The Fort Worth Garden Club (FWGC) was organized in 1926 with the expressed purpose of cultivating a broader knowledge of gardening, horticulture and design, to advocate for the protection of the environment, and to support the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
The formation of garden clubs in the United States was an outgrowth of the Woman’s Club movement of the late 19th– and early 20th century. Indeed, our own Fort Worth Garden Club had its origins in the Fort Worth Woman’s Club. In 1926, sixteen women joined together to form the club with Mrs. Ben O. (Frances Portwood) Smith elected as president. The Fort Worth Garden Club was also one of the nine charter member clubs who formed the Texas Federation of Garden Clubs (now known as Texas Garden Clubs, Inc.).
The club’s first major project was the landscaping of the grounds of The Woman’s Club building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The club secured the services of nationally-known landscape architect S. Herbert Hare of Kansas City, Missouri to furnish the plans for free. The city’s newly hired forester, Raymond C. Morrison, supervised the implementation of the plans which included the planting of Southern laurel and ligustrum to frame the building’s arched windows. The new top soil, plant materials, and other supplies cost $4,000 and it took three years to pay for it. The club also held its first flower show during Mrs. Smith’s term.
Other bold projects meant to benefit the public were endorsed and eventually executed. One project was the creation of a municipal rose garden, which was completed in 1933 in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Another was the creation of a garden center. It opened to the public in 1935 in the Horticulture Building, now known as the Rock Springs Building, in the botanic garden. The Garden Center was operated as a joint venture of the Board of Park Commissioners, the Fort Worth ISD, and the Fort Worth Garden Club. Garden club member Mary Daggett Lake served as the center’s director until her death in 1955. Following her death, the Fort Worth Garden Club established the Mary Daggett Lake Library in her memory in what had been her office in the Rock Springs Building. The library is still in this location.
Following World War II, the members of the Fort Worth Garden Club were ready to celebrate a new era. The club spearheaded a community-wide flower show that was held at the Will Rogers Coliseum from May 10-12, 1946. Over 19,000 people attended the show. After its closing, volunteers delivered flowers from the show to area hospitals and institutions, brightening the day of many in need.
Throughout the years, much of the Fort Worth Garden Club’s focus has centered on the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. The club’s mission statement specifically mentions that among its purposes is the support of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and the garden bears many manifestations of this support. In 1963, the club sponsored the construction of a Fragrance Garden behind the Rock Springs Building. This garden was built specifically for the visually impaired. Unfortunately, this garden was removed a few years ago when the site became unstable. When construction began on the Japanese garden in 1968, the garden club was its biggest supporter and the garden’s earliest improvements were largely funded by it. They included the torii gate, the Meditation Garden (now the Karesansui, or Dry Landscape Garden), the tea houses, the moon deck, the pagoda, and a moon bridge. It was through the efforts of the Fort Worth Garden Club that the Fort Worth Botanical Society was formed.
Although the Rock Springs Building had been enlarged over the years, it was entirely too small to serve the club, the garden, and the public effectively. It was through the efforts of the Fort Worth Garden Club that the present Garden Center and Conservatory were constructed in 1986. In 1988, the Dorothea Leonhardt Lecture Hall was added on the north side of the building. Its construction was made possible by the Communities Foundation of Texas. The club’s Garden Center Committee works with the Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Department in determining how the center’s funds will be spent. In 2005, the Garden Center was renamed the Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center. Mrs. Moncrief, a long-time member of the Fort Worth Garden Club, had made many generous gifts to the garden, including a substantial gift for the construction of the Garden Center and Conservatory. Before her death in 2010, Mrs. Moncrief had created an endowment fund to meet special needs in the garden. The Moncrief Endowment Committee is composed of garden club members. The Endowment Committee’s projects have included the two reflecting pools in the median of Botanic Garden Boulevard (1997), the addition of the pools’ two leaping frog sculptures by Andre Harvey (1998), commissioning of the Birth of Love sculpture (2000), purchase, repair, and installation of the sculpture Solar Disc (2004), funding for a master plan for the garden, and various renovations throughout the Garden Center.
Other projects in the botanic garden have been initiated or supported by the Fort Worth Garden Club. The Singing Tower Carillon near the Fuller Garden was a gift to the club from internationally known pianist Van Cliburn in 1994 in honor of his mother, Rildia Bee O’Bryan Cliburn. The Flower Clock at the entrance to the garden, the Harley Street Entrance Garden, a production greenhouse, and sculpture in the garden have all received funding from the Fort Worth Garden Club. Recently, the Fort Worth Garden Club has sponsored the restoration of the garden’s historic Municipal Rose Garden.
Projects which receive the ongoing support of the Fort Worth Garden Club include “Fort Worth Beautiful” Awards given annually to recognize beautification projects across the city that have been undertaken by the private sector, an annual Standard Flower Show, Junior Gardeners at local schools and Cook Children’s Medical Center, Art in the Garden, an annual juried art show for local artists, and Mayfest Tree donations.
Throughout its history, members of the Fort Worth Garden Club have made significant contributions to the garden club community locally and at the state and national levels. Two members, Mary Kittel and Mary Louise Michie, served as president of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. in 1973-75 and 1995-1997 respectively. Members who make outstanding contributions to the Fort Worth Garden Club are recognized with the Deborah Award, the club’s highest honor. This award was established in 1991 in honor of Deborah Beggs Moncrief.
There are many opportunities for members to serve the club and the greater Fort Worth community and to become a part of the legacy of the Fort Worth Garden Club.