Our History
Memphis Garden Club was founded at a dinner party in 1921 by Mrs. J.P. Norfleet and two like-minded friends, Mrs. Hugh Heiskell and Mrs. S. B. Anderson. Their motto:
Grow roses, that perfume thou mayst have and give.
Grow cabbages, that thou mayst eat and live.
For life is complex and its needs demand
That cabbages and roses go hand in hand.
Mrs. Norfleet served as the club’s first president and in 1925, Memphis Garden Club became a member of Garden Club of America.
Memphis Garden Club was instrumental in the establishment of Meeman-Shelby Forrest State Park, on the banks of the Mississippi River just north of Memphis. In 1937, Memphis Garden Club received the Garden Club of America Founder’s Fund Award for planting a wildflower trail in the new park. Memphis Garden Club donated seed money in 1997 to landscape the information center at the park. And in 1999, Memphis Garden Club restored the original wildflower trail in Meeman-Shelby Forrest State Park.
In 1954 The Mid-South Garden Guide was first published by Memphis Garden Club. The guide was revised in 1984 and rewritten for the 7th edition in 2007 and is still considered an essential handbook for gardeners.
In 1954, Memphis Garden Club led efforts that resulted in the gift to our city of the Goldsmith Civic Garden Center in Audubon Park Botanic Garden (now known as Memphis Botanic Gardens). The Civic Center dedicated in 1964, has been supported by the Memphis Garden Club since its inception. Memphis Garden Club has restored many projects at the now known Memphis Botanic Gardens, including the Water Garden (1965, 2006), the Sculpture Garden (1968, 1993), the Volunteer Greenhouse (1989), and the Container Garden (2010). In 2013-2014, the Sculpture Garden received extensive restoration.
In 1966, Memphis Garden Club and the American Daffodil Society jointly hosted the National Daffodil Show in Memphis. Subsequently, the club hosted the Tennessee State Daffodil Show and the Southern Reginal Daffodil Show. As a result of these flower shows, the Mid-South Daffodil Society was formed. From 1973-1977, Memphis Garden Club sponsored a Horticulture Symposium and Fern Competition.
In 1972, Farmington Group gave Memphis Garden Club a 21-acre tract of land along the Wolf River floodplain in hopes of establishing a nature center. After many years of negotiations with the city of Germantown, Tennessee, the subdivision of Riverwoods was created, and the 21 acres was included in the new development. In exchange, Germantown donated land across the Wolf River and on Walnut Grove Lake to Memphis Garden Club. The new and larger tract called Lovitt Woods was then given by Memphis Garden Club to the Wolf River Conservancy with a conservation easement held by Ducks Unlimited protecting the land in perpetuity. In partnership with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Memphis Garden Club sees that much of the lands within Riverwood remain greenways.
In 1976, bequeathed from the will of Memphis Garden Club member Mrs. Hugo Dixon and her husband, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens was established. Memphis Garden Club was given office space at the Dixon, and a long-standing partnership began. In 1978, Memphis Garden Club held its first Zone IX Garden Club of America flower show at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. The Memphis Flower Show (formerly titled Flowers and Art) is held biennially at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. In 1984, the show was designated a Garden Club of America Major Flower Show. Memphis Garden Club holds a Garden Club of American Major Flower Show every two years at the Dixon as well as most of its meetings and workshops.
In 1987, The Phoebe Cook Lecture Series was established to honor Memphis Garden Club member Phoebe Cook by her daughter Phoebe Cook Welsh of Houston, Texas. The annual lecture brings national and international speakers to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens and is free and open to the public. In 2014, Memphis Garden Club and the Phoebe Cook family completed a campaign to add substantially to the Phoebe Cook Endowment Fund.
In 2017, Memphis Garden Club began development of the Community Garden at Crosstown Concourse, in collaboration with Church Health and Big Green Educational Projects. Memphis Garden Club made an additional commitment in 2020 for the development of garden beds in partnership with the University of Memphis Nursing School for food and wellness support. The community garden was the focus for a Founder’s Fund Award proposal in 2024 and was given a monetary reward as a finalist for the award.
In 1998, through the liaison of Garden Club of America and the Horticulture Division of The Smithsonian Institution, a number of Memphis Garden Club members’ gardens were documented in the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens.
Historically, Memphis Garden Club has been involved in civic improvements at the Veteran’s Hospital, Juvenile Court, Memphis Academy of Ars (Memphis College of Art), Crippled Children’s Hospital School (Methodist outreach) and land strip on North Parkway.
In 2020, a team of Memphis Garden Club horticulture committee members applied for the Garden Club of America Freeman Horticulture Medal. They propagated the Button Bush (Cephalanthus Occidentalis), submitted it in the native shrub category, and won the 2021 Garden Club of America Freeman medal.
Memphis Garden Club has maintained an active association with Garden Club of America since 1925. Members have served as GCA directors, Zone IX Chairmen and on many GCA committees. Memphis Garden Club has hosted the following Garden Club of America Meetings: Southern Zone (1952), GCA Forum (1966), GCA Annual (1972), Zone IX (1979, 1995, 2005, and 2015, co-hosted with The Little Garden Club of Memphis).
In 2021 Memphis Garden Club celebrated its 100th anniversary with a celebration picnic at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Memphis Garden Club remains committed to serving the Memphis community and advancing the ideals of Garden Club of America.