Hillsborough Garden Club, Hillsborough, CA. – Zone XII Club Profile

Located 19 miles south of San Francisco, Hillsborough Garden Club was established in 1922, and joined the Garden Club of America in 1929.  Our 112 members enjoy our vibrant committees including horticulture, floral design, conservation and photography, which provide us with educational workshops, speakers and field trips.  To keep our members informed and engaged, we produce two electronic publications: an expansive monthly newsletter and a one-page weekly update. 
In addition, we maintain an informative website and an HGC Instagram account.

HGC is especially proud of our long-standing community efforts of philanthropy and conservation, dating back to our earliest years of working with the State Legislature to protect native plants along California highways.  During World War II, club members landscaped military installations, planted Victory Gardens, and won the 1943 GCA Founders Fund Award, which enabled us to purchase a tract of Redwoods.

The 1990s flourished with the establishment of the Hillsborough Garden Club Foundation, through generous bequests from club members.  Every year, the Foundation allows us to support dozens of local non-profit organizations focusing on parks, gardens and conservancy, including a $25,000 donation to Save The Redwoods in 2014.  HGC also founded the Hillsborough Beautification Foundation, a non-profit organization, which raises funds to plant, improve and maintain Hillsborough parks, school grounds and other civic areas.

A highlight of our community efforts was our 2015 GCA Flower Show, which supported a local renowned art community for the disabled; our Community Outreach Committee’s floral donations to local senior citizens; our P4P efforts to preserve native plants along our neighborhood San Francisco Bay shoreline; and our association with the 6-Club Bay Visions, protecting the entire San Francisco Bay.

2016 provided significant highlights.  One of our members facilitated new U.S. legislation to mandate pollinator-friendly plantings on America’s roadsides, through the international group she headed, The Pollinator Partnership.  Our club sponsored GCA’s 2016 Medal of Honor winner, Diane Ragone. Additionally, a member’s garden was documented and accepted into the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens, bringing our club’s total of accepted gardens to eleven.

Hillsborough Garden Club is proud of its long record of civic and national involvement, of its many GCA National Medal, Zone and Club Award winners, and its nearly 90-year association with the Garden Club of America.