The Nevada Garden Club is an association of garden clubs in Nevada. Our Mission is to educate ourselves and the public in various activities from flower arranging to grow plants indoors and out, educating today’s youth in gardening plants and vegetables, or arranging plants that we grow ourselves or buy at a market. (See our Member Clubs for a list.)

OUR HISTORY

As remembered by Founding Member Linnea Miller Domz

The Rose Garden Club was organized around 1945, by Adeline Bartlett. Linnea was a member of that club. She found a National Gardener Magazine on vacation one year, and was intrigued by the idea that there was more to gardening than just the Rose Garden Club. She saw that there was a Flower Show School being held in Tucson, AZ so she and Cecelia “Hobby” St. Denis attended. They came back quite enthused about “federating” with National, which finally happened in 1963, with ten clubs in Reno, Fallon, Ely, Caliente, Pioche and Las Vegas.

The Nevada Garden Club has long met in Lorenzi Park, but originally the meetings were in a small building by the lake (currently used for after-school activities for handicapped youth). The present building was erected in 1970.

As told by Past-President Kristie Livreri

Our family lived in Pioche, Nevada.  My mother met Linnea Miller and Cecelia “Hobby” St. Denis when they visited Pioche in 1963 to help organize the Pioche Garden Club.  Linnea visited Pioche several times to search the old mining “dumps” for flower arranging material.  LOL!

Linnea, Hobby, and Lee Pearns came to judge flower shows and visit members’ gardens in Pioche.  They stayed at our house in 1966 when I was 16 years old.  Funny thing, I had ridden on the Pioche Garden Club float in 1964 in the Labor Day Nevada Bicentennial Parade and again in 1969 as Miss Pioche!

One day in 1976 I received a phone call from Linnea Miller.  I was now married and lived in Las Vegas.  Linnea told me my mother had called her to say I needed help gardening!  She invited me to the Rose Garden Club and sponsored me as a new member!  Back then you had to have a sponsor to join a Garden Club; things have really changed, and now the Nevada Garden Clubs invite all interested people to join.

I learned that the Rose Garden Club does not stand alone. It belongs to:

·   Nevada Garden Clubs, Inc.

·   Pacific Region Garden Clubs, Inc.

·   National Garden Clubs, Inc., one of the largest volunteer organizations in the country.

I learned that all Garden Clubs are more than just about gardening:

·    A place to learn about leadership

·    A place to support your community  

·    A place that offers college students scholarships in environmental or horticulture studies

·    Open to the public: Local flower shows highlighting roses, irises, African violets, a wide variety of horticulture, educational displays, and more!

 These are just a few of the many programs offered by the state, region, and national garden clubs to serve and benefit others.

I am grateful to my mother for her example as a charter member of the Pioche Garden Club and for the call I received from Linnea. I am still a Rose Garden Club member and continue to learn about gardening in our Las Vegas Valley.

The Pacific Region is one of eight regions that make up National Garden Clubs, Inc., the largest volunteer gardening organization in the world. The Pacific Region is comprised of Washington, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii.

National Garden Clubs nationwide are part of the Blue and Gold Star Memorials programs. Visit their website at gardenclub.org/blue-and-gold-star-memorials for more details.

National Garden Clubs, Inc., (NGCI) provides education, resources, and national networking opportunities for its members to promote the love of gardening, floral design, and civic and environmental responsibility.

NGC is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit educational organization with its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.