Beautifying Beaufort The Beaufort Garden Club Celebrates 85 Years

story by NATHAN LIVESAY

Spring is here and in South Carolina that means the azaleas are in bloom everywhere you turn. As you drive about town it seems like every yard has azaleas. It almost appears that at some point there was a local ordinance that required you plant them to live in Beaufort. That’s not quite right, although it is close. Beaufort is home to numerous garden clubs and the oldest and most active club got its start with the planting of azaleas all over town.
The Beaufort Garden Club is the oldest garden club in Beaufort and one of the oldest and most active in South Carolina. It was founded in 1934 by a group of women who wanted to do what they could do to beautify the town during the years of the Great Depression. Current members of the club talk glowingly about the founders who they described as the “movers and shakers of Beaufort.” They started their beautification plan with azaleas and Liberty Gardens and founded an organization that has been dedicated for the past 85 years to improving the quality of life for residents of the town, promoting Beaufort as a tourist destination, beautifying Beaufort, educating people young and old while contributing to local civic organizations.
The club’s initial goal was to find ways to beautify the city of Beaufort. They promoted the planting of azaleas for almost a decade and encouraged other cleanup and beautification efforts in the city by hosting contests. They also collaborated with the city fathers of Beaufort to sponsor the city’s first travel brochure promoting Beaufort as the “Historic Sea Island City of the South.” Promoting tourism by drawing people to come see the beauty of Beaufort has always been a part of what the club is about.

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Membership has from the beginning been limited to 29 members so that the club is small enough for members to get to know each other, provide significant ways to contribute for every member and that meetings can be held in member’s homes on the second Wednesday of every month. All members are expected to be active participants in the preparations for the Garden-A-Day program and committed to at least two committees. Despite those obligations, the club has become so popular that there is now a waiting list of women who want to join the club. Current members of the Beaufort Garden Club take great pains to make sure they honor the traditions and intentions of the founding members.
Jane Culley, current president of the club, moved back to Beaufort in 2004 and joined the club in 2005. This is her second run as club president and she clearly loves the women she works with. Culley described the other members of the club by saying “They are intelligent, innovated, creative, flexible and talented. Each and every one of them is involved with their committees and are there when the Club needs them. They make my job so easy. It is my pleasure to serves as President of the Beaufort Garden Club.”

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The Beaufort Garden Club’s flagship event is the Garden-A-Day program they have done for the past twenty-four years to celebrate National Garden Week. The club works on this event virtually all year long.
During this week Beaufort homeowners open their gardens to the public and a different garden is featured each day. They serve homemade ginger cookies and tea or lemonade and certified master gardeners are available to answer questions as people tour the gardens. They always try to choose a variety of different types of gardens – small or large so that people can get an idea of how you can use different types of spaces and what will flourish where. Through the generosity of the homeowners and the work of the club members the event has become a huge success. Last year there were more than 2300 visits to the featured gardens during the week. This year the gardens will be open June 3-7 and this will be 25th anniversary of the event that was started by Marion Leach in 1994. The event takes place rain or shine and the gardens are open each day from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There is no cost to tour – this is always a free event. The homes featured this year are listed below:

Monday, June 3rd
412 East Street
The Point
Tuesday, June 4th
2207 Wilson Drive
Pigeon Point
Wednesday, June 5th
1 Hermitage Point
Beaufort
Thursday, June 6th
121 Sunset Boulevard
Ladys Island
Friday, June 7th
1 Blythewood Road
Ladys Island

The City of Beaufort is also hosting the Garden Club of South Carolina’s 89th annual state convention April 11-13. The state convention’s flower show will be hosted at Tabby Place and it will be open to the public on Thursday, April 11 from 2:30-4:30. Another big event for the club is a collaboration with other garden clubs in Beaufort. On Thursday, May 16 the Beaufort Council of Garden Clubs will host a flower show entitled Lowcountry Living also at Tabby Place. This show will be free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The club is also active in working to support local civic organizations. Virtually every month various committees are working with one organization or another. The club is particularly active during the holiday season. The Civic Beautification Committee works with the Beaufort Parks and Recreation Department to plant a tree each year to commemorate Arbor Day. They also maintain the flowers around the flagpole at the National Cemetery of Beaufort. The Wildlife Committee inspects, cleans and maintains the bluebird houses the club has placed in parks around the city. The club also creates floral arrangements for several homes on the Beaufort Fall Tour of Homes. Additionally, club members create floral arrangements for Morningside Assisted Living residents and work with the Beaufort Land Trust on a Butterfly Garden to provide nectar, shelter and host plants for several types of butterflies. The club also hosts Smiles fo Santa – a free opportunity for kids, grandkids or pets to get a photo with Santa at the Gazebo during the Port Royal Farmer’s market. Finally, the flower committee worked with Meals on Wheels and Bay View Nursing home to provide floral arrangements to brighten the Christmas season.
The Beaufort Garden Club is a member of larger district, state, regional and national garden club organizations. In March the club received four first place awards during the West Low Country District Meeting. They were honored for their Garden-A-Day event, for Garden Therapy for their work with Morningside and Bayview, as well as for their club yearbook and their president’s report.
For more information and photos on the Beaufort Garden Club check out their website at www.beaufortgardenclub.com