Tempe Garden Club – Diamond Club

Federated in 1936, currently 36 members

Formed in 1936, Tempe Garden Club continues to beautify the City of Tempe through flowers and friendships.  We have planted petunias along Mill Avenue, been planners and stewards of various Tempe parks, and honored fallen heroes in a Blue Star Memorial. From 2003 to 2007 we raised and donated funds to the City for the  Tempe Garden Club Pavilion at Tempe Town Lake, which was dedicated in the fall of 2007 and bears plaques memorializing prominent club members who have passed on. We look back with pride and look ahead with anticipation in carrying on the traditions of the Tempe Garden Club.

Our Goals include:

1) To learn about horticulture and floral design.
2) To give our community plants, trees, and flowers for its enjoyment.
3) To share our seeds, cuttings, and plants.
4) To be good stewards of the earth, beginning with our homes, gardens, and community.
5) To learn more about birds, lawns, trees, flowers, and gardens.
6) To honor long-term members through honorariums and memorials.
7) To make lasting friendships as we share these common goals.

Auditor …………………………………………………………………..Kathy Green

Conservation/Education (Go Green)………………………….Jeanne Davis

DBG Agave Propagation Project ……………………………….Maureen Decindis

Fundraising …………………………………………………………..Kim Rosenlof

Library……………………………………………………………………Annette Cordova

Membership……………………………………………………………Sue Mogan

Memorial Plaque……………………………………………………..Jeanne Davis

Parliamentarian (Bylaws, Standing Rules) …………………Annette Cordova

Penny Pines…………………………………………………………….Kim Rosenlof

Petersen House / Tempe History Museum …………………Maureen Decindis

Publicity/Social Media……………………………………………..Connie Vizcarra

Programs/Field Trips……………………………………………….Maureen Decindis

Scholarships……………………………………………………………Kim Rosenlof

Telephone ………………………………………………………………Ruth Wilimek

Yearbook………………………………………………………………..Kim Rosenlof

Webmaster……………………………………………………………..Kim Rosenlof

Our Continuing Projects

DBG Agave Propagation Project – Chairman: Maureen Decindis

TGC is partnering with Desert Botanical Gardens (DBG) to propagate several species of agaves native to the Tempe area. These species were domesticated by Native Americans more than 500 years ago and are struggling in the wild without the benefit of their human caretakers.  TGC members who are trained in agave propagation methods and tracking will receive plants to propagate for the DBG. The goal of the program is to produce 1,000 agave plants for replanting in the wild or under tribal care. Project kickoff has been delayed due to the coronavirus crisis, but is expected to be rescheduled for 2021.

SCHOLARSHIPS – Chairman: Kim Rosenlof

To further the study of horticulture and related subjects by making donations to the Mary Leffler Cochran Scholarship fund at Mesa Community College. 100 percent participation.

PENNY PINES – Chairman: Kim Rosenlof

The USDA Forest Service uses these donations to replant burnt or otherwise damaged trees in conjunction with federal funds. Seedlings are replacements of trees native to that particular area of the forest. The Forest Service gives a Penny Pine certificate for each $68 contribution. 100 percent participation.

LIBRARY DONATIONS – Chairman: Annette Cordova

TGC donates one or more garden-themed adult or children’s books to the Tempe Public Library every year, a project since 1946. 100 percent participation.

PETERSEN HOUSE / TEMPE HISTORY MUSEUM – Chairman: Connie Vizcarra

The Petersen House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Club members work with the staff at Tempe History Museum to prepare the grounds for the annual Danish Christmas celebration, and provide garden-themed crafts for the public during various open house dates. TGC also decorates a Christmas tree for display in the Tempe History Museum and participates in THM events such as Hayden Ferry Days.  40 percent participation.

GO GREEN – Chairman: Jeanne Davis

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The major focus is conservation, education, and recycling. Please use your cloth bags to carry your groceries home. 100 percent participation.

SOCIAL MEDIA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE – Chairman: Sue Mogan, Connie Vizcarra

Tempe Garden Club uses social media outlets to connect existing members and draw new members to the club, including our Meetup, and Facebook pages. 40 percent participation.

Tempe was a town of 2,600 in October 1936 when Mrs. George Gibson and Mrs. R. J. Hight invited 30 interested gardeners to Mrs. Hight’s garden to form a garden club to advance gardening, conservation, and beautification in Tempe. Mrs. Charles Wexler became president. Until the 1980s, TGC members identified themselves using their husband’s name. Dues were set at 50 cents. Unlike our current meetings, refreshments were banned until 1949.

They wasted no time having flower shows. The Fall Zinnia Flower Show was started the first year followed by the Flower Fiesta which was held until 1971 except during World War II. Then they took a vacation from flower shows until 1985 and again in 1987 when they orchestrated NGC award-winning flower shows.

Christmas workshops distributed greens and demonstrated creative holiday decorations to the community for 18 years. For 21 years, Guess Birchett opened her yard with its charming wishing well for Community Open Houses to provide public gardening information. They didn’t forget library patrons as they donated horticultural books to the Tempe Library every year after 1946.

The founders wanted to elevate the petunia as the city flower making Mill Avenue a pathway of petunias and encouraging residents to plant them. While never forgotten, planting petunias was placed on hold during World War II. Instead, they went to William Field, where they planted 2,000 plants including citrus trees and 169 date palms. They even sowed their beloved petunia seeds.

From the beginning, TGC made the beautification of Tempe a primary objective. In 1936 they spearheaded the beautification of Moeur Park at the corner of Curry and Mill, which was the second roadside park in America. This park was named for Honor Anderson Moeur, TGC’s first beautification chairman and wife of Governor B.B. Moeur.

During the 1960s and 1970s, their attention was focused on Triangle Park, later named Birchett Park for Guess Birchett’s family. TGC was instrumental in keeping this area, located on the curve of Mill and Apache, open space and providing the initial landscaping. The 250 rose bushes they planted provided a spectacular display for those traveling down Mill Avenue toward Mesa. These have since been replaced with cacti and other plants.

In 1983 TGC led the way to create a memorial for Sarah Birchett, called the Birchett Triangle. This is a companion to Birchett Park.

TGC members were not just gardeners. They had political skills as well. In 1971 they nominated 90-year-old Guess Birchett to be honorary Tempe Centennial Queen and she won.

One project introduced in the 1970s was the popular Yard-of-the-Month program. It began in 1974 and continued until 1980 and was reactivated in 2002. By showcasing beautiful Tempe yards, it hoped to inspire local gardeners.

Garden therapy became an important goal for TGC. During the 1970s TGC gave live plants to recipients of Meals on Wheels. It extended its garden therapy mission in the 1990s, going to Westchester Care Center to create floral designs with the residents and helping at Grandpa Charlie’s Center to beautify the grounds.

When Kiwanis Park opened in late 1970, they saw an opportunity to plant a memorial grove of flowering pear trees there. Over the next few years, trees were also planted at the historic Petersen House and Harelson, Joyce, Mitchell, and Waggoner Parks. (See list in the yearbook.)

During the 1980s the club knew how to make money, editing and distributing the NGC award-winning The Gardener’s Year calendar and decorating work shirts. These projects provided funds to add a sundial to the library as an early 50th-anniversary gift and to spruce up the grounds of the historic Petersen House as well as decorate it for Christmas. Current members continue to tend the flower beds and plant seasonal flowers there. Some of the same crew often deadheads the roses at the Mesa Community College Rose Garden.

In recent years Petersen House became the venue for successful Friendship Teas in 2006, 2008, and 2010 where as many as 90 at each tea arrived donned in their Sunday-best hats and dined on scones and heard gardening tips from Mary Irish, Valley horticultural icon.

The youth were not forgotten. In 1980 TGC orchestrated a one-day session at Arizona State University for 90 high school students to explore alternative energy solutions. The club blazed another trail of youth activities in 1986-1987 when they helped 60 students at Curry Elementary School and 30 students at Gilliland Junior High to successfully plant ranunculus. They also added a junior high school speech contest on groundwater with 25 students participating.

Since 1987, TGC has donated $200 yearly to AFGC to aid deserving college students. When AFGC celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2009, Tempe Garden Club received the Golden Spade Award for making donations totaling $1,000 from the club and members in 2007-2009. These contributions went to Mesa Community College for the Mary Leffler Cochran scholarship.

Wildflowers always captured the club’s imagination. In 1989, the club donated money and seeds to plant wildflower beds at the Desert Botanical Garden and received an NGC $500 Operation Wildflower award. In 1991, TGC helped establish a wildflower garden near Tempe’s Arizona Historical Museum. By landscaping the parking medians at Mesa Community College, TGC received first place and $1,000 from NGC’s Operation Wildflower.

Change occurred for the garden club when a new fundraiser replaced The Gardener’s Year calendar as a major source of revenue. Mark November 6, 1993, as the date Jean Besich opened her garage for a plant/yard/bake sale which has been an annual fixture for 19 years. The first sale netted $534 but now makes around $1,000 annually. A big attraction remains Flossie Reeves’ chili which is consumed in quantity.

In the 1990s TGC got help funding several projects. National Garden Club had partnered with Shell Oil Company in the PETALS program which encouraged local civic and environmental programs. From 1993-1999 TGC received $1,750 of these PETALS grants for wildlife habitats at the Rio Salado, garden therapy at Grandpa Charlie’s Garden, and printing Gardening Tempe Style, which provided tips on growing in Tempe. (Note: available here as a website page.)

The club took time out to campaign for making the two-tailed swallowtail, Papilio multicaudata, the state butterfly in 2001. Lola White, State Butterfly chairman, led this effort with Juanita Harelson giving aid through her political experience as a 20-year state legislator. There is a video, which won the top NGC Award in 2007 in that category that can be downloaded on www.butterflyquest.net.

Nothing seemed impossible to TGC in 2000. Jeanne Davis came home from Europe with the idea that Tempe needed a pavilion with nearby trees. When the club caught her enthusiasm, they conducted three successful Garden Lover Tours in 2000, 2001, and 2003 to provide much of the funding. In 2004, the club donated $20,000 to the city for the Pavilion at the Tempe Town Lake, which was the largest single donation in the club’s history. Groundbreaking was in 2005 followed by the dedication in 2007. In 2012, with the planting of the Tempe Garden Club Centennial Grove of six Palo Verde trees near the Pavilion, Jeanne Davis’s dream became reality.

In 2008 TGC officially joined the 21st century with a website. However, we still like printed yearbooks.

We remembered with excitement that we had reached 75 in October 2011 with a gala party where even Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman provided some of the fun. A photo contest of members’ yards provided the pictures for the 2012-2013 yearbook. : On February 18, 2013, TGC in cooperation with the City of Tempe and the Rio Salado Foundation dedicated the first Blue Star Memorial Marker in Tempe at the west end of Tempe Beach Park.

In 2013-2017 emphasis was placed on a plant sale to fund projects. Excellent programs were a hallmark of these years.

In November 2016, TGC celebrated its 80th anniversary with a well-attended event at the Tempe Historical Museum. Former Tempe Mayor and U.S. Congressman Harry Mitchell spoke about growing up in Tempe and our club’s contribution to beautifying Tempe through the years. As our Anniversary Gift, TGC donated $1,000 to the Tempe Historical Museum.

In 2017, we revived our relationship with the Tempe Historic Museum and the Petersen House Museum. In addition to planting geraniums for Danish Christmas, we reseeded the iris garden, which had grown over with grass, and sponsored a garden craft (self-watering terrariums made from plastic water bottles) for the general public during Hayden Ferry Days. We continue to work with the museum as Tempe looks toward its sesquicentennial in 2021.

Memorials at Kiwanis Park
6111 S. All American Way, Tempe

1977…………………………………………Annis Jones
1978…………………………………………Florence Gibson
1979………………………………………… Guess Birchett
1980…………………………………………Etheleen Kemp
1981…………………………………………Louise Craig
1983…………………………………………Mabel Ellingson

Memorials at Niels Petersen House
1414 W. Southern Avenue, Tempe

1984………………………………………….Sarah Birchett
1984………………………………………….Ruth Kaminsky
1986………………………………………….Nell Rice
1986………………………………………….Olwen Harris
1987…………. (Cottonwood Tree)…Zella Row

Memorials at Harelson Park
Warner Ranch Drive & Knox Road, Tempe

African Sumac Trees

1988…………………………………………Estella C. Rockwell
1988…………………………………………Marise Mitchell
Shamel Ash Trees
1990…………………………………………Edna Bohlman
1990…………………………………………Robert Svob
1990…………………………………………Marjorie Gray
1990…………………………………………Helene Glimn
Five Shoestring Acacias
2001…………………………………………Helen Wexler

Memorials at Joyce Park
Hermosa Drive & Laguna Drive, Tempe

Heritage Live Oak Tree

1991…………………………………………Hana Tuma

Memorials at Mitchell Park
Mitchell Drive & 9th Street , Tempe

Mesquite Trees

1992…………………………………………Ethel Holmes
1992…………………………………………Georgia Townsend

Memorials at Grandpa Charlie’s Garden
Tempe Center for Habilitation
215 W. Lodge, Tempe

Bench

1997…………………………………………Marjorie Gray
1997…………………………………………Janie Moore

Chilean Mesquite Trees

1998…………………………………………Rose Fumusa
1998…………………………………………Edna Martin

Memorials at Tempe Adult Day Care Center
2234 E. Maryland Drive, Tempe

Palo Brea Tree

1998…………………………………………Irene Harris

Special Honorary Tree

Pyle Adult Recreational Center
655 E. Southern Avenue, Tempe

Flowering Plum Tree

1982………………………………………… Mary Cochran
A Flowering Plum tree was planted in honor of our member, Mary Cochran, who served that year as the President of the Arizona Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.

Honoraries at Niels Petersen House
1414 W. Southern Avenue, Tempe

Crepe Myrtle Tree

1986…………………………………………Robert Svob

Honoraries at Waggoner Park
Lakeshore Drive & Carver Road, Tempe

Frax Fan Tex-Rio Grande Trees

1996…………………………………………Avery Helm
1996…………………………………………Gladys Moser

Tempe Garden Club – Diamond Club