Santa Fe Garden Club Revitalizes Amelia White Historic Park
A neglected urban gem is restored to its original splendor

With teamwork and tenacity, the Santa Fe Garden Club (SFGC) continues to revitalize the historic Amelia White Park located in Santa Fe’s historic Eastside neighborhood. The club’s vision is to bring the park’s hardscape back to its original splendor, while enhancing the landscape with native, pollinator friendly, drought tolerant plants. This three-acre urban gem was originally part of the vast El Delirio estate, purchased in the 1920s by illustrious socialite sisters, Martha and Amelia White. Rumor has it that when they moved to Santa Fe, the sisters’ motto was to “Do Good, Be Strong and Party On.”

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The Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties Collaborates to Revitalize Downing Park
“Root for Trees!” Program Educates Next Generation

In 1894, Frederick Law Olmsted’s last collaboration with Calvert Vaux resulted in the creation of Downing Park, a Newburgh, New York public space masterpiece. Over time, the park fell victim to financial woes, a deadly tornado, and dwindling interest, leaving it forgotten by most. A modern collaboration between The Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, The Downing Park Conservancy, The City of Newburgh, and The Garden Club of America changed all that. The Park has been revitalized and its future made secure and strong for generations to come, thanks in part to the “Root for Trees!” program.

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Garden Conservancy Spotlights GCA Club Member Louise Wrinkle
Wrinkle’s Alabama Garden Documented by Garden Conservancy

To celebrate our sponsorship of the Garden Conservancy's Garden Futures Summit this September in NYC, we are reflecting on some of the important initiatives that have tied our two organizations together over the years. The Mountain Brook, Alabama garden of distinguished GCA club member Louise Wrinkle was selected for documentation by our friends at the Garden Conservancy. Not only has Louise been a GCA member for over 40 years, but she was also a founding board member of the Garden Conservancy. In 2017, she self-published an extraordinary book, “Listen to the Land: Creating a Southern Woodland Garden.” Her forward-thinking approach has inspired a growing appreciation for native gardening across the country.

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Trustees’ Garden Club Develops Stewardship Plan for Savannah’s Forsyth Park
Three-phase plan will preserve one of America’s oldest municipal parks

Spanning more than 30 acres in Savannah’s beautiful historic district, Forsyth Park is one of the oldest municipal parks in the United States. For many decades, Trustees’ Garden Club, a member of The Garden Club of America, has backed efforts to preserve the park, most recently through the development of a multi-year, three-phase Stewardship Plan.

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2022-23 GCA Rome Prize Fellow Studied Historic Aesthetics for the Deaf
Alexa Vaughn hopes that lessons from the past can shape modern methodology

Alexa Vaughn, the GCA’s 2022-2023 Rome Prize Fellow in Landscape Architecture, recently completed her year-long fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. While there, Vaughn examined—through the eyes of a Deaf American woman—the aesthetics of Deaf and disabled experiences of Rome from ancient to modern times with the purpose of shaping new methodology for accessibility and inclusion in the Eternal City. To learn more go to gcamerica.com to see a short film showcasing Vaughn’s work.

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GCA Awards 13 Recipients with the 2023 Elizabeth Abernathy Hull Award
Outstanding achievement in the early education of environmental education

Members of The Garden Club of America (GCA) from across the country proposed highly deserving individuals for the 2023 Hull Award in recognition of their contributions to furthering the environmental education of children under the age of sixteen. The Garden Club of America is proud to announce this year’s 13 Hull Award winners. Established in 1992, the Hull Award provides $1,000 to each of the chosen recipients in honor of Miss Hull’s common-sense approach to environmental awareness. A woman ahead of her time, Miss Hull (1900 – 1996) was an active member of the Ridgefield Garden Club and credited her mother and grandmother with instilling in her a passion for the environment.

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2023-24 A Banner Year for GCA Scholarships
Eighty-six scholars awarded a record $402,500

The Garden Club of America has awarded a record $402,500 for the 2023-2024 year to recognize the academic endeavors of 86 scholars—a banner year for GCA’s Scholarship Committee. Undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate studies in areas including pollinator research and landscape architecture will allow students to pursue their unique passions. This year, scholars’ field studies include nut trees, seagrass ecosystems, and the impact of dams on the American landscape.

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