Who We Are

Our History

The Little Garden Club (LGC) was founded in 1929.  Early LGC members worked on the grounds at the Crippled Adults Hospital and established a roof garden at the Gailor Psychiatric Hospital in the Medical Center.  Having joined the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs in 1932, they pioneered in the field of color slide programs, making the programs available to TN Federated clubs throughout the state.

The club joined The Garden Club of America (GCA) in 1949. From the early 1950s through the late 1980s,  the club was very involved with Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, most notably providing an Italian Renaissance marble West Entrance, the Seasons Garden, the Azalea Trail and the Sculpture Garden. 

In the 1950s, LGC also began a relationship with Memphis Botanic Garden (MBG), which continues today.  The club was responsible for the initial planting of cherry trees along Cherry Road, established the Sensory Garden at MBG in 1989, and helped start the Children’s Garden at MBG (My Big Backyard).  The club has funded other projects at MBG as needs have arisen, and still provides funding for maintenance of the cherry trees, Sensory Garden and Children’s Garden.

In the interest of the club’s commitment to supporting civic beautification, Little Garden Club has worked on other projects throughout the city, including plantings at Audubon Park, Airways/I-240 interchange, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Wolf River Conservancy, Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, Neighborhood School, Tennessee Governor’s Mansion, Binghampton School Garden, Church Health Center, and Le Bonheur Green. We currently are working with Carpenter Art Garden in Binghampton.

LGC holds a fundraiser (Inspirations, previously called Happenings) every three years to help support our community projects. Inspirations is a fun-filled day, with a speaker, a retail market, lunch and often a hands-on workshop. All of the past speakers have been highly acclaimed floral designers/lifestyle experts such as Susie Edwards, Paula Pryke, Ron Morgan, Chris Giftos, Hitomi Gilliam, Calder Clark, Putnam & Putnam and Bunny Williams. Our next fundraiser, featuring Mary Celeste Beall (proprietor of Blackberry Farm) will be November 7, 2024.

LGC and Memphis Garden Club have co-hosted numerous GCA meetings in Memphis, including the GCA Annual Meeting in 1972, as well as GCA Zone Meetings in 1952, 1979, 1995, 2005, 2015.

To continue the mission of educating the community about horticulture, conservation, flower arranging and garden design, LGC holds flower shows that are open to the public. These flower shows feature floral designs, horticulture specimens and photography, all judged by GCA judges.  Our next flower show will be held in April 2025.