Reinvigorating garden clubs, was Plagiarized Images
Jane McGary (Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:08:09 PST)

Dylan commented that online plant society presence may "help to
establish and reinvigorate local clubs that are the heart

I hope this is true, since I've been very active for more than a
quarter-century in our local NARGS chapter, the membership of which
has declined like that of almost all garden groups. We do have a core
of about 25 members who show up at almost every meeting, bring plants
to show and exchange, give lectures, organize hikes and tours, and
dutifully shoulder officers' responsibilities in an endless rotation.
An enthusiastic new member is welcomed like an addition to a family!
(And we don't even ask her to be an officer for a grace period of say
three years.) This struggle takes place in one of the most
garden-intensive places in North America, where almost every front
yard has at least one choice plant (however neglected), and where one
of our counties has more nurseries than any other US county. I'm
happy to report that a number of our members are also in the PBS, and
our annual pot show features many well-grown bulbs in flower.

So why don't we have 50 or 75 people showing up for meetings? It may
have been partly because we lacked an online presence, but that has
just been provided thanks to PBS and NARGS member and specialty
nursery grower Emma Elliott, who set our group up at http://www.cwnargs.org/
, which I hope any of you in the Portland Metro area will visit.
Non-members of NARGS are always welcome at our meetings. Local
gardens featuring bulb collections as well as rock gardens are on our
spring tours.

NARGS activities also can be coordinated with more specialized plant
groups, such as the Primula Society, Rhododendron Society, or
American Conifer Society. Several years ago I wrote a proposal for
more official kinds of collaboration among plant societies, almost
all of which are seeing their membership decline, but administrative
factors led to the proposal sinking like a stone. I hope someday such
an initiative will be possible, and it had better be soon.

I'm the Membership Coordinator for PBS, and if any of our members
want to organize actual meetings, I can supply a list of contacts
from those in a specific area who have expressed willingness to be in
the Membership Directory, including their e-mail addresses.
Dues-paying members will receive the new directory later this winter.
So you can see that joining the PBS, in addition to participating in
this free discussion list, may give you an opportunity to visit with
fellow enthusiasts face to face. The BX already helps us exchange
plants worldwide, but nothing really compares to seeing them growing.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA