The Garden Club of Houston

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Garden Club of Houston. Now, every good Texas story starts small, and this one is no different. Seven friends.

That's all it took. Seven women living near a newly constructed Museum of Fine Arts, getting together in 1924 with a shared idea: study horticulture, experiment with new plants, and make the city of Houston a little more beautiful. Seven friends.

You'd be forgiven for not marking the occasion on your calendar. But you'd be wrong not to. From that small beginning grew something that would shape the private gardens and public landscapes of one of the great cities of the American South for generations to come.

Now here's where the story picks up real momentum. In 1931, Garden Club members took on the maintenance of the museum grounds themselves. And they didn't just water a few flower beds and call it a day.

They brought in Ruth London, a noted New York landscape architect, who drew up a master plan for the museum's south garden. That plan included a balustrade and bench designed by William Ward Watkin, the museum architect himself, along with sculpture by the head of the museum school. Then came the fundraising, the contributions, the club projects, all of it building toward one finish line: the completion of that garden in time for the national meeting of the Garden Club of America in 1939.

And when that meeting came to Houston, the Garden Club of Houston had already done something no other club in the entire southwest had managed. It became part of the Garden Club of America, the first in the region to earn that distinction, because of its work on those very grounds. Then came 1942, and a bulb and plant mart that became the club's main fundraiser.

Plants sold at those sales took root all across the area, becoming familiar staples in neighborhood gardens across Houston. That fundraising engine never really stopped running. The Texas Medical Center Park, the hospice at the Texas Medical Center, the Museum of Natural Science, the Harris County Center for the Retarded, the Seaman's Center at the Port of Houston, Tranquility Park, Bayou Bend, Rienzi, Armand Bayou Nature Center, Buffalo Bayou Sesquicentennial Park.

That list is not decoration. That list is a century's worth of showing up. The marker calls the Garden Club of Houston unusual in its longevity and success, with a small membership and many notable Houstonians among them.

Seven friends in 1924, planting something they couldn't quite see the full shape of yet. Turns out they had a pretty good eye.

What the marker says

In 1924, seven friends who lived near the newly constructed Museum of Fine Arts formed the Garden Club of Houston. They planned to study horticulture, experiment with new plants and further the beautification of the city of Houston. From this small beginning developed an institution that has had a great influence on the city's private and public landscapes. Garden Club members assumed the maintenance of the museum grounds in 1931. Noted New York landscape architect Ruth London designed a master plan for the museum's south garden including a balustrade and bench designed by William Ward Watkin, the museum architect, with sculpture by the head of the museum school. Contributions from members and club projects made possible the completion of the garden in time for the national meeting of the Garden Club of America in 1939. Because of its work on the museum grounds, the Garden Club of Houston was the first in the southwest to become a part of the Garden Club of America. In 1942 a bulb and plant mart became the Garden Club's main fundraiser. Many plants seen at these sales became familiar staples in area gardens. The Texas Medical Center Park, the hospice at the Texas Medical Center, the Museum of Natural Science, the Harris County Center for the Retarded, the Seaman's Center at the Port of Houston, Tranquility Park, Bayou Bend, Rienzi, Armand Bayou Nature Center and Buffalo Bayou Sesquicentennial Park are among the projects and civic organizations that benefit from the Garden Club of Houston's fundraising efforts. Many notable Houstonians have been among the small membership of the Garden Club of Houston, unusual in its longevity and success. (2000)