Perhaps you've been long admiring your neighbor's green thumb and wondering how she is able to have such beautiful rose bushes each year. Maybe you'd like to have some roses yourself, but unfortunately you are unable to tell a hosta plant from a coleus. Fear not, help is available in the form of a local garden club.

The Dearborn Heights Garden Club (DHGC) was founded in 1967. It is one of several garden clubs in Wayne County, including clubs in Garden City, Allen Park, and Taylor. The Dearborn Heights Garden Club currently has 24 members, three of which are certified master gardeners. The club meets once a month, from September through May.

The DHGC is a member of Michigan Garden Clubs (MGC), Inc., a state-wide non-profit organization whose mission is to promote education, resources, and networking opportunities to advance the enjoyment of gardening in Michigan. MGC accomplishes this through environmental conservation education, community service, social activities, and horticulture education.

Club Membership Coordinator Dottie Vega says the club's purpose is not only social, but knowledge as well. "The whole object is gardening," she says. "To learn to be a better gardener, and camaraderie."

Sara Camardo has been a member of the DHGC since 1986. She currently serves as the club's recording secretary. "I've learned a lot," she says. "The ladies are lovely, and it's a nice break in the month, I look forward to it."

Club members engage in civic beautification by tending to the landscaping of the flower beds around the Canfield Community Center. Club members have established a butterfly garden at the community center and are installing plants to attract pollinators next spring and summer.

Club members share their own knowledge and experiences with one another, promoting useful practices and sharing information on numerous topics from garden pests to plant diseases.

Guest speakers are part of most club meetings. Speakers include local professors of horticulture or environmental studies, authors, experts in landscape design, and specialists in garden practices, such as composting and beekeeping. At this past November's club meeting, the guest speaker was Cyndi Ross with Friends of the Rouge, who spoke on the health of the Rouge Watershed and the benefits of creating a rain garden in one's yard.

The Dearborn Heights Garden Club meets the first Thursday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Canfield Community Center at 1801 N. Beech Daly Road, south of Ford Road. Visitors are welcome and membership is open to anyone, not only Dearborn Heights residents. For more information, contact Membership Coordinator Dottie Vega at [email protected].