Gallatin Empire Garden Club
Bozeman

President: Cindy Carlton, 522-0233
Vice President: Annie Mollock
Secretary: Susan Woods / Treasurer: Jackie Preedom
Membership contacts: Nancy Sadik (587-2601) or Phyllis White (586-0400)
Annual membership dues are $15 and entitles members to receive Montana Gardens, the publication of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.

Our club is dedicated to helping others learn about gardening and to appreciate the natural resources around us. Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Bozeman Senior Center located at the corner of Tracy and Tamarack Streets (across from the Gallatin County Fair Grounds). Each meeting features a speaker or demonstration on some aspect of gardening, conservation, landscaping or floral design.

We are a group of fun-loving, energetic gardeners. The public is welcome to attend any meeting and membership is open year-round so stop by and get acquainted. If you have any questions about our meetings or programs, please call one of the membership members listed above.

Upcoming Meetings and Calendar



January 17, 1:00, Bozeman Senior Center. "Birds of Lewis & Clark" a slide presentation and lecture by Ken Walcheck, retired MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks Information Officer

February 21, 1:00, Bozeman Senior Center. "Mechanics of Flower Arranging" a demonstration and lecture by Susan Andrews, NGC Accredited Master Judge and floral designer

March 20, 1:00, Bozeman Senior Center. "Clear the Air" a presentation on how house plants clean the air in your home by Susan Woods, club member

April 17, 1:00, Bozeman Senior Center. "Seed to Seed" a power point presentation and discussion on Heirloom vs. Genetically modified seeds by Annie Mollock, MFGC Conservation Chairman

April 21, Lewis & Clark District meeting in Helena. Members will carpool for meeting and lunch.

Our long-time member, Margaret Yaw, was honored as Montana's "2003 Garden Club Member of the Year" and is a member of the National Garden Club "Golden Circle" and MFGC's Advisory Council. Susan Andrews serves as the Federation's Recording Secretary. Annie Mollock serves as the Federation's Corresponding Secretary and Facebook chairman. Phyllis White is serving as the president of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs for the 2011-13 term. Susan Woods is the MFGC Life Members Chairman. Erika Reece is the editor of the state publication "Montana Gardens". Our members are hard at work in their gardens, for the club and to carry out the mission of the state Federation.

Jackie Preedom, Susan Andrews, Vicky Barbieri and Linda Lindgren are accredited flower show judges. Phyllis White is a student judge. Kerin McCarver is an accredited landscape consultant.

Zelpha Boyd was awarded the Club's Circle of Green Thumb Award at the 2011 state convention in Havre.

In 2008 the club also won an award from the National Garden Club for their work at the Gallatin Rest Home Sensory Garden, pictured below. The garden was named "2007 Best Horticultural Therapy Project" in the United States.

The 36 club members contribute time to several projects for the community thoughout the year --

Floral designs are made for Bozeman Deaconess Hospital Hospice patients on a regular basis.

The club provides landscape assistance, plant materials and maintenance in areas of Kirk Park, Bozeman Library, Gallatin Rest Home, Boys and Girls Club and the Bozeman Senior Center. Members helped to install a garden for horticulture therapy complete with sensory gardens, benches, raised plant beds and a water feature at the local Gallatin Rest Home for the nursing home residents (pictured above). This garden project won an award from the National Garden Clubs for best horticultural therapy project in the United States.

In early December the members meet to decorate large holiday wreaths and swags which are donated to non-profit organizations in the community including the libraries, Senior Centers, Battered Women's Shelter home and local government buildings. Members and their wreath creations are pictured further down the page.

In July the club organizes and presents the horticulture exhibits and a Flower Show at the Gallatin County Fair. This large endeavor brings together gardening enthusiasts of all ages willing to show the best garden specimens in the Gallatin Valley.

Below are pictures of fundraising items for sale by our members. All proceeds support the programs described above. Please scroll further down the page to see other projects we support as well as the junior gardeners.

Items for Fundraiser

Members of the Gallatin Empire Garden Club are offering items for sale to other club members and the public to raise money to fund their new projects. The mailing seals shown to the right were sold for many years by the Bozeman garden club. They've recently been re-issued and would make a great holiday card sticker for anyone living in Montana as they feature the state flower, the bitterroot (also the logo of this state Federation). The cost is $2.50 for a packet of 25 seals (plus 41 cents for mailing). The background of the seal is silver.

Please email Susan Andrews to place an order. The Gallatin Empire Garden Club members thank you for your support.

Flower Arranging Supplies - everything you need for personal arrangements or for the big flower show. Each order placed through this site contributes to Gallatin Empire Garden Club projects. Click on the image to the left.

Below, members prepared floral table designs for the 2010 Senior Center Volunteer Appreciation Dinners.