Starting a new garden club in 2015 has been the most fun volunteer adventure that I’ve experienced.  Sharing a sisterhood so deeply rooted in our state’s history along with our local community is not only rewarding but important.  Every month there is wonderful fellowship and education to look forward to from our own clubs and the Council. 

I have gained so much from being in a Garden Club.  The programs are so varying, and I never walk away without learning something.  The topics range from birds to bees, from flowers to farm to table, from eating and growing healthy food to saving our pollinators.  I have learned how to be a steward of our environment while building friendships, leadership skills, and all while having fun!

I joined my club about 20 years ago, just looking for a group of ladies to have fun with and a night away from the kids! But, what I found were lifelong friends. Though my club is more social, the monthly programs that are open to all clubs and the public have taught me so much about gardening and nature. Being in a garden club has also offered me so many leadership and networking opportunities. These opportunities have led to even more wonderful friendships. My life has been made so much richer being a Southern Magnolia!

Being a newcomer to Marietta by marriage in the early 1990s, I joined the Southern Magnolia Garden Club after being persuaded by my newfound friends, who were all “natives” of Cobb County. Some were considered “Old Marietta”, others were, well, I guess really nice people who didn’t have family who had lived here forever. What I love about my Garden Club is that I have a group of wonderful women that I have been able to navigate life with. No matter what obstacle life has thrown at me, this group of women has been there for me. For me, it is much more than gardening, these women are my support system. They are my tribe. I hope I have given back as much as they have given to me.