13 October
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Grosse Pointe Garden Center, Inc. founded in 1950, is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to… “Promote Education, Beautification, Horticulture, and Conservation in our community.”
6th Annual Legacy Seminar: We are excited to announce and introduce our featured speaker for our seminar on Saturday, February 27, Kelly D. Norris. An award-winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, and numerous television, radio, and digital media appearances. He’s also the founder and curator of The Public Horticulture Company, an emerging ecological landscape startup based in Des Moines, Iowa. The studio also produces the New Naturalism Academy, a virtual school for enthusiastic designers, as a commitment to continuing education and lifelong learning. As the former director of horticulture and 
education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden for eight years, he directed efforts in design, curation, programming, garden, and facility management. Kelly travels widely to explore and study plants in nature. He lives and works at Three Oaks Garden (Des Moines, Iowa), a creative refuge and planting field on a hill above the Des Moines River. Kelly’s designs have won awards recently at the prestigious Philadelphia Flower Show.
Community Joiner Fair held its very popular 2nd Fair on October 7 at the War Memorial. It provides a place where local clubs, nonprofits, and civic organizations can connect, meet new people, and find opportunities to get involved and make a difference. The Garden Center hosted a table at the event displaying our various gardening activities and upcoming programs. We were able to meet and connect with many new people who have an interest in gardening.
Annual Trial Gardens Awards Tea: Members and non-members celebrated the end of summer with a delicious Tea, a catch up with friends, and the winners of our 2026 Trial Gardens Competition were announced: First place: Deeplands Garden Club, Second place: Grand Marais Garden Club and Third place: Grosse Pointe Farm & Garden. We also gave a People’s Choice Award to The Pointe Garden Club. Our featured speaker, Alaine Bush, gave a very informative program on Lessons from the Victory Gardens, from her two years of learning experiences, planting methods, harvest results, etc., in planning and planting two different victory gardens at the War Memorial Trial Gardens. To follow Alaine’s Victory Garden online, including delicious recipes, click here.
Art from the Gardens Exhibit and Meet and Greet: An exhibition of the artists’ works, painted in the gardens during our June Garden Tour, was held in the Hallway Gallery of the War Memorial Art Wing through Friday, July 31, 2026. The exhibition was arranged by the Grosse Pointe Artists Association, in collaboration with the Garden Center. There was a special reception with light refreshments to meet and greet the artists in person and view their works on display on July 16 at 6:30 pm.
34th Annual Garden Tour, “We the People…. Garden,” was held Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20, 2026, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Garden Center had a record number, just shy of, 1000 people attending the tour this year, enjoying perfect summer weather and a wonderful variety of beautiful gardens. Our tours have become a much-anticipated Grosse Pointe tradition each summer. The first tours were actually started by the former Grosse Pointe Garden Council as house and garden tour fundraisers in 1974. The Garden Council merged into the Garden Center in 1991, which is the year we started numbering our annual tours. If we were to include the former Council’s tours, this year would have marked our 51st Annual Tour (we lost one year due to COVID).
Garden Center’s Annual College Scholarships Awarded: Scholarship chairs, Jean Azar and Marsha Goan selected two seniors, one from North High and one from South High, from dozens of applications, to receive the Garden Center’s $2000 scholarship prize to pursue studies in horticulture, conservation, environmental science, etc. The North High recipient, A. Schroder, will attend Rochester Institute of Technology this fall, to study research biology and plans to Master in environmental science. Leo Neds-Fox was the recipient graduating from South High to attend Michigan Tech and plans to study in field of conservation. The scholarships were awarded by Jean Azar, Marsha Goan, and Sandra Fischer, during the Seniors Honors Nights at both North and South High Schools in May.
The Tree Doctor’s Diary: True Tales from the Field: On Wednesday, May 6, Dr. David Roberts, a.k.a. “The Tree Doctor,” a renowned plant health expert with over four decades of experience in Plant Pathology, discussed combating diseases like Oak Wilt, and other serious, plus some non-deadly diseases that affect our trees. His commitment was evident through his dedication to site visits, give plant problem diagnostics, and offer sustainable management advice, ensuring the vitality of our natural and urban forests.
Entertaining in the Garden: On April 22, Julia Hofley, popular and well-respected garden writer and lecturer, shared her personal experiences on hosting guests in your garden. Julia and husband Eric, publisher of the former Michigan Gardener magazine, have entertained many guests in their one-acre garden, which contains over 5,000 plants. Their beautiful garden has also been featured on tours and other events. 
The Extraordinary Caterpillar: 
An exclusive virtual screening, on March 18, of this beautifully filmed 60-minute documentary was a special bonus for Garden Center members only. The film is sponsored by Dr. Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park and is a supplement to our recent Legacy Seminar featuring Dr. Tallamy. Registration was free and only be available through an e-blast sent to our current members.
5th Annual Legacy Seminar: Impact Nature by the Little Things You Do, with Doug Tallamy was Saturday, March 7, 8:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m., Dr. Tallamy is an entomologist, ecologist, conservationist, professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware, and co-founder of the Homegrown National Park (HNP) movement, promoting sustainability and advocating for incorporating native plants into home gardens. Dr. Tallamy gave two informative presentations in realistic terms on what we can do to conserve nature: Nature’s Best Hope and A Guide to Restoring the Little Things the Run the World. 
