COVER STORY By Mark Woolsey Envision the archetypal genteel ladies garden club: white gloves and lace; finger sandwiches; possibly a cocktail or two. Polite socializing and gossip interspersed with—yes— some talk about yard and garden matters. If that’s your image of a gardening society, then take it to the compost heap. Garden clubs are a different breed today. While many remain mostly female institutions with a large representation of seniors, their focus has shifted toward environmental awareness, conservation and eco-friendly gardening. Beautification projects remain a mainstay, but there’s more emphasis on a variety of other community improvements, community engagement and education. In addition, more and more senior gardeners volunteer at botanical facilities and work in community gardens. A number have become certified master gardeners, teaching the art and science of nurturing plants to a much wider audience. “Hell yeah, gardening is growing in popularity among seniors,” said an enthusiastic Annie Offen, the president of the Cherokee Garden Club in Atlanta, which dates from 1928. “It has been for a long time, but now COVID has everybody at home and the people I have talked to through the garden club have rediscovered their yards.” The COVID pandemic has changed much for the clubs. Lectures and workshops have been cancelled or moved online. Field trips and garden tours have been shut down. Planting projects and fundraisers have been scaled back in scope and number.
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Garden clubs bloom across metro Atlanta
MARCH 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com
As pandemic continues, more seniors rediscover gardening as a way to get outside
Roswell Garden Club members Dorothy Juzdan, left, and Sherron Lawson
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