Garden Club Highlights

A Brief History of the Utah Associated Garden Clubs

By Geoff Ellis, UAGC Past President

Gardening has a long history in the state of Utah. One of the first things the pioneers did when they arrived in the summer of 1847 was to plant potatoes and other garden crops. By the 1900’s, both vegetable and flower gardens were widely grown, and a number of local garden clubs were established. In the fall of 1932, Grant Bowen, the landscape architect for the State Capitol grounds and president of the Salt Lake Flower Garden Club, began the process of organizing the garden clubs into a statewide organization, and in January 1934,

Rose Show, 2022

the Utah Associated Garden Clubs (UAGC) were established as part of the National Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. (now known as the National Garden Clubs).

Arbor Day in Ogden, 1934

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The purpose of the UAGC was not only to encourage flower shows and education but also to coordinate the interests of the various garden clubs in order to gain public support for causes such as “Conservation and protection of our native wild flowers, trees, and birds; the encouragement of civic plantings; the restriction of billboards or any unsightly features; the planting of trees and care of roadsides . . .” and “To help make Utah the State Beautiful.” By 1936 the UAGC had 17 member clubs and was publishing a monthly magazine called The Inter-Mountain Gardener.

Throughout the Depression years and World War II, the UAGC continued to hold annual meetings, Arbor Day tree plantings, and various flower shows. One remarkable event took place in Fillmore, Utah on October 30, 1944, when a Japanese-American woman, Mrs. Tawa, joined with her neighbor, Mrs. Huntsman, to display the chrysanthemums that they had grown that year. Mrs. Huntsman had lost her son in the war, and hostilities with Japan were still ongoing, yet any negative sentiments toward the Japanese were overcome by the friendship to be found in garden clubs.

Bonsai Show Specimen

By the 1950’s, membership in the UAGC had grown to 62 local garden clubs all across the state of Utah. It was the heyday for garden clubs in the U.S., and Mrs. Hazel Bullough, the UAGC President, began to promote the idea of constructing a permanent Garden Center. Through her tireless lobbying, financial support was secured from the UAGC, Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake County, and a site was selected in the northeast corner of Sugar House Park. On September 20, 1964, the Garden Center was officially dedicated, and it has been used for local club meetings and statewide flower shows ever since.

Towards the end of the 20th century, membership in clubs of all kinds began to decline in the U.S., and there are now only ten garden clubs affiliated with the UAGC. This situation led to the mistaken idea that all of the garden club members were dead or dying, and that the Garden Center was a vacant, abandoned building. In 2020, Sugar House Park entertained a proposal to convert the building into a restaurant or café, but it was defeated by federal regulations and a lack of funding. In the meantime, membership in the UAGC has held steady at approximately 300 persons, and we are very much alive and kicking! One of our clubs, the Utah Rose Society, even increased its membership by 121% during the pandemic, adapting to conditions by holding Zoom meetings and outdoor garden tours, while the Park City Garden Club currently has a waiting list for membership.

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Most of our clubs, however, are open to new members and welcome visitors. There are clubs for specific interests such as bonsai, dahlias, iris, orchids, and roses, as well as clubs with a geographic focus such as Cottonwood and Brigham City. The UAGC has also been involved with the Blue Star Memorial program, honoring America’ s veterans, and we participate in a nationwide Smokey Bear/Woodsy Owl poster contest for 1st through 5th graders. The Neighborhood Garden Club has partnered with Howard R. Driggs Elementary School in Holladay for many years to implement a successful children’s gardening program.

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The Garden Center will host several flower shows open to the public this year, and it can also be rented for special events. In this internet age, a lot of gardening information can be found online, but it’s still not the same as being there in person.

Modern Rose Arrangement

Belonging to a garden club gives you the opportunity to find out what really grows in your town, to celebrate or commiserate with other gardeners, and to make new friends. You can find out more about us at utahagc.org.