Category Archives: Uncategorized

Open Now to the Public – Wear a Mask

Effective Monday May 18th we will be open to the public during our usual hours:  9:30 am – 2:30 pm M-F.

All visitors to the Garden Center must wear masks and sign-in when they enter our facility

For your convenience and safety, we will have disinfecting wipes available in community areas throughout the Garden Center.

Our public gardens will be open M-F from 10am – 2pm – contact the office manager for access.  If you are in the gardens, please maintain a distance of six feet or more from other visitors.

Our garden shop will be open during our usual hours.  We will only allow 5 people in the shop at a time.  We have seating in the hallway, should you need to wait.

Our clubs and societies will be resuming their meetings and events, subject to the Governor’s orders on gathering size limitations and distancing requirements.  While we require them to ensure that their members wear masks and maintain social distancing, it will be up to them to make the decisions on what events they hold, subject to the Governor’s orders.  Please check their websites and FB pages for details on their plans.

Our facilities will be open for rentals subject to the Governor’s orders.  Please contact our office for details and availability.

We will be updating our guidance as the Governor’s orders evolve.

Thank you for supporting our organization.

We encourage you to keep up-to-date by following NMDOH, CDC, and WHO guidance.

Postponements and Cancellations

For more information about cancelled private events, please contact the event organizers.

For more information about Council member organizations event postponements and cancellations, please check the club websites and facebook pages.

We will announce changes and updates on our website and social media feeds as we become aware of them. Phone messages at the Garden Center will be answered between 10 am – 2 pm M-F. We are experiencing a high volume of spam calls so if our voice mail is full, please call back or contact us through our e-mail address: abqgardenctr@swcp.com

  • The African Violet Society has rescheduled their show and sale for August 1st and 2nd. For more information their website is: http://albuquerqueafricanvioletclub.org
  • The 2020 NM Cactus and Succulent Society has postponed their May members only garden tour to 2021. Details may be found on their website: http://new-mexico.cactus-society.org
  • The Aril and Iris Society has cancelled their annual iris show. They are planning a virtual event instead. Check their facebook page for details.
  • Parade of Gardens has been postponed to June 13, 2021. Follow our posts to see more about this exciting event.
  • The Albuquerque Garden Center Executive Board members were so looking forward to hosting the Garden Guardians Summer Camp this year. Reluctantly however, the summer camp program has been postponed until next year. Look for more information about the AGC summer camp 2021 in the coming months!
  • State Fair Flower Shows have been cancelled for 2020. We look forward to seeing everyone in 2021.

Library Book Club – Get Involved!

Some of you may have had difficulty contacting Margaret, the librarian, but she has had technical difficulties with her former e-mail address. Her new e-mail address is library@albuquerquegardencenter.org

Meetings are generally held on the first Monday (unless there’s a holiday) at 4:00 pm.

What we’re reading now. For details on the books below follow the “READ MORE” tag.

6 July:                  Botany of Desire (movie AND book)
3 August:             Rose Rustlers
14 September:    Orchid Fever

Continue reading →

Gardening as a Panacea – Janet Herbst

Taking a few hours away from the news sounded like a really good plan. Complying with Coronavirus personal responsibility requested by The Center for Disease Control and Prevention meant that choices for what to do for those hours needed thought.

Okay: only take-out food so no meeting a friend for lunch. Go to the grocery store? Firstly, not fun. Secondly, go there only when necessary. There is food in the house.  Take a walk? Yes. Wish there was more tree canopy and shrubs to look at in the neighborhood. Gravel is so boring and heat reflective. Tree shade, green bushes would be much more pleasant. What about a walk in the yard? Primely doable. Recommendable for so many reasons. In a meta-analysis of the topic published in Preventive Medicine Reports (March 2017), Masashi Soga, Kevin J. Gaston, and Yuichi Yamaura conclude, “Overall, the results suggest that participating in gardening activities has a significant positive impact on health. Indeed, the positive association with gardening was observed for a wide range of health outcomes, such as reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, mood disturbance, and BMI, as well as increases in quality of life, sense of community, physical activity levels, and cognitive function. “

That walk in the yard resulted in over 3 miles of steps (who doesn’t carry a smart phone in their pocket when in the yard?). From the shed to the garage and back again rearranging, cleaning, doing visual inventory, making mental list for a foray to the plant nursery. Guess what? Turns out local nurseries are open! A good portion of those stores is outside: there is plenty of space between shoppers! Nature does not have a halt button and neither do I.  Now I have a plan and a purpose when I need a sanity break. Happy gardening! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301401