Garden Club celebrates 60 years

The club was started in October 1954 by Yvonne Panton-Jones, Jill Landey and Cleone Johnson. Country Garden Club member Julia Ritchie said, “The idea was to form a garden club for people outside the municipal area, because of the difficulty of becoming a member of the Johannesburg Garden Club which already had a large membership, and because of the problems experienced by the majority of those members with their suburban gardens which could not be compared to those ‘with a stretch of Bryanston bundu’.

The club members meet once a month for tea and host a speaker who educates and entertains the guests about a particular aspect pertaining to flora and fauna. Vice chairperson Natalie Morris said, “We also share what’s in our gardens, which is the main thing. One of the aspects of being a member is to bring our own plants to show each other.”

The garden club celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Bryanston Sports Club with all its members present, who have been brought together through their mutual love of gardening. They enjoyed a lunch to celebrate the end of another successful year.

Chairperson Cecile Bryce said that over the past 60 years what has brought everyone together is the “congeal, harmonious gathering” of people who are like-minded and have the ability to make lasting friendships through the club.