Community Projects & Grant Recipients
The Garden Club of Houston supports public gardens and green spaces in the Houston area, community gardening efforts, public education on correct gardening procedures, civic beautification and conservation efforts, and programs promoting the knowledge and love of gardening. Club fundraising efforts every year provide funds that the Club uses to support its ongoing Projects in the community, and to grant funds requested by local organizations that fit within the parameters of the Club’s purposes. Currently the Club’s Major Projects which receive annual funding and support include:
Grant Recipients
Additionally, the Club grants several requests from local 501 (3)(c) organizations each year, as funds allow, to fund community projects whose purposes correspond to those of the Club. To submit a grant request for your organization, please see the Grant Request guidelines link below. In recent years, recipients of funds through grant requests have included:
Armand Bayou, Asia Society Texas Center, Bayou Greenways 2020, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Briargrove Elementary PTO, Brookwood Community, Carmichael Elementary, Coastal Prairie, FAM Houston, Friends of Pumpkin Park, Hedwig Village, Hermann Park Conservancy, Holly Hall Retirement Community, Houston Arboretum, Houston Audubon, Houston Botanic Garden, Hospice at Texas Medical Center, Joyride Center, Katy Prairie Conservancy, KIPP Academy, Learn Local – Hogg Middle School, Magnolia Garden Club – Cattail Marsh Education Center, Main Street Ministries, Memorial Park Conservancy, Mercer Society, Methodist Hospital Therapeutic Garden, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Discovery Center, Parish School, Plant it Forward, Poe Elementary PTO, Pro Vision, Recipe for Success, Scenic Houston, Shadowbriar Elementary, Sharpstown Parks Alliance, St Cecilia School, Student Conservation Association, the Wow Project and The Harris School.
Houston Hospice
The Club supports and maintains this beautiful public garden on the grounds of Houston Hospice in the Texas Medical Center. Once the family home of former Houston mayor Oscar Holcombe, Houston Hospice serves palliative care patients and their families. The gardens at Houston Hospice provide a wonderful restorative and peaceful greenspace in the Medical Center.
Houston Museum of Natural Science
The Club supports the work of the Museum in growing and maintaining plant material for use in the Cockrell Butterfly Center in the Museum’s own greenhouses. Additionally, the Club provides funds for brochures for the public and for a college intern to work for the Butterfly Center every summer.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Club has supported the gardens of the MFAH for over 75 years, starting with fundraising in 1931 to pay for the designing and planting of the original museum grounds which were designed by the prominent landscape architect, Ruth London. Today, Club funds go toward maintaining the Founders Garden and the Alice Pratt Brown Garden at MFAH main campus. Biennially, The Garden Club of Houston and River Oaks Garden Club partner with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to produce Florescence, a Garden Club of America major flower show.
Rienzi
The Club is instrumental in funding the restoration and maintenance of the ten gardens at Rienzi. Designed in 1950 by the noted landscape architect Ralph Ellis Gunn, the design beautifully combines the wooded landscape with formal gardens. The former home of Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, Rienzi is a Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, house and garden museum.
Urban Harvest/Gregory-Lincoln Education Center
The Club supports the Urban Harvest School Garden Project at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center. Through this partnership, Urban Harvest planted a vegetable, herb, and pollinator teaching garden in front of the school with the Culinary Arts teacher. The school garden has since expanded to include fruit trees and a chicken coop thanks to continued funding by the GCH. The students learn about vegetable gardening, nutrition, cooking and animal care. The Gregory-Lincoln gardens are used as a teaching tool for other educators. The Club funded the creation of the Edible Academy, a unique professional development resource for the region, thus the Club’s donation has a broader influence throughout the city. Families, neighbors and volunteer groups participate in monthly “Dig It Days!”, which are workdays held throughout the school year.
