On March 10^th of this year, we lost Fran Dowd, a founding member of the Loveland Garden Club (LGC).  

She was a tireless worker, organizer, supporter and cheerleader for our garden club and Lauritzen Gardens. Fran was one of the driving forces for the club’s growth and its commitment to stimulating the love of gardening both at a private and public level.

In 1983-84 Fran was one of seven enthusiastic gardeners who founded the Loveland Garden Club.  One of the original goals of the club was to become a member of the Garden Club of America (GCA). Through Fran’s leadership, that goal was achieved in 1996. 

The GCA tasks it’s member clubs to offer ongoing educational programs with minimal cost to the general public. With that in mind, Fran, in 2005, organized a LGC committee to discuss with the Executive Director of Lauritzen Gardens, the establishment of an ongoing project for LGC at the Gardens. 

In 2007, the Loveland Garden Club Endowed Lecture Series became that ongoing project with a small start-up pledge of $25,000. 

The creation of the Lecture series was a way for the Gardens to generously recognize and honor Loveland Garden Club’s many years of involvement and steadfast support in the development of the Garden.

The club ensures the long life and future development of the LGC Lecture Series Endowment with a yearly contribution. Donations to this endowed lecture series have also been designated by individuals and memorials. 

Fran loved our club, she will always be remembered as a steadfast supporter of our Club & Lauritzen Gardens. 

Her presence & friendship will be truly missed. 

Our November guest speaker was Prairie Ecologist, Chris Helzer. Chris is the Nature Conservancy’s Director of Science in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land managements and restoration work along with sharing those lessons with other land managers. Chris also works to raise awareness about the value of prairies and prairie conservation through photography, writing and presentations. He is the author of two books, the most recent being “Hidden Prairie” Photographing Life in One Square Meter”.

On January 30, 2018, at the Lincoln Creek Prairie in Aurora, Nebraska, Chris marked off one square meter of prairie. His goal was to educate people on how much life existed in that one square meter. During that year, he made forty-six visits, each lasting from fifteen to ninety minutes. The total number of species he recorded in 2018 were 113 different plants and animals, with the breakdown as follows: 15 different plants, different species of flies (15), beetles(22), bees (14) and 44 other plants, insects and animals. He is hoping this project will change people’s perceptions of prairies. In doing this project, Chris learned some powerful lessons; he discovered a new way to be quiet, sitting still and waiting for things to come to him. He stated that “a lot happens in a small area of prairie.”

In November, Co-Chairs Kathy & Cindy led a workshop for members, family and friends to create a centerpiece for Thanksgiving. Afterwards, they showed a few easy steps on how to transform the Thanksgiving piece into one for the holiday season. Thank you to Shelia Fitzgerald for the use of her fabulous barn to assemble the kits and hold the class via Zoom, as well as a thank you to all the members who helped assemble and deliver the kits to those participating!

Club members helped weed and divide plantings at Sheltering Tree. Sheltering Tree building apartment buildings for individuals with disabilities. Garden Club members assisted at a 10-unit property in Bellevue to obtain tree grants. Currently, there are 150 individuals on the waiting list. Sheltering Tree enables those with disabilities to “live independently, but not alone.” The founder, Shirley McNally, and executive director, Denise Gehringer are incredibly thankful for the all the ‘love’ Loveland Garden Club has showered on Sheltering Tree.

In September, club members assisted in planting over 250 native plants from a grant given by the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.

In September, our Photography Committee coordinated an outing to Lauritzen Gardens for a butterfly hunt.

Due to the pandemic, we decided to host our club meeting virtually via Zoom. Flower guru and club member Shelia Fitzgerald was our featured speaker presenting on “Holding onto the Joy of our Gardens a Little Longer.” We wrapped up early so that members could join the virtual GCA Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference.

Loveland Garden Club was the proud proposer of Mike Forsberg for the first GCA Photography Medal ever presented. The J. Sherwood Chalmers Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of photography/photography education as it relates to the purposes of The Garden Club of America. Mike is being honored for his awe-inspiring photography that depicts the beauty and fragility of the Great Plains, along with his passionate commitment to conservation education and environmental action. Babs Weinberg created the portfolio of eight letters of support from Mike’s colleagues and friends, as well as, documentation of his career which was submitted to the GCA Awards Committee. His selection was publicly announced by the GCA in January 2020. Loveland Garden Club proudly celebrates Mike and his incredible photographic works. He is an inspiration to all who see his stunning talent and depictions of love and connection to the natural world.

This August, we had the pleasure of doing small group backyard tours of two of our members’ personal gardens. Thank you to Joyce and Cindy for hosting us!

On a cool, clear early September morning the Horticulture and Conservation committees of the Loveland Garden Club met at Glacier Creek Preserve in northwest Omaha, NE.  

What did we see and hear?   Monarchs, busy bees, pollinators and insects, red-headed woodpeckers, goldenrod, sunflowers, tall thistle, little and big bluestem, side-oats grama, coneflower, round-headed bush clover, and many more native prairie grasses and forbs.  Our guide was Tracy Coleman, Outreach & Admistrative Specialist. She described the various projects at the prairie and then as we walked, she helped us identify numerous plants and collect a few seeds.  

GCP was the site of a recent P4P project and was also included as part of the Shirley Meniece Conference in 2017.