About the Dolley Madison Garden Club
...on a November day in 1919, a bridge club of twelve members met at Cameron Lodge and Miss Mary Cameron suggested that this bridge club be changed to a garden club. This suggestion was heartily seconded by Mrs. Joseph Walker who had considerable garden experience acquired in her association with a Philadelphia garden club called “The Weeders”  and the floral experience gained by Mrs. Harper in her former close contact with the New England Garden Clubs. From this meeting the Dolly Madison Garden Club materialized. 
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The Dolley Madison Garden Club celebrated its Centennial Year in 2019. The Club was founded in Orange, Virginia, in November 1919, by a group of civic and garden-oriented women who founded the Club to protect the rural heritage of the area, stimulate horticulture advancement, and undertake community improvement projects. The zinnia was chosen as the Club flower for its symbolism. Zinnias are associated with friendship, endurance,  and constancy. The Dolley Madison Garden Club was one of the seven founding member clubs of the Garden Club of Virginia. ( GCV was founded in 1920 and celebrates its Centennial in 2020.) The Dolley Madison Garden Club became a member of the Garden Club of America in 1922. 

The Dolley Madison Garden Club has worked to save dogwoods, control billboards, abolish automobile graveyards, plant trees and enhance Taylor Park in Orange, Virginia. The 2019 Centennial gift of the Lotus Blossom Fountain sculpture in Taylor Park was a major Club contribution to the community. Archival work by Club members in the Garden History and Design Committee supports efforts to document local gardens for entry into the Smithsonian’s Archive of American Gardens. Submittals include, among many others, the Orange County estates of Mt. Sharon and Springfields and most recently Taylor Park in downtown Orange. Club members constructed a Medicinal Herb Garden at the Civil War Medical Museum in Gordonsville in 2015, and donated an Oriental spruce tree to Dogwood Village in 2016. The Club hosts a public plant sale in September every two years,  a Conservation  forum., and a public Zinnia Show every three years featuring professionally judged horticulture and artistic entries. 

Annually, the Dolley Madison Garden Club hosts a Club-sponsored Garden Club of Virginia Historic Garden Week tour in April. Proceeds from the tour support GCV projects to beautify and restore gardens and an ongoing partnership with State Parks. All Club members participate in the annual Historic Garden Week tour. In addition, Club members participate in one of the Club's flower committees and in a second Club committee. 
 
We are a  non-profit 501(3)(c) all volunteer organization. Our members provide their time and talent to further the goals of horticulture advancement, protection of the rural heritage of the area, and meaningful community projects and engagement. 
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Daffodil Committee

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​The Daffodil Committee is responsible for planting and growing GCV daffodil collections each year and encourages members to plant, grow, show, and exhibit daffodils. 

Rose Committee

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The Rose Committee is responsible for planting and growing GCV rose collections and encourages members to grow, exhibit, and show roses. 

Lily Committee

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The Lily Committee is responsible for planting and growing GCV collections of lily each year, for encouraging members to purchase and ​grow the yearly collections, and to exhibit and show lilies. 

Horticulture Committee
The Horticulture Committee promotes a love and deeper understanding of growing plants and trees. This committee is central to the mission of the Dolley Madison Garden Club and is responsible for growing and gathering plants to be entered in horticultural exhibits at DMGC, GCA, and GCV meetings and shows. They provide the Garden Calendar on our Garden Calendar page to give you tips on what to do in your garden each month of the year.

Floral Design
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This committee fosters creative enhancement of flower arranging through workshops, demonstrations and exhibits on a local, state and national level. The committee organizes and implements monthly Club flower exhibits and hosts public events on a biannual basis. 

Conservation and Beautification Committee
The Conservation Committee promotes the conservation of natural resources, encourages control of pollution, and fosters beautification of the environment. Acting as a liaison with other interested civic groups, this committee promotes education in all areas of conservation and beautification. This committee hosts, on a biannual basis, a public Conservation Forum. Committee members participate in GCA and GCV conservation events.

Community Projects Committee
This committee solicits and reviews worthy projects in the counties of Madison, Orange, and Culpeper to be approved and implemented by the Club to enhance the community and further the goals of the Club to reach out to the community. Projects have included plantings in Taylor Park in Orange, VA, tree plantings, and making swags with the Boys and Girls Club.