Petaluma Garden Club bringing beauty to the city for 80 years

The Petaluma Garden Club is celebrating its 80th anniversary and it’s still going strong — even during the pandemic. Garden Club members spent the day of Jan. 17 weeding, mulching and trimming rose bushes in the area near the Visitors Center, Arts Center and the SMART platform where visitors board and disembark from the trains in Petaluma.

Suzanne Clarke, President of the Garden Club, said the group felt it was important to help spruce up the area so that visitors had a good first impression of Petaluma upon arriving.

“I find it so inspiring that we’re able to make these positive inroads,” Clarke said.

Events like that not only provide an opportunity to help beautify the town, it is also an important learning experience as the club’s master gardeners demonstrate how to trim roses correctly.

Patricia Souza, co-chair of the Garden Club’s Beautification Committee, described the Visitor’s Center project as an especially large job, but an enjoyable one.

Said Souza, “It was a fun time.”

First, they weeded and mulched the area. Then, about15 members began pruning the many rose bushes located there. They were joined by a half-dozen neighbors who had seen the event advertised on social media and came out to help. There are 120 rose bushes in that location, and the club was not able to trim them all, but Souza said they were able to make a big dent.

“Now people getting off the train will think, ‘What a lovely rose garden,’ instead of thinking ‘what a pile of weeds,’” she said.

The city has supported the garden club’s efforts, donating rolls of cardboard and plenty of mulch to the Arts Center improvement effort. Clarke praised Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett and City Manager Peggy Flynn in particular for their efforts in helping with the beautification of the town.

“I feel like we’re working together as a team,” said Clarke, “to make Petaluma more beautiful.”

The Garden Club’s steadfast members have continued such beautification projects, even during the pandemic, meeting regularly on Zoom to share information and coordinate plans.

“I think we’ve been pretty determined and optimistic,” Clarke said. “We’ve continued to move forward working on projects during the COVID mine field.”

The Garden Club has been pruning the roses in Wickersham Park each year since the club began, and have created a butterfly habitat garden there as well. They’ve done work around the Senior Center, helping to create a peaceful garden area in the back and landscaping around the front. They spruced up the area on Walnut near the farmers market.

Members of the Garden Club have varied interests.

“Not everybody wants to get their hands dirty,” Souza said. “We have people who just do flower arranging. We have people who just do Japanese bonsai trees. Some people just enjoy learning about plants.”

Souza herself is a certified master gardener. There are several master gardeners in the club who share their knowledge with the group, do demos and give talks about gardening. Clarke is also a master gardener and says she loves the work.

“Getting close to nature is very soothing, very healing,” she said, describing her experience of working with plants and flowers. “During the psychologically trying existence we’ve had with COVID, to be able to go out and create a beautiful garden or prune the roses and do something positive — to actually do something to make a difference — it’s sort of like not giving up, continuing despite the roadblocks.”

Souza thinks that many locals may remember their grandmothers being involved with the club.

“You know, back in the day,” she said, “between the Garden Club and the Women’s Club, all the women that were movers and shakers were involved in those because there weren’t as many other opportunities for women.”

Today, the Garden Club provides an opportunity to increase members’ gardening knowledge while making friends and serving their community through many ongoing projects. Before COVID-19, the garden club was doing regular outings and tours of nurseries, gardens and forests. They were also attending Garden Club conventions in other areas. They look forward to the day when they are able to resume those activities.

Clarke said they would love to have more community members getting involved, and are thrilled that a group of younger members have recently joined. The Garden Club shares information through its Facebook page and meets on the second Monday of the month, via Zoom.

“People do want to improve their skills and the garden club is a great way to do that and to make friends who share this common interest,” Souza said. “Garden Club people just want to have fun!”