Garden club prepares for the growing season

Home City News Garden club prepares for the growing season
Garden club prepares for the growing season
Downtown Hillsdale flowers burst into bloom. Courtesy | Hillsdale Garden Club

With spring in the air, the Hillsdale Garden Club will begin its 92nd year with new growth.

This month, 6-8 members will celebrate Arbor Day with the elementary schools and provide 400-500 evergreen seedlings for the students to grow.

The club has been inactive because of the winter months, but as April and May approach, members will be occupied with Arbor Day, flower baskets, and the fairgrounds.

Members begin the season with hanging flower baskets throughout the town on Broad Street until September. One year, the team created over 150 baskets in less than two hours.

The Hillsdale Garden Club is a non-profit organization that seeks to educate the public, conserve resources, and beautify the natural landscape of the county, according to current president Jane Munson.

Beginning in 1929, the club now holds a total of 59 members who manage a variety of responsibilities. 

Every Thursday, one group consisting of five team members takes care of the garden beds and planting at Mrs. Stock’s park. At least three times a week, 5-10 members furnish and provide upkeep for the ‘Welcome Hillsdale: It’s The People’ signs on the north and south side of Hillsdale located along route M-99. 

Along with flower baskets, the club also begins its work of planting and weeding at the fairgrounds in May. Once in full swing, 5-10 members are working three days a week on this project. 

In the fall, the club hosts its major fundraising event called the “Greensale.” Evergreens, rose hips, boxwoods, and customized table wreaths form the greater part of the sale. 

“It’s a working club,” former president Peggy Lopresto said. “If you join the club, you’ll be assigned to a committee and you’re expected to work.”

The organization also runs a junior gardening club once a month, teaching students how to plant and cultivate a garden. In April, 6-8 members celebrate Arbor Day with the elementary schools and provide 400-500 evergreen seedlings for the students to grow.  

“Receiving thanks for work well done is my favorite part,” Munson said.

In the past, the junior gardening team provided students with cookie cans, flowers, and essential oils for creating potpourri. 

“The members are very, very adamant about beautification, what can we do to the gardens, and what we can do to make things look brighter,” said Lopresto.

In 2020, the club received ten different awards on both a state and national level for community beautification and historic preservation. The city of Hillsdale also gave the club the key to the city in recognition of its contributions. 

Besides the work itself, members such as Munson also enjoy the interaction with the community. 

“When we would be out there working and weeding and the people would go by and honk their horn, you just knew that people appreciated what you were doing,” said President Jane Munson. 

Another feature of the club is the presence of a speaker at the monthly meetings who provides further knowledge on how to better preserve the district. 

Lopresto commented on her experience in describing one speaker lecturing on the monarch butterfly and providing effective solutions that encourage the insect’s habitation in the environment. 

“I always learn something new each time,” said Lopresto. “They bring fresh ideas to the club such as organic gardening. I remember one speaker spoke on the Erie Lake refuge shed. Topics like these are ones you don’t think about, but are really interesting once you know.”