On September 5, 1923, 19 women and 1 man met at the Chamber of Commerce to organize the Asheville Garden Club. We have now been in productive existence for 100 years, at one time being considered the club in Asheville for which to gain membership. In 1925 we were one of five charter members who met in Winston-Salem to form the Garden Club of North Carolina (GCNC). Named “Club of the Year” by the GCNC, we received a $1000 award, the equivalent of about $15,000 today. Home gardening was intense and civic minded. Gardening was growing.

AGC was instrumental in restoring the grounds of the old Newton Academy Cemetery before turning care over to the city of Asheville. Another early project saw us planting 1000 dogwoods along Merrimon Avenue, College and Haywood streets. In another, we planted shrubs and flowers at area schools and churches. Currently, we plant and maintain Rosema's Garden located at the north Merrimon Avenue Post Office location.

In the late fifties, AGC convinced the president of Asheville Biltmore College (now UNCA) to set aside a section of land for what has become the well-established Botanical Gardens at Asheville.

Throughout the years the Asheville Garden Club, a member of the South Atlantic Region, has won numerous awards on national, regional (5 states) and state levels. We have hosted the National Garden Clubs, Inc. twice and the GCNC 7 times.

We have historically supported various entities including:

Asheville Botanical Garden

Asheville Greenworks

Black Mountain Home for Children

Eliada Home

Bountiful Cities

Our History