Violet Crown Garden Club, Austin Texas

Where Horticulture & Design Meet

Organized April 1, 1924 • Federated 1928

The Violet Crown Garden Club was organized in 1924 by Clara Driscoll Sevier. It is one of the oldest garden clubs in Texas, and enjoys membership in the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and Texas Garden Clubs, Inc. We welcome you to our website and encourage you to join us.

Meetings & Events

Our monthly meetings begin at 9:30 am with refreshments and fellowship, followed by a program and brief business meeting at 10 am. Our meetings and events take place in the large conference room of the Austin Area Garden Center at Zilker Botanical Garden, 2220 Barton Springs Rd. We have planned:

September 24, 2009 "The New Designs, Not the Big Bad Wolf" - Jean Stewart
October 10-11, 2009 Standard Flower Show - "Celebrations"
October 22, 2009 "Backyard Birds and Ways to Attract Them" - Barbara Anderson
November 19, 2009 "Fancy Ferns" - Dr. Laura Joseph
December 17, 2009 "Celebration Tables" - Dolores Rumpf
January 28, 2010 "Make Your Own Containers for Your Designs" - Jo Colonnetta
February 25, 2010 "Tropicals That Sizzle" - Matt Welch, Great Outdoors Nursery
March 18, 2010 "Designs in the Oriental Manner" - Beth Zimpleman, Hemerocallis Society
March 27-28, 2010 Zilker Garden Festival Standard Flower Show
April 22, 2010 "Iris' As You Like Them" - Don Freeman
May 27, 2010 Tour of Two Austin Gardens

Membership

Our members include men and women of all ages who love to make things grow, arrange flowers, and learn about nature. Membership dues are $25 annually. As Violet Crown Garden Club members, we learn to enhance our homes and surroundings and to fulfill our mission statement through:

Monthly meetings to study floral design, get horticulture updates, hear expert speakers on a variety of topics, and hold plant swaps & sales
Periodic fieldtrips to points of interest, workshops in design & horticulture, and flower shows (including Zilker Garden Festival)
Providing a scholarship to a deserving freshman/sophomore college student who plans to study horticulture, floriculture, or other related areas.

Officers for 2009-11

President - Ruth Ruiz
VP, Programs - Alys Honey
Secretary - Linda Sedden
Treasurer - Angie Smith
Parliamentarian - Sandra Holt (Past President)

Click here to view photos from our flower shows.

History Clara Driscoll

In the early spring of 1924, Mrs. Clara Driscoll Sevier called a meeting at her home, Laguna Gloria, for those interested in community beautification. The poet O'Henry called Austin "The City of the Violet Crown". So the name Violet Crown Garden Club was adopted. The club met for 26 years in the Crystal Ballroom at the Driskill Hotel, then at various other locations. They helped to build the garden center at Zilker Botanical Garden and have been meeting there since their 40th anniversary in 1964.

Mission statement

Texas Garden Clubs, Inc. promotes the love of gardening, floral design, horticulture, civic responsibilities, landscaping, environmental concerns, and garden therapy for men, women, and children and encourages participation and support in educational programs for both the very young and advanced students. It is the purpose of this organization to preserve, protect and conserve the natural resources of this country and to maintain and enhance the beauty of our lands.