Welcome to the Portage Garden Club website! Thank you for stopping by. We hope you’ll take a minute to look around our site. If you’d like information about membership or have questions about our plant sale or programs, please use our contact form.  We’ll get in touch with you soon.

 

The Portage Garden Club is back with new presentations and meetings.

December 2023: Holiday Luncheon at Park Club at 11:30

Where : 219 W South Park, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Join us in a celebration of the holidays with a luncheon at Park Club. Gift Exchange is $15.00 gift.

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January 18, 2024 Potluck Fun

Where: Home of Mary Klenow. See your booklet for address.

• Join in a winter afternoon of potluck and get together. Arrive at 12:00. Anne Klimek and Carol Carr to help Mary K.

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February 15, 2024: Seed Sowing

Speaker : Linda Whitlock at Stuart Manor, Schrier Park

The February meeting of the PGC is on Thursday, February 15 (not 16th).  Also, due to some problems at the new Parks and Rec building we are being bumped to Schrier Park for our meeting.  Please pass it on to anyone you see from the club.

We have Linda Whitlock doing a presentation on seed sowing.  Please bring a gallon jug, seeds, small spade, and gloves.  Linda is bringing the soil.  

• 12:00 pm. Bag Lunch with beverages and dessert provided.
• Linda will guide us in the process of planning and sowing a variety of seeds. The seedling will be ready to plant in our garden in the spring.
• Hostess’s: Carren Cramer, Carol Breuer, Mary Wangler, Mary Bower.

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March 21, 2024: Rain Gardens

Speaker Alysia Babcock at Stuart Manor, 7340 Garden Lane, Portage MI 49002

• 12:00 pm. Bag Lunch with beverages and dessert provided.
• Learn about shrubs and perennials that grow in a depressed area of landscape that collects rain water runoff during rain storm. A rain garden can be a cost effective way to reduce runoff from your property.
• Hostess’s : Janet Green, Pat Beck, Colleen Rutherford.

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April 19, 2024: Vernal Pools

Speaker: Jessica Hagen at Stuart Manor, 7340 Garden Lane, Portage MI 49002

• 12:00 pm. Bag Lunch with beverages and dessert provided.
• Vernal Pools are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They also provide a habitat for insects and natal amphibian that cannot thrive where fish live.
• Hostess’s: Ginger Cloud, Gail Lindsey, Gloria Padilla-Carlson, Mary Klenow.

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April 29, 2024: District 3A Leadership Meeting

Where: Fernwood Botanical Gardens, 13988 Range Line Road, Niles, MI

• Hosted by Indian Hills Garden Club.

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May 19-23, 2024 National Garden Club, Inc. Convention

Where: Denver, Colorado

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May 16, 2024 : Plant Sale Setup and Club Meeting

Where: Anne Klimek’s home. Check book for address.

• 12:00 pm. Bag Lunch with beverages and dessert provided.
• The final meeting of the year includes voting for 2024-25 board members. After lunch, we will go to the plant nursery to finish setup for our annual sale.
• Hostess’s: Barb Knickerbocker, Beverly Byle, Jackie Wnuk, Patt Hewitt.

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May 17-18, 2024 Annual Plant Sale

• Plant Sale: Friday, May 17, 7:00-5:00.
• Plant Sale: Saturday, May 18, 8:00-3:00.

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June, 2024 Michigan Garden Clubs Annual Conference. TBD.

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June 20, 2024: Shades of Lavender

Where: 4722 24th St, Mattawan, 49071

• Meet at Park and Ride (8316 Angling Rd, 49024) at 10:45 to car pool.
• 12:00 pm. guided tour by owner Anthony Tran followed by lunch and meeting.

The Portage Garden Club is back with new presentations and meetings.

The Portage Garden Club was organized in 1969 and was federated in 1970 as a member club of the Michigan Garden Clubs (District III) and the National Garden Clubs.

We are a group of friends that share a passion for gardening and enjoy making a difference in our community. We meet February – December on the third Thursday of the month around noon, usually at the Stuart Manor in the Celery Flats. Our meetings include an opportunity for learning. Each program includes a presentation on a gardening related topic of interest to our members. We either have a guest speaker or a field trip.

Following are some examples of the activities and projects of our Portage Garden Club:

• Coordinating with the Portage Parks Department, we planted and now maintain the perennial gardens around Stuart Manor in  Celery Flats.   

• We have our annual plant
  sale and fund raiser the third Friday in May at a member’s home. The perennial and outdoor plants we share are ones from our own (and friends’) gardens that have done so well, we have extra. If there are any leftover plants, we donate most of them to Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity.
• We donate and plant the annual gardens at the MediLodge Nursing Home in Portage.
• We participate in Kalamazoo in Bloom by adopting and maintaining/weeding an annual bed near the Portage City Hall. 
• We purchase, collect, and donate many mittens, gloves and hats to the Senior Center Needlers who then distribute them to those in our community that are in need of them.

We also contribute money to other community charities and organizations such as the Michigan Garden Club Scholarship Program, the Kalamazoo Nature Center, Portage Community Center, Kalamazoo in Bloom, Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary, the National Garden Clubs, Inc. project: Global Partners Running Water and Power Up Backpack Program.

We have a wonderful Club and always enjoy getting together to learn, work and play in our gardens!

Please visit our Facebook page for news and updates.

We are affiliated with the Michigan, Central Region and National Garden Clubs.