About Us

What's New

Join Us

Co-President's Message

Executive Board

History

Contact Us

About Us

Welcome to the Poway Valley Garden Club located in the City of Poway,
The City in the Country
Organized and federated since September 1961

Member of...
National Garden Clubs, Inc., Pacific Region
California Garden Clubs, Inc.
Palomar District of CGCI

Affiliate Member of...
San Diego Botanical Foundations, Inc.
The Nature Conservancy
San Diego Floral Association

Our Objectives…
* to promote interest in gardening and related creative activities
* to encourage improvements, beautification of our community and personal property

Next Poway Valley Garden Club Meeting to be held

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
at Templars Hall, Old Poway Park

Check our calendar for future programs and field trips.

Next PVGC Board Meeting to be held
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
1 p.m. at The Parlor, Old Poway Park

What's New

Please Note: Our Garden Center Hopping on May 21st has been postponed until further notice.

30th Standard Flower Show Information & Schedule

Poway Valley Garden Club Newsletter for: March 2008 Modified Version

Newsletters requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open

GRANT FOR TEMPLARS HALL NATIVE PLANT GARDEN
  "Dear Garden Club Members:
Congratulations! 

Useful Information:

The Wildfire Zone creates awareness of wildfire risks and hazards and offers tips on how you can reduce them. By working together as individuals and communities, we can all reduce the risks of wildfire.

211 San Diego, working to bring the best resources available during emergency.

From the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services
Emergency Notification: Register your cell phones and email addresses
Residents who live in San Diegp County are encouraged to register their cell phones and email addresses for emergency notifications by clicking here. Once email address and cell phone numbers are registered, it will take up to 24 hours for that information to be updated into AlertSanDiego, the County of San Diego mass notification system that is commonly referred to Reverse 911.

Join Us

Do you have the interest to grow things and learn more about gardening in our area?

Are you interested in meeting and knowing people who like to garden?

Do you have problems in your yard and garden you would like to learn how to fix them?

You are welcomed to join Poway Valley Garden Club organized since 1961.

Membership dues are $20 July-June. Members joining after February 1 will pay $10 and their membership expires June 30th.

Poway Valley Garden Club Membership Brochure

This brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

Co-President's Message

Welcome to a new year of garden clubbing! This is an exciting time and adventure for me and I hope to have fun, share and celebrate gardening with you.  The theme this year is “Garden Passport of the World”. 

This summer members have designed a new yearbook, scheduled exciting programs, reevaluated our projects, publicized our club and added new sections to our newsletter, all to promote the opportunity for our members to share their garden knowledge, plants, friendships and acknowledge and thank the work our members do.

We are starting the year with all our committee chairpersons filled – thank you to all members who agreed to take on these positions.  My wish is that all members support and help one another to accomplish the projects and goals our club has decided upon.

A special thank you to Gail Matson who has done a phenomenal job creating our yearbook and getting it printed.  Your new yearbook is now a PVGC Passport.  Please bring it to all meetings, use it to take notes, post reminders and schedule garden visits.  I hope this will be a useful tool, so put your PVGC Passport in your purse and bring it to every meeting. 

This year we have exciting, insightful programs including accomplished speakers such as Pat Welsh, Evelyn Weidner, Patrick Anderson, Greg Rubin and Connie Beck.

Let us have a fun year as we get to know one another and grow together in garden club.  As our CGCI President, Robin Pokorsky, said “the best part of garden clubbing is YOU.” 

-Rosemary Anderson
   

Executive Board

Our next Board Meeting is Wednesday, Wednesday, April 2, 2008
at the Parlour in Old Poway Park

History

by Judy Nemec and proofed by Betty Brandow

The Beginning
The Poway Valley Garden Club began in the fall of 1961 with the efforts of Gwen Stockes and 34 other charter members. The dues were $4.00 a year with a $1 initiation fee and the Club met twice a month at member homes.

There was much interest and involvement in the growing community. Contacts were made in regard to unsightly appearance of shopping centers, and awards were made to those who had made significant improvements at business sites.

Civic Activity

One has to be impressed with the activity of the early Club. There was a need to raise money, so many plant sales occurred, as-well-as pancake breakfasts. The money often went to beautification projects. In return for the use of school or Church facilities, plantings were made; trees were regularly planted on Arbor Day, and the grounds of the Poway Valley Riders Association was landscaped with the advice, help and donations from Club members. Plantings were also made at the San Pasqual Wild Animal Park. Several years of discussion about plantings at “Welcome to Poway” signs in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce led eventually to the installation of a water supply at the west entrance to town on Poway Road and a donation toward the planting. Click on arbor day photo to make larger.

Projects

Through the years many projects were supported by the Club. Besides beautification of Poway, garden therapy – which was directed toward a retirement home – was a civic activity. For a time there was support of Girl Scout troops and the world gardening project collected money for seeds and implements and scholarships to help Korea. During the whole history of the Club, money has been collected to plant trees in the Cleveland National Forest. As of September 2005, 50 one-acre plantations have been planted. A special community-wide effort to collect money for this was made in September 1970 because of a forest fire. In 2004 the Club took on responsibility for planting and maintaining three raised beds in a periodmotif at the Nelson House in Old Poway Park.

Traditions

For many years there was a Husband’s Night potluck dinner. Continuing to the present is the annual December holiday party with the gift exchange, silent auction and food collection. Another continuing activity since 1967 is the weekly donation of arrangements to the Library.

Activities

The early Club was very interested in birds and developed an extensive list of the birds in the area, as-well-as built feeding stations to sell. From the start through the 1990’s they participated in the Pow Wow Days activities, sometimes having a parade entry, exhibit or produce show and competition.

From the late 60’s through 1975 the Club was responsible for the Colorful Gardens feature in the PowayNewsChieftain. At various times there was involvement in tree recycling and clean-up campaigns – the Club even has its own 30 gallon garbage can!

Meetings

During the 1st two decades, the Club was so interested in flower design that there were often two meetings a month – one of which was a workshop. During the first years the meetings were held at a variety of member homes. The Community Church was used for large occasions and later for regular meetings. For many years the club met in a large room in the trailer home of Linnie Haley. The Haleys also stored Club properties and the Library materials. In 1986 the trailer park was sold and the Club began meeting at the Lake Poway Pavilion. Because of the rose garden maintenance done by the Club, the rental fee there was waived. Increasing membership was almost always a desire; but while the Club was meeting at the Haley’s there was a proposal to limit membership to 50 because of the space available. Teas were held, sometimes twice a year to attract people. Those who did join were given small plants during some of the years.

The Rose Garden

The Rose Garden at Lake Poway was started with 16 bare-root bushes being planted in 1973. Over the years many roses had to be replaced because of inadequate watering, being eaten by pests, being destroyed during re-landscaping and road construction. A drip system was finally installed by Club members in the late 90’s, and the Park overhauled the system and took responsibility for it in 1999. Various fences were put in place, one in 1975 as a result of large personal donations. In the earlier years the annual January rose pruning was a big activity that attracted lots of people. The North County Rose Society gave instructions and our Club either held a potluck luncheon for those involved or provided sandwiches, dessert and drinks to the attendees. The demonstrations terminated with the arrival in town of Anderson’s Nursery in 1999 and their demonstrations.Click on rose pruning photo to make larger.

1973 Rose Garden at Poway Lake	2005 Rose Garden at Poway Lake

Visit our Rose Garden Project...

Donations

The Club treasury never got anywhere near $1000 in the early years. Money was donated to many causes. A big one of the 70’s was the building of a sensory trail for the blind at the Cabrillo National Monument. They also donated for the placement of Blue Star Memorial markers and to the American Land Trust and several other organizations. Since before the new Library was built, the Club has donated money for a subscription to Sunset Magazine and/or California Gardens. The Club gave up its primary money maker – spring and fall plant sales – because they could not compete with the offerings in the grocery stores as of 1979. At the end of the 90’s the treasury balance was averaging just over $1000. Selling Visions of Beauty calendars was then a major source of money.

Flower Shows

Flower Shows began in l962. There were 15 annual shows, and then members began to vote against the effort in much of the 80’s and most of the 90’s. The sites have been Valley Elementary School, Poway High School, Meadowbrook Middle School, the Poway Community Center and finally Old Poway Park. To finance the early shows, ads were sold for the Schedule, and then in 1965 they listed donors. Few shows occurred in the 80’s and 90’s, but resumed when the City of Poway offered generous support in combination with the Earth/Arbor Day celebrations. There have been 28 shows in the 43 year history (2005). Click on photo to make larger.

Save the Eagles

A long-time project until recently was the collection of commemorative cancelled stamps. The stamps were sold to dealers and the money raised went to saving eagles.

We look forward to more years of interesting programs and tours, the increase of membership and the involvement of all in the activities of the Club.

To-date we have...

• Contributed to 55 Pennies Pines Plantings
• Held twenty-eight Standard Flower Shows
• Contributed toward purchase of Pygmy Forests and Save the Torrey Pines
• Participated in many other projects pertaining to horticulture, for example check out Projects.
  

Contact Us

We would like hearing from you at powayvalleygardenclub at hotmail dot com
ATTENTION when emailing us, you will need to change "at" to @ and "dot" to a . and remove all spaces. This will help us to avoid spam email. Thank you!