The Garden Club of Grand Cayman (GCGC) has teamed with the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) and Growing Beauty Nursery to carry out extensive gardening work needed to maintain the lush community gardens surrounding the three acre site. It was all hands on deck at their first Gardening Party on 14 April, when a group of dedicated GCGC members assisted NGCI staff and volunteers to replant, water seedlings, preserve nursery stock, and help with the general up-keep of the gardens, which predominantly feature native and indigenous flora. The gardens were originally designed by local landscape architects Sandy Urquhart and Margaret Barwick in 2012 and have flourished in the past three years. The Club also generously donated plant material to the project.

National Gallery Director Natalie Urquhart comments, “The gardens are an integral community space at NGCI and they are enjoyed daily by students, families and visitors. Given the size of the area it has been a real blessing to have support from the Garden Club. We look forward to building a strong relationship with the Club and to working with them to maintain the gardens, themselves a work of ‘art’, in the long-term.”

The National Gallery now joins a long list of Garden Club community projects and initiatives. A recent GCGC press release explains, “The GCGC group offers their talents and financial resources to support hundreds of projects throughout Grand Cayman since inception in 1957. We continue to promote interest in, and knowledge of, gardening, undertake projects to beautify our community, and promote and encourage friendship and understanding amongst persons of all races and nationalities. It is the camaraderie and team effort that allows our small club to accomplish so much, and as the islands develop and club membership increases we aim to reach even higher levels of community involvement.”

The individual gardens are each named after donors to the NGCI Capital Project and include Deutsche Bank, John and Carol Owen, Tim Ridley, Henry and Eliza Harford, Desmond and Cathy Kinch, Linton and Polly Tibbetts, Barbara Palmer, Stewart and Dianne Siebens, Atlantic Star Ltd., and Butterfield, with initial plant donations from Arboretum Services Ltd (Dart), Growing Beauty and several private donors.

The Garden Club and National Gallery staff and volunteers plan to meet each quarter in the National Gallery gardens and welcome community participation. For details on how you can join in on upcoming NGCI gardening parties email [email protected].

Photo Captions: Garden Club Member(s) Assists at the National Gallery