Gardening is a thousand-year-old practice. For the past 100 of those years, growers in the Peoria area have turned to the Peoria Garden Club to flex their green thumbs.
The club meets on the first Thursday of every month from September to May, hosting workshops, sharing tips and planning civic projects.
One of those projects is called Sharing Flowers. Member Lori Gangloff said the club wanted to do something involving the whole community,
“So we asked all of the members if you have extra flowers in your garden, or if you want to purchase some, take them someplace,” she said. “A vase of flowers to the library. They have been all over, to doctor's offices, to people who are ill.”
Members also give bouquets to nursing homes, businesses and friends who can't spend time outside. The original goal was to give away 50 bouquets. The club already has given 88.
Gangloff said the club also gave 50 free trees for Illinois Central College's landscape day, with plans to give another 50 away in the spring.
“And that was also fun to see the joy when someone said, ‘You mean it's free?’” she said. “And off they went with their tree. And so one of our members grew them. They were pawpaw trees and persimmon trees and some dogwood.”
Member Barbara Kane said the club also helps with beautification efforts in the city by planting gardens.
“We made one at the airport, various places around the community,” Kane said. “We've helped them develop gardens and landscaping Neighborhood House, Friendship House.”
They've also donated vegetable plants to community groups and started a children's garden at Luthy Botanical Garden.
“We donated vegetable plants to a learning center,” Gangloff said. “It was downtown, and then the girl in charge was invited to come back when they were going to use some of the produce. And the children had never tasted some of these things before, and she said it was so much fun to see their joy when they got to taste some different vegetables.”
The club also gives scholarships to students at Illinois Central College. As part of the 100-year celebration, the club gave away an extra one.
On top of civic projects, the club exists to share information and mentor new gardeners, hosting educational workshops and sending out a newsletter with gardening tips. Kane said she's been gardening for years, but still relies on the mentorship of other members.
“Just ask someone, where can I plant this? What would be the exposure? What would be the soil?” she said. “And Lori will agree with me that the first thing we always tell everybody is you're going to have to amend the soil for the type of plant that you have. So you can't just plunk it in the ground. You have to make sure that the roots are going to grow, etc.”
Both Gangloff and Kane suggest beginner gardeners start with plants that don't require a lot of care. Annual lantanas, blue salvias and hostess are good flowers to start with, but Gangloff said even the hardiest of plants will still need care.
“The big thing my plants needed this year was water,” she said. “We did have some water early on, but it's been so dry that I've really watered a lot.”
Kane agreed the lack of rain and high temperatures impacted member gardens this year.
“I have to move my pots out of the sun when it's really hot, and then I move my pots back in the sun when it cools off,” she said. “So I do a lot of that."
Bboth Gangloff and Kane said the club exists to help gardeners with all levels of experience navigate these challenges. The club hopes to again host their Green Acre Sale in May. The annual sale allows people to buy plants from members.
Anyone looking to join the club can do so at its website. People interested in joining also can sit in at a meeting as a guest of Gangloff and Kane.
A traveling exhibition celebrating the history of the club is currently on display at Five Points Washington. It will be on display there until November, when it moves to the Peoria Public Library North Branch.
