In 1929 the Sam Davis Home In 1929 the Sam Davis Home was selected as a major project, and the club set about landscaping the grounds and planting the flowerbeds. The project continued until 1958 when the local community took over the responsibility. A map of the garden and grounds made by a GCN member can be found in
1929-1958 Sam Davis Home
In 1929, the Sam Davis Home was selected as a major project.
1940-1956 Knowles Home In 1940, members began sending gifts to the residents of the Knowles Home for the Aged. In 1945 the members began hosting an annual Christmas party for the home providing entertainment and refreshments as well as gifts. In order to stimulate interest in making gift wrappings decorative, the minutes state that one member offered a prize of “a load of well rotted manure for the most attractive and original wrappings.”
1943 Red CrossFrom 1943-1946, the Garden Club of Nashville members gathered every Monday to sew garments. They sewed 911 hospital garments and 14 children's blouses contributing 1,689 hours for the Red Cross. Members of this group still remember that their attendance was stimulated by the
1943 Red Cross
In 1943, the Garden Club of Nashville sewed for the Red Cross war effort.
1944-1947 Children's MuseumFrom 1944-1947, The Garden Club of Nashville contributed to a wax wildflower collection, to the conservation diorama and continued planting according to the landscape design.
1944-1947 CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
The Garden Club of Nashville has a long history with the Children’s Museum.
1946 Peabody Demonstration School In 1915, the Peabody Demonstration School was founded on Peabody's new campus. In 1925, the current building was built on Edgehill Avenue. The Garden Club of Nashville formed a Junior Garden Club for pupils through which an able teacher communicated ideas on art and design along with horticultural knowledge. Garden Club members provided plants, seeds and expertise on a variety of horticulture and conservation subjects. In 1974, Peabody Demonstration became University School of Nashville.
1949 TN State CapitolThe Tennessee State Capitol stands today much as it did when it first opened in 1859, and is a magnificent tribute to the people of Tennessee. This graceful structure was designed by noted architect William Strickland who considered it his crowning achievement. When Strickland died suddenly during construction in 1854, he was buried in the north facade of the Capitol.
1949 TN STATE CAPITOL
In 1949, The Garden Club of Nashvlle planted 56 boxwoods and numerious magnolia trees at the TN State Capitol.
1955 Travellers Rest Garden Restoration The garden blossoms as a result of annual funds, contributions of plants and tireless weeding by GCN members. The maintenance of The Traveler’s Rest Gardens has been turned over to the Tennessee Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America.
1955 Travellers Rest Garden Restoration
In 1955, the membership voted to restore the gardens at Traveller’s Rest, the historic home of John Overton.
1961 CragfontThe home started in 1798 and completed in 1802 by General James Winchester, Cragfont was the finest mansion house on the Tennessee frontier. The house typified the grandeur and style of the late Georgian period homes. The General named his mansion “Cragfont” as it stood on a rocky bluff with a spring at its base in Castalian Springs, TN.
1961 Cragfont
In 1961, under the leadership of Mrs. William Wemyss, GCN rebuilt the gardens at the historic Cragfont.
1969 Howe Garden Dedication By 1956, "Wildings" was well-known enough to be featured in Treasury of American Gardens. Mrs. Howe had first opened the garden to public visitors in 1929. By the mid-1950, she estimated that as many as 2,000 visitors a day came to see "Wildings" at the peak of its spring glory. Mrs. Howe greeted her guests with lemonade, cookies, and patient answers to all inquiries. A contemporary newspaper article described her methodical "compost workshop," noting that "Mrs. Howe always keeps a compost stack in the making and will explain the process in detail to anyone wishing to visit her garden." ("Show Garden is a 30-Year Labor of Love," Nashville Tennessean, March 27, 1955) In 1966, Mr. Howe died. A year later, in 1967, Mrs. Howe passed away. In her obituary, she was described as "born with a garden in her heart." With no immediate relatives, the Howes' estate (including "Wildings"), was left to Mr. Howe's secretary and Mrs. Howe's nurse. Too expensive to maintain, however, the property was soon for sale. No buyers were forthcoming, however. In East Nashville and across the city, residents worried over the fate of this local treasure. Mrs. Howe's friends in the Garden Club of Nashville especially worried about "Wildings." In November 1967, two Garden Club members, Mrs. William Wemyss and Miss Martha Lindsey, approached the club's president, Mrs. Elizabeth Craig Proctor. With winter at hand and without Mrs. Howe's loving care, club members were desperate to rescue "Wildings. Mrs. Proctor contacted the Board ofCheekwood (where she was a member of the Botanical Committee), convincing them to allow "Wildings" to be moved .. .if sufficient funds could be found. Subsequent legal negotiations delayed the move for almost a full year, but by December 1968, a "moving day" was set. Detailed drawings had been made to insure that "Wildings" would survive in. spirit and substance at Cheekwood. Elvin Cantrell, who tended "Wildings" for 40 years under the Howes' supervision, worked with the moving crew. Truckloads of rock, a birdbath, and the thatched-roof garden house all made the trip across the Cumberland River from East Nashville to Cheekwood, on the west side of town. On a snowy day in December, more than 45 years after its beginnings, "Wildings" began again .. .reincarnated at Cheekwood. Wildings" was renamed the Howe Wildflower Garden, to honor the memory of its creators and remind visitors of its special history. The garden was dedicated on April 29, 1969.
1969 HOWE GARDEN DEDICATION
On April 27, 1969, was the Howe Garden Dedication at Cheekwood and public opening.
1976 Magnolia Trees at CheekwoodIn 1976, as a commemorative for America’s Bicentennial, the club planted two and a half acres of magnolia trees at Cheekwood. This collection consisted of thirty-three species, varieties and hybrids.
1976 MAGNOLIA TREES AT CHEEKWOOD
In 1976, as a commemorative for America’s Bicentennial, the club planted 2.5 acres of magnolia trees at Cheekwood.
1985 Warner Parks Nature Center LibraryBelow in the photo gallery is the Tennessean article from 1985, about the $10,000.00 gift from the Garden Club of Nashville to the Warner Parks Nature Center. The gift paid for the construction of the library addition, the purchase of 600 books focused on Middle Tennessee's abundant wildlife, the pedestrian and signage lighting described in the article, and the purchase of the first computer at the Nature Center. Then the GCN donated an additional $1,000.00 for the purchase of additional books for the library.
1986 Iroquois Steeplechase EntranceMrs. Betty B. Graham, president of the Garden Club of Nashville, sits at the gate to the Iroquois Steeplechase grounds. The Garden Club of Nashville chose the Steeplechase park as one of the recipients of the special projects fund to build the stone gate, signage and fencing. The garden in front of the gate was given by individual members of the garden club in memory of Ann Potter Wilson.
1986 IROQUOIS STEEPLECHASE ENTRANCE
The Garden Club of Nashville donated the stone entrance sign and fence at the Iroquois Steeplechase course.
1988 Archeological Intern at the HermitageThe land for the Hermitage was purchased by Andrew Jackson in 1804. He built a Federal-style house on the property in 1820 and renovated it in the Greek Revival style in 1831. That housed burned down in 1834. A new Greek Revival house was constructed in 1836. The family opened the house as a museum in 1889.The Hermitage is on the National Register #66000722, and also a National Historic Landmark.
1988 ARCHEOLOGICAL INTERN AT THE HERMITAGE
In 1988, the Garden Club of Nashville gave $4000 towards locating the original gardens at The Hermitage,
1989 Cumberland Children's MuseumIn 1989, The Garden Club of Nashville gave money to landscape the entrance to the Cumberland Children’s Museum, now The Adventure Science Center.
1989 Grassmere Historic GardensThe Croft House, Grassmere 1810 Historic Home's gardens were a main source of food for its former residents. In 1989, The Garden Club of Nashville assisted with funding to help reestablish the historic turn of the century flower gardens at Grassmere. Today, the Master Gardeners of Davidson County have "adopted" the working farm and provide the manpower, resources and expertise to keep the areas around the home both beautiful and bountiful. The main garden area includes heirloom flowers and plants, a second tier of vegetables, and a revived orchard. An herb garden is behind the kitchen, heirloom roses are at the back of the main garden, and numerous daffodils, irises and azaleas dot the farm.
1989 GRASSMERE HISTORIC GARDENS
The Garden Club of Nashville assisted with funding to help reestablish the historic flower gardens at Grassmere.
1991 Warner Parks Flag PoleEdwin and Percy Warner Parks, collectively known as “The Warner Parks,” are managed by the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation of Nashville and Davidson County. The Warner Parks are the largest municipally administered parks in Tennessee and together span 2684 acres of forest and field, 9 miles from downtown Nashville. Over 500,000 people visit the Parks annually to utilize picnic areas, scenic roadways and overlooks, hiking trails, equestrian center and horse trails, cross country running courses, golf courses, athletic fields, and other areas of the park. Warner Parks is also an important historical community resource listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
1991 WARNER PARKS FLAG POLE
In 1991, the Garden Club of Nashville restored the flagpole at the Belle Meade entrance to The Warner Parks.
1995 Bison Meadow Stone WallsBison Meadow, is a park in south Nashville, a two acre prairie planted in 1994 along the old Natchez Trace which today is Hillsboro Pike. This was an "Indian trail" which was originally used by large animals to travel to a salt lick on the Cumberland River.
1995 Bison Meadow Stone Walls
Bison Meadow is a wildflower meadow in south Nashville commemorating the Buffalo Trail to the Great Salt Lick.
1995 Belle Meade PlantationJohn Harding began the Farm in 1807 when he purchased 250 acres of land near the Richland Creek. The kitchen gardens were essential to the life on the farm. The garden fence protected the valuable garden from consumption by the many deer in the "deer park" area.
2000 Nashville Public Library FoundationIn honor of Project 2000, the Garden Club of Nashville made a $10,000 donation to help fund the Courtyard Garden, an atrium in the center of the library which was completed in 2001.
2010 Travellers RestThe garden blossoms as a result of annual funds, contributions of plants and tireless weeding by GCN members. The maintenance of The Traveler’s Rest Gardens has been turned over to the Tennessee Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America.
2010 TRAVELLERS REST
In 2010, the Garden Club of Nashville helped provide funding for a redesign and replanting of herb garden at Traveller’s Rest as an educational program.
2012 Nashville's Open Space PlanThis plan supports many of the same tenants held by The Garden Club of America. Preserving and creating parkland, especially along streams and in the urban environment helps to clean the air, clean and conserve the water, and act against climate change. Participation in this project would also provide an opportunity for The Garden Club of Nashville to showcase native plants, help create public land and supports responsible transportation in a visible way. This project is for education and outreach with the goal of diversifying the donor base and getting the larger gardening community excited about public garden projects- a public natural legacy that will inspire the next generation of gardeners. The Garden Club of Nashville will visit the amazing land conservation opportunities across Davidson County. The involvement initially be in the marketing capacity to help The Land Trust of Tennessee, Greenways for Nashville and Metro Parks by hosting a community, educational meeting.
2012 NASHVILLE’S OPEN SPACE PLAN
The Garden Club of Nashville investigates how to help implement parts of Mayor Dean’s Nashville Open Space Plan.
2011-13, 2016 Magdalene & Thistle FarmsIn 2012, our focus will be to enhance the health and beauty of the garden as it continues to develop and evolve. This will include:Pruning trees and shrubs for shape and proper growth while they are still young. Implementing the second stage of the garden design with the addition of sweeps of Native ground covers, wild flowers, and herbs, which will add color and interest to the ground plane, which is now predominantly mulch. This will also help in weed control and lessen the need for mulch. We are going to introduce composting with a permanent wooden structure at the back of the building and also purchased an electric leaf blower. In 2016, GCN funded a joint proposal from the Cumberland River Compact and Thistle Farms to add rain water harvesting system with overflow to the Thistle Farms garden and thus create sustainable garden within the stressed Richland Creek watershed.
2011-13, 2016 MAGDALENE & THISTLE FARMS
Magdalene and Thistle Farms founder, Becca Stevens, Magdalene residents and volunteers envisioned this garden as a healing space filled with native trees and plants.
2013 Cumberland HeightsThis peaceful garden outside of the chapel gives visitors a place to relax and meditate.
2014 & 2016 Cumberland River CompactIn 2016, GCN funded a joint proposal from the Cumberland River Compact and Thistle Farms to add rain water harvesting system with overflow to the Thistle Farms garden and thus create sustainable garden within the stressed Richland Creek watershed.
2014 & 2016 CUMBERLAND RIVER COMPACT
The Garden Club of Nashville funds were matched by the Cumberland River Compact to provide 300 rain gardens in the city of Nashville.
2015 Abe's Garden This expansive courtyard and interactive, themed gardens will serve as a focal point of the campus. It will provide a secure natural environment that promotes freedom of movement and a thoughtful environment for intentional therapeutic engagement programming.In nursing homes, assisted living communities, and adult day care centers individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) commonly suffer from under stimulating environments and spend significant portions of their day disengaged from activities. At Abe's Garden, individuals will be encouraged to participate in an active engagement program comprised of activities the individuals enjoyed during previous phases of their lives, which are adapted to their current evolving physical and cognitive abilities. As evidenced by the name "Abe's Garden", horticultural therapy and intergenerational gardening will be central components of the active engagement program.
2015 ABE’S GARDEN
GCN is pleased to be assisting Abe’s Garden with establishing noteworthy gardens and meaningful therapeutic opportunities for those struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.
2016 MBA Garden ClubThe Garden Club maintains the campus raised-bed garden space, between Kingfisher Creek and the Wilson Library. Three season crop rotations place fresh vegetables and herbs in the MBA cafeteria in cooperation with the Sages food service. Crops grown on campus are started from seed in the Earth Science lab and transplanted to the campus garden beds. Cafeteria wastes are recycled in the campus garden composters to complete a recycling loop on campus. In addition, the Garden Club elects officers, holds regular meetings, conducts seed trials, gives demos, takes field trips to model gardening facilities and models practical gardening skills and aesthetics for lifetime appreciation or career consideration.
2016 MBA GARDEN CLUB
MBA Garden Club plants a community garden that provides healthy food to members in the community in need which will be distributed through the Nashville Food Project.
2106 Monroe HardingGCN funded Monroe Harding to enhance the efficiency and productivity of their community vegetable garden, which is maintained by staff, volunteers and the young men in the their residential Cooperative Living program. After harvesting produce, the youth help with food preparation and learn about healthy meal planning and cooking.
2106 MONROE HARDING
Since 1893, Monroe Harding has met the needs of children who are in or transitioning out of state custody caring for children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected.
2018 Nashville Tree Foundation addresses two major problems in the community. Metro Nashville is facing an increasingly diminishing tree canopy during its rapid growth and development, while offenders in the prison system are often returned to civilian life with few job skills and a temptation to return to crime for survival. Nashville Tree Foundation has partnered with the Nashville Sheriff’s office, Metro Public Works, the Metro Tree Advisory Committee, and other community organizations to provide offenders with job skills and reduce recidivism while restoring tree canopy in Nashville.
2018 NASHVILLE TREE FOUNDATION
Funding will provide reusable materials for seed propagation and tree production, while also offering job skills training for approximately 60 offenders in NSO’s state-licensed drug and alcohol treatment program.
2018 GROW EnrichmentGROW Enrichment’s GROW Foodscape Playground will provide a “nature playspace” with integrated edible landscaping in Two Rivers Park. Programming activities will include field trips for school groups, homeschool enrichment, and weekend workshops for the general public.
2018 GROW ENRICHMENT
Funding will diversify the edible plantings with herbs, edible flowers, and fruit trees at GROW Enrichment. Local volunteers will prepare planting areas and purchase and plant new species.
2012-13, 2016, 2018 Family Medical ClinicThe Garden Club of Nashville assisted with building a Community Garden for the Faith Family Medical Clinc for the Journey to Health program. It is designed to educate, guide and encourage healthy behavior through incentives and active participation in group settings. We partner with patients to help change lifestyle habits that naturally lead to a better quality of life. Patients active participation in gardening, encourages life style changes.In 2016, GCN gave additional funds to purchase supplies needed to offer container gardening classes onsite to their patients. In 2018, funding will provide 240 daffodil, hyacinth, and tulip bulbs, with containers and potting soil, to offer planting opportunities to patients with little or no access to land for gardening.
2012-13, 2016, 2018 FAMILY MEDICAL CLINIC
Faith Family Medical Clinic is a primary care, nonprofit medical clinic that seeks to follow the commitment of people of faith to provide hope and medical care for working uninsured.
