Greenbank Garden Club marks 78 years, plans fundraiser for community gardens

A small club founded by 14 women in 1948 has grown into one of central Whidbey’s steady civic fixtures, and it is marking 78 years with a fundraiser that still reaches well beyond the garden bed.

Greenbank Garden Club now has 74 members and still meets on the first Thursday of each month at the Greenbank Progressive Club. In its early years, members backed 4-H scholarships, litter cleanups, food drives and community beautification projects, tying gardening to public service from the start. That same idea still drives the club today through volunteer work parties that care for the Greenbank Farm Entry Garden, the Greenbank Club House grounds and Meerkerk’s Secret Garden.

The club became an official nonprofit in 2015, giving its fundraising a more direct local reach. A 2025 club profile said donations totaled $4,500, money that supported agricultural, horticultural and environmental projects including the South Whidbey Farm to School Program, the Coupeville Farm to School Program, the Good Cheer Garden, Growing Veterans and Meerkerk Gardens.

The next fundraiser is set for April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Greenbank Farm Barn A. Shoppers will find hundreds of locally grown plants, including perennials, herbs, ornamental grasses, vegetable starts and shrubs grown by club members. The sale also will feature a community raffle, garden art and indoor-gardening items, turning the event into more than a plant market for central Whidbey residents who already use Greenbank Farm for trails, shops and other gatherings.

The club’s ties to Meerkerk Gardens help explain why its volunteer work has mattered for more than one generation. Meerkerk Gardens describes itself as Whidbey Island’s premier public rhododendron garden, and its docent program includes Garden Ambassadors and Tour Guides who welcome visitors and lead botanical walks. The club once helped fund school trips to the rhododendron gardens during peak bloom, with docents from the group leading tours, a program that ended after COVID-19 but left education at the center of the club’s identity.

For a club that began in private homes nearly eight decades ago, the plant sale remains the clearest expression of its role on the island: growing plants, raising money and keeping community spaces alive.