It would be easy to highlight the things Mill Creek Garden Club has done in the community, but the club’s year-long 40th anniversary activities are instead about honoring our history, celebrating our members, and pursuing endeavors that make us who we are, a garden club!

Our history officially began on March 15th, 1984, with a group of fifteen women wanting to learn about gardening, beautify their yards, and establish friendships. They met in one another’s homes as they shared research on plants, visited gardens, and ended their meetings with coffee and cookies. When their membership grew, they moved to the Country Club, which was 'home' for 20 years. Learning about gardening blossomed into giving back to our community with daffodil and tulip bulb plantings at MCCA division entrances, trees planted on Arbor Day, rhododendrons and azaleas planted in Library Park, and our members watering the houseplants in the public library, all in true Garden Club fashion! 

Yet giving back required fundraising. The club sold flats of plants, trios of seasonal flowers, and hanging flower baskets. Then, in 2015, they launched The Mill Creek Garden Tour! From 1995 to present, a conservative estimate is that we have given back $55,000 in the form of plantings, donations, a 30th anniversary bench, scholarships, and grant awards.

Currently, we are a group of about 80 women and men who meet at Shawn O’Donnell’s. Celebrating our members started in late August with a Mini Garden Tour followed by a potluck in Debby Cox’s beautiful garden! When you plan an event in a garden we will be there and no one will leave hungry! 

Sometimes it is the little things that are special. For example, when we returned to meetings this past September, members received sparkly name tags displaying the number of years they have belonged to the club. For our traditional November food drive, we were challenged to donate more than 640 pounds of food and weighed in with a whopping 1,067 pounds and $255 in cash. Our volunteers were busy that same month planting more than 800 daffodil bulbs at the MCCA sign and in Library Park. There was no rain and plenty of coffee and donuts afterwards.

In January we announced a Mill Creek Garden Club Scholarship in Horticulture for two students enrolled in Edmonds College’s Horticulture Associate degree or Certification program. Each scholarship recipient will receive $1500. February rocked with a members’ Painted Rock Hunt with prizes for the found rocks. March, our founding month, featured a rose presentation for our longtime members, who also starred in a slideshow, and a special MCGC History Booklet was given to everyone. Yes, there was cake and hopefully, all those daffodils painted the town yellow! For April, along with a great guest speaker we are including a “Plant Swap” for members wishing to exchange bulbs and perennials—we are gardeners after all!

Our May meeting starts with the installation of officers, followed by a decorated hat contest, a historical trivia game, a delicious lunch, and a gift for all in attendance. It will be a celebration, as we are “Forty & Fabulous”, and all along we’ve been blooming.