From Our President
The Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee (GCGM) is very fortunate to have been established in 2022, after 100 years with Milwaukee Art Museum as a support group. Now as an independent nonprofit our Club can pursue our mission, make decisions, and have a significant impact with our members and in our community. Here are a few areas we will focus on this year:
Learning by providing programs, tours, workshops, interactive newsletters and an informational website. We want to include those areas that interest our members and reflect our mission.
Experiencing community outreach by gardening, hiking, book group discussions, scholarship awards and photography activities.
Enjoying by getting to know each other better, by having the opportunity to gather for monthly luncheons, and by finding our common interests.
Caring as we find ways to connect with other members and our community, so we feel we all belong.
We have a year full of activities, events, programs, tours and time to be together! Join us whenever, and wherever you can . . . I hope to see you often!
Susan Ballje
Our Story
The Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee, Inc. (GCGM) was originally founded in 1921 as the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club. In 2022, we incorporated as a separate entity and remain one of the largest garden clubs in Wisconsin currently 200 members strong. Members of the Garden Club of Greater Milwaukee are proud to continue a long, rich history of conservation, education, and community service.
GCGM offers extensive programming designed to educate and intrigue our members, inviting speakers in many areas including horticulture, landscape design, environmental issues, and photography. Some of these lectures are on Zoom, which allows GCGM to engage speakers with a national reputation. GCGM also has hands-on workshops and member trips to notable public gardens and wild places, as well as a once yearly tour of member gardens, “Welcome to My Garden”.
Current community service projects include providing volunteers and monetary support to Lakeshore State Park, Alice’s Garden, annual Habitat for Humanity Plant Share and other community initiatives. In 2025, we awarded $14,000 worth of scholarships to students studying horticultural, environmental or agricultural subjects in Wisconsin colleges, universities and technical schools.
In 2021, GCGM entered into a partnership with The Garden Conservancy to allow members of the public to visit extraordinary private gardens in the greater Milwaukee area as part of its nationally recognized Open Days program. The Open Days program is our primary fund-raising event.
At the heart of GCGM’s success is the hard work of our volunteer members, without whom there would be no Garden Club.