What does the Bloomington Garden Club do?

Bloomington Garden Club focuses the majority of its energy each year on organizing and presenting its annual Summer Garden Walk and Flower Show, as it has annually since 1990. All earnings from its annual Garden Walk and Flower Show are distributed back into the community in the form of grants awarded to not-for-profit groups to aid in community beautification and/or education. In this way, its members work to fulfill the club’s purpose for organizing, which is ‘to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening; to aid in the protection of native trees, plants, and birds; and to encourage civic planting and beautification’. (Bylaws, Article II, Purpose)

Private gardens are as varied and interesting as are the gardeners who create them. Bloomington Garden Club, in presenting its annual Garden Walk and Flower Show, showcases five or six gardens that are quite different from each other---perhaps a pocket garden (defined as a very small, delightful garden in the heart of the city), perhaps a larger rambling garden, a garden that is more formal in style, a garden focused on native plants, a fairy garden, a garden blending herbs or vegetables with flowers, a themed garden or one designed to attract butterflies, a water garden, or an organic garden focused on recycling yard waste and using natural fertilizers and pesticides. Presenting a wide variety of private gardens during their annual Summer Garden Walk and Flower Show is the Bloomington Garden Club’s way of encouraging gardening through experiencing outstanding local examples. 

Bloomington Garden Club is a 501(c) 4 organization, which means the club is not organized to earn a profit but instead is operated exclusively for the promotion of community gardening and learning about plants and gardens, with a focus on children’s gardening. This tax status means that Bloomington Garden Club does not engage or appear to engage in any type of political activities. Its club treasurer maintains a strict division between its annual Garden Walk income/activities and Bloomington Garden Club member dues income/club expenses.

Neither Bloomington Garden Club nor its members may personally benefit or appear to benefit from club membership. As a Club, the group does not volunteer or accept gifts, does not align as a group with other organizations, or provide services, such as garden lectures or presentations, garden advice, or garden maintenance, upon request of individuals or organizations. The group also does not link corporate or for-profit internet addresses to its website. Bloomington Garden Club does not make specific gardening recommendations or provide specialized gardening advice but does encourage gardeners to independently search for reasonable information from available resources such as friends, garden visits, the Internet, and/or public library books.

In addition to its annual Garden Walk and Flower Show focus, does Bloomington Garden Club have a social calendar? It does indeed! Its Club year begins in September; it holds a minimum of eight required Active Member attendance business meetings per year; and its yearly optional social calendar of events beyond club meetings includes a December brunch and white elephant auction, two spring/summer field trips to visit members’ gardens, an April annual wildflower hike, and a spring plant exchange.

How does Bloomington Garden Club stay organized and focused on its annual Garden Walk and Flower Show and still provide interesting social activities? Much of Bloomington Garden Club’s work is done in committees, whose members in turn report to the entire group. Bloomington Garden Club uses a well-organized committee system plus its annual Member Handbook, occasionally-issued Guidelines for Summer Garden Walk, its website, and excellent recordkeeping notebooks/folders passed year-to-year from experienced committee members to new members to keep activities on track.