Open Gardens
Open Gardens is beginning its
second year as a program of the GCA where members open up their own
gardens and share their successes with fellow members and make new
friends.
This program is only available to members. Become member of the GCA .
How the Open Gardens program works.
Open gardens works by allowing GCA members to open their gardens to
other GCA members on the dates and times they specify. If you want to
be open on say, the third Saturday in May from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then
you sign up for those times. The GCA then posts your open garden on the
Open Gardens Calendar so other members can see your open garden and
stop in to see your garden and chat during those times. Open gardens
are open to members only. Be ready to flash that GCA membership card to
get in.
Share the knowledge.
Part of the GCA mission is to promote gardening in greater Kansas City,
and part of that is seeing what does and does not work for other area
gardens. Open Gardens are integral to that ideal. They show by example
what can be done with a lot of hard work and good gardening spirit.
Some gardens may be established gems or brand new jewels ready to grow
into something bigger over time. Maybe your garden is formal, casual,
artistic or just wild and unruly, but each speaks to us all. No garden
is perfect, but each one has something to offer or challenge our
notions of gardening and make us strive for something new, different
and exciting.
You can do it.
I used to say that I would open my garden to guests as soon as I
finished this or that. Then my garden would be a showplace to see by an
admiring public. That day never came, and I realized that gardens, like
life, are a work in progress and will never be perfect.
I also came to realize that when I visited other people’s gardens I
never saw the undone things or the weeds in the corner. I only saw the
amazing diversity of flowers and ideas I had never imagined before.
Even after many a host had pointed out the short comings of their
gardens I could only think that their garden could be far worse. It
could be mine with all the unfinished projects, the
not-so-pulled-together plantings, the weeds that like so many movie
monsters rise from the grave only to take over once again.
Then one day I got a call asking me to open my garden to the members of the Greater Kansas City Iris Society. I said yes!
Having an Open Garden.
It was nice to meet fellow gardeners in a relaxed environment and show
off our garden warts and all. I had so much fun talking to fellow
gardeners about my garden and listen to them gush on about this plant
or that one and however did I get it to grow? They have been trying
that plant for years with no success. No one mentioned the dandelions
in the corner that I didn't have time to pull or the project I was in
the middle of. They were too busy enjoying the joys of my garden the
many iris in full bloom, the many bananas I have here and there or the
many other plants that made a good showing that day with the perfect
spring weather.
It was then that I was hooked, and we had garden parties on and off
this whole year, and I discovered a new joy of gardening, sharing it
with others.
Can I open my garden?
The GCA Open Gardens program is modeled after a very successful program from the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. This only works if members open their gardens.
All we ask is that you provide at least 30 days’ notice of your open
gardens date, you chose at least a four-hour block of time to be open
and provide a brief description of your garden.
See another garden in your area on the calendar? Then think about
joining them in opening your garden on the same day with overlapping
times so members can see two or more gardens on a trip.
You can be open as many days as you wish. Want to be open in the spring
and then again in the fall to show off the changes in your garden
throughout the seasons? That is wonderful.
Sign up is easy. Just fill out the Open Gardens
Registration Form below. The Open Gardens chairperson will contact you
to finalize your open garden.
The Open Gardens Calendar is on the GCA website in the Members Only Section. Log in Now!
To get the password to the members-only section of the web site, e-mail Info@GardenCenterAssociation.org with your name and address.
