by Anne Myers
The Garden Club of Irvington-on-Hudson is proud of its 85-year history in the Rivertowns of the lower Hudson Valley. It held its first meeting in 1930. In 1936, the club was invited to join The Garden Club of America, enabling the membership to cooperate with other GCA clubs on local and national programs and issues. From the original twenty charter members, the club now has a capacity for sixty actives and associates.
A strong interest in horticulture intensified in 1956 when Lord and Burnham donated a small greenhouse on its Irvington waterfront property to the club. The greenhouse activities were moved to one of the propagating sheds at Lyndhurst. In that historic location, members propagated plants and seeds for their own gardens, flower shows, GCA’s Zone III Plant Exchange, and the club’s Plant Sale and Garden Fair held each May. Another principal project has been maintenance of the Lyndhurst Rose Garden, where Club members work, teach, and learn. Restoration efforts began in 1968 and merited the GCA Jane Righter Rose Medal in 1996.
This year, we entered into a new partnership with the Greenburgh Nature Center in Scarsdale, where our members have supported the creation of the Gerrie Shapiro Pollinator Garden; built and decorated the floating-branch tree in the Manor House; and moved the popular indoor propagating and growing operations to the greenhouse.
Greenhouse co-chair Dori Ruff prepares plants at Greenburgh Nature Center for the May 7, 2022, Plant Sale and Garden Fair.
The Rose Garden at Lyndhurst at its peak.
The Rip Garden on Irvington’s Main Street.
The club has been involved in many civic projects, beginning in 1932 with the landscaping of Irvington’s Memorial Park. Virtually every public site in Irvington has at some time been designed and/or planted by club members. The club also supports local and national conservation activities through active participation, donations, speakers, and projects. It has educated the public about composting, native plants, invasive species, and littering. More recently, the club installed botanical labels on the trees in Irvington’s Scenic Hudson Park as part of the GCA Centennial Tree Project.
The Garden Club of Irvington-on-Hudson has also been working with the Untermyer Garden Conservancy in Yonkers. The club was a finalist for the GCA Founders’ Fund Award and received a monetary prize to help restore the Temple of Love there. GCI members assisted with the plantings around the water features, and also serve as docents, leading tours of Untermyer Gardens.
If you are interested in joining — membership is by invitation — please come to our next public event highlighted on the home page. We’d love to meet you!
THE GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA