available with individual club information, as well as upcoming plant sale dates and locations for the local clubs. Various garden club members attended the booth, and were available for questions and information to those who stopped. Some members wore their club tee shirts to advertise their individual club. It is hopeful that membership in the clubs will increase as a result of this event.

SW District March 2023 meeting

“Spring into Well Being” was the theme of the SW District Meeting held March 27, 2023. Chinden Gardeners Club hosted the event. Mayor of Garden City, John Evans, welcomed members to Garden City. Guest Speaker for the event was Jennyfer Berg from Natural Grocers. Her topic was Maximize Your Healthspan.  Members were provided with a sample of Yoga as a morning stretch by Johanna Schanbacher, daughter of a Chinden Gardeners Club member.   Lunch was catered by Boise Co-Op with a choice of meat or veggie sandwich. Boise Co-Op also provided the morning breakfast breads. Table centerpieces were lovingly potted up with a variety of plants that were later given away as door prizes. New officers were installed by Claudia Hambacker, past President of Garden Clubs of Idaho. 

Everyone went home with a small jar of honey and dipper, potentially a raffle item, door prize or an African Violet plant that was donated by a member of the Owyhee Garden Club.

September 26th was the SW District Fall Meeting hosted by Nampa Garden Club

Lunch was lovely prepared by club members. Menu included meet Kabobs, rice pilaf, potatoes, fruit and vegetable platters with dessert being a selection of mini fruit or pumpkin pies. Nampa Cub members had many silent auction items that were hand made and decorated. The Country store offered fall decoration items for sale. The yard sale table had plants and a variety of other items for sale. A presentation on growing iris and working with dried flowers/plant material were topics for education. Those in attendance were able to visit “Make and Take” tables for making a lavender sachet, learn about pinecone crafts, painted rocks and collecting and saving seeds.

Chinden Garden Club Plant Sale 2022

Members plants and seed starts

SW District Spring Convention in Marsing, Idaho March 2022

Host: Owyhee Gardeners

Pictures of Centerpieces, Raffle baskets, Morning refreshments, Guest Speaker topic on Beneficial Bugs and Incredible Insects. SW District Director leading the meeting and club members leading and teaching at the meeting. A time to reconnect and learn.

Nampa Garden Club

2021 donation for St Alphonsus Festival of Trees Fundraiser to support Meals on Wheels

Pollinator Mural funded by Golden Garden Club and Garden Clubs of Idaho at the Children’s Museum of Idaho

790 S Progress Ave., Meridian. Sensory Garden and Pollinator Garden at the museum funded by a donation from Southwest District Garden Clubs

What is a Sensory Garden?