Horticultural Society of South Jersey Celebrates 100th Year

PRESS RELEASE

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF GROWING PLANTS

The Horticultural Society of South Jersey, with members from the tri county area as well as Philadelphia, is celebrating a significant birthday this year—its 100th. The history of the group is fascinating.

On March 8, 1922, a small group of gardeners, mostly male, organized the Camden Dahlia Society initially meeting in members’ homes and membership was $1 per year. As the group enlarged, it moved to the Camden YMCA. In 1928, when the Camden Vocational School opened in Pennsauken, the group was invited to meet in their greenhouse where they continued to meet for forty years. In 1968, the group moved to the Carman Tilelli Community Center in Cherry Hill, NJ where the group still meets.

The name, Camden Dahlia Society, was chosen since dahlias were very popular and people were anxious to show their new varieties and fine specimens. In the 1930’s, the name was changed to Camden Dahlia & Horticultural Society. Later, as dahlias lost their popularity, the name was again changed to the current name in 1958 and in 1960, the society was incorporated.

Flower shows were important since the beginning of the organization with the first flower show held at the Maxwell-Chalmer Motor Company on Market Street in Camden, with only dahlias in the competition. Later, shows were held at the Camden YMCA, the Walt Whitman Hotel, and the Camden Convention Hall. The shows were some of the largest and finest on the East Coast with entrants from all over the East Coast.

Membership currently is approximately seventy-five comprised of gardeners of all levels from novice to professional and all ages. Flower shows were held twice a year prior to the pandemic. Monthly general meetings, which were held on Zoom during the pandemic but now are in person, include presentations of all things gardening including container gardening, orchids, tomatoes, shade gardening and creating healthy soil. Resuming flower shows are a goal for 2023.

In 2021, after receiving a large donation only for monarch butterflies, the society created the Monarch Project and purchased 120 “monarch kits” from a local purveyor and distributed the $60 kits to members, friends, and community groups free of charge. Comprised of five each of five different species of plants necessary for monarchs, they repeated the project in 2022 increasing the donation to 130 kits. Those kits are growing in all areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia in the gardens of homes, community gardens and in other community sites. The project will be continued in 2023.

The society will be celebrating their birthday the end of October with a festive luncheon and will be presenting awards to those both members as well as community groups who have contributed significantly to garden in South Jersey.

For more information, go to our website www.HSSJ.org or call the acting president, Gwenne Baile at 856-816-8508 or email Gbaile@verizon.net