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National Garden Week Flower Arrangements for Public Servants

 

The 2nd week in June is National Garden Week. Club members gather to create floral arrangements to distribute to various civil servant offices as well as special organizations that serve our community such as retirement homes.  

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Scholarships

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Each May, local high school seniors are awarded scholarships. The number and amounts depend on how much we raise with our fundraising events during the year. 

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The scholarship recipients are selected by members on the Scholarship Committee. The recipients attend the May meeting so that all club members can meet them and learn more about them. 

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Community Beautification

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Our talented, hard-working members dedicate time planning, digging, planting, and weeding to add beauty, interest, and wildlife habitat to many areas of our beloved Columbus. Here are the projects we support: 

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Courthouse Planters & Benches

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In 2007 and 2008, the Garden Club received grants to make the Courthouse Square more welcoming with the addition of benches, banners, and large planters; Members keep these areas interesting and lovely by changing plants with seasonal color. The planter areas are located near the gazebo on the west side of the Square, in the bench area on the Square's northwest corner, and in the bench area on the north side. In addition to selecting, purchasing, and planting seasonal color in the pots, members keep these pots watered year-round. 3 times a week, a Columbus Garden Club member visits the pots to water them and tidy any spent flowers. 

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Blue Star Memorial Garden

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This historic garden is at the northeast corner of the Square, across the street from the Visitor Center. On February 2, 1957, our club and the Texas State Highway Department sponsored the Blue Star Memorial Marker Dedication in honor of armed service men and women. The small square garden around the memorial marker was installed in 1988. Dedicated club members have diligently maintained the garden's plantings, weeding, and watering. 

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Court Oak "Plant It Pink" Garden

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In 2006, our club planted the Court Oak Garden located near the remains of the historic oak tree that was in the middle of Travis Street between the Courthouse and Visitor Center. In 2009 to 2011, it was a focus garden for “Plant it Pink” project for breast cancer research. Club members continue to care for this garden. 

Courthouse Fall Décor

Each October, members gather at the Square to add Fall decorations to planter areas. Hay bales, scarecrows, pumpkins, and other creative decorations make Halloween, Thanksgiving, and enjoying cooler temperatures more fun on the Square. 

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Dilue Rose-Harris House Museum and Alley Cabin Holiday Decorating and Docents

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Since 2009, our club members have decorated the Dilue Rose-Harris House for its Christmas Open House.  Club members dress in period costumes to serve as docents sharing what it was like to live in the times of Mrs. Rose-Harris with elementary school students from Columbus, Eagle Lake, Sheridan and Garwood. 

 

The club members also decorate the adjacent Alley Log Cabin with Christmas trees and other period décor. Elementary students get to experience what the cabin might have looked like in the 1800s with decorations such as corn husk angels, popcorn trimmings, pine cones, and other creative decorations made with materials available on the farm.  

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Visitor Center Butterfly Garden

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in 2018, the Columbus Community Industrial Development Corporation funded the building of our town's Visitor Center on the Courthouse Square at the corner of Travis and Walnut. Our club designed and installed the gardens around the building and have maintained the plantings and kept the gardens looking wonderful with weeding and mulching. In 2020, the club received a grant from the Texas Native Plant Society's “Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas” program. The funds were used to convert a large portion of the garden to native plants including milkweed that support the butterfly's life cycle.

 

With our town being in the major migration flyway along the Colorado River, the milkweed in the garden is often host to the Monarch larvae and adult butterflies seen flitting about the flowering nectar plants. The Visitor’s Center butterfly garden was certified as a Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch. The garden is irrigated so club members do not have to hand-water, but do spend time together weeding and replanting Texas natives as needed.  

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Midtown Park Butterfly Garden

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Using grant funds, in 2008, club members installed a butterfly garden with an eye-catching arbor on Railroad Avenue in Midtown Park.  In 2014 the Midtown Park butterfly garden on Railway Avenue between Preston and Live Oak was recognized as an official butterfly garden by the North American Butterfly Association. In 2020 the garden was certified as a Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch.  The park has irrigation so club members primarily weed and replant as needed to ensure the garden is ready for the arrival of butterflies. 

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Midtown Park Live Oak Street Rose Garden

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The club planted a rose garden in Midtown Park along Live Oak Street. Club members keep the roses healthy and pruned and the surrounding garden weeded.