Giving Rye is a feature series highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Mary Julian of The Little Garden Club of Rye.
Name: Mary Julian
Name of Organization: The Little Garden Club of Rye
Role: President
MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission
Julian: The mission of The Little Garden Club of Rye is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening and to encourage conservation, preservation and protection of the native trees and plantings in and around Rye.
How long have you operated in or around Rye?
Julian: The club was founded in Rye in 1931 and became a member of the Garden Club of America (GCA) in 1948. GCA is a nonprofit, national organization composed of 199 member garden clubs with over 18,000 club members who devote energy and expertise to projects in their communities and across the United States.
What programming or work is the organization best known for?
Julian: I would say that the Little Garden Club of Rye (LGCR) is best known for:
- WinterGarden – Our annual holiday luncheon fundraiser which we are holding on December 10th this year at Westchester Country Club. At the event, we sell wreaths, table top arrangements, and other special items all created by our members. We also have vendors, a raffle and a silent auction. This year we will have a piano player and singers from School of the Holy Child. It is a festive event that raises funds to support our six community gardens in Rye, our scholarships that we award to Rye High School students, and our programs that we offer to the public at the Rye Free Reading Room.
- Our Six Community Gardens – LGCR maintains six gardens in Rye. They are located at the triangle at the intersection of Purchase Street, South Ridge Street and Wappanocca Avenue, the planters at Rye Train Station, the planters and garden at the Rye Post Office, the September 11 Memorial Gazebo on the Green, the Native Plant Garden at the Rye Nature Center, and the Knapp House Kitchen Garden. Our members plant, weed, water, divide, decorate for the holidays and generally keep these gardens looking their best for the community.
- Our Annual Daffodil Show – This year our show will be held on April 16, 2026 at the Wainwright House. Exhibitors from the community and beyond bring their daffodils to exhibit and compete for ribbons.
Looking forward to 2026, what will be your top initiatives?
Julian: My first priority is to continue to encourage connections among the membership by offering more workshops, having more casual meet-ups, and encouraging more mentoring. Our active membership ranges in age from their 30s to their 80s. What is wonderful is that this group of strong, smart women connect across generations, share knowledge, and truly enjoy each other! This fall, at the recommendation of two younger members, we held an intimate herbal tea-making workshop at the Rye Nature Center. Together the women shared their knowledge and learned from each other. We also will hold several holiday workshops to make items for sale at our WinterGarden fundraiser. More than being workshops to produce goods, however, these gatherings foster connections and grow relationships. They are a place to pass on the skills and traditions acquired over decades. My top initiative is to increase the time we spend enjoying and learning from each other.
I’d like to see LGCR get more involved in the schools. Over the last years we have been partnering with Rye Country Day School and School of the Holy Child to plant daffodil bulbs and exhibit our wonderful bluebird project. One of our members holds planting workshops at Milton School (where her children attend). This fall we got together with the Rye High School Gardening Club to plant native perennials around the ruins at the Rye Nature Center. We also give a scholarship each year to a Rye High School student who is interested in pursuing an environmental or botanical course of study. I strongly believe that children are natural gardeners. By bringing programs to the schools and offering our scholarship, I hope we can foster in children and older students the love and enjoyment of nature, gardening and natural beauty that our members all share.
I would like to continue growing our collaboration with local organizations. We have always had a good relationship with the Rye Nature Center. But over the last few years, working with Jax Mack, RNC Conservation Director, we have become real partners with them. We have assisted on the Acorns to Oaks project, lent our hands planting the ruins, have live staked native shrubs, and have a regular garlic mustard pull. Of course, we always share with the Nature Center the native plants that we have grown from seed. Our members love sharing knowledge and experience with Jax as we work side by side. Also, we are becoming more involved in Rye Sustainability, supporting them in their projects and volunteering at their events. Several LGCR members are now members of Rye Sustainability as well, so we share ideas and manpower with the organization. Our mission aligns so well with these organizations; it is natural that we should partner with them.
Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services.
Julian: LGCR serves Rye and the surrounding communities. People can get involved in our group by attending our programs (most are held at the Rye Library), attending our WinterGarden fundraiser on December 10th at Westchester Country Club, and visiting our Daffodil Show on April 16th at Wainwright House.
Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status?
Julian: We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status.
Looking back across 2025, what were your organization’s top achievements?
Julian:
- Applying for and receiving a $40,000 GCA Founder’s Fund grant for the study, remediation and documentation of the meadow at Marshlands Conservancy.
- Honoring two local environmental educators with a GCA Elizabeth Abernathy Hull Award. This award recognizes those local champions who impart to children a love and concern for the natural environment.
- Making great strides in encouraging and practicing conservation. Tracy Stora, Chair of Rye’s Conservation Commission Advisory Council, is a member of LGCR and our Conservation Chair. Tracy pushes us to be conservation minded in reducing waste at our meetings; she encourages our members to support the Pollinator Pathway/Healthy Yards initiative. And as mentioned above, we have been very involved in Acorns to Oaks, stratifying and planting the acorns, helping to organize a conservation speaker about oaks at RCDS, and finally, helping to distribute the saplings.
How can local residents support your organization?
Julian: Local residents can support us by attending our events and by attending our programs at the library.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Julian: I was elected President in June, 2025 but our season really revs up in September so I’m still getting my feet wet. I have been a club member for nearly 25 years and have held numerous positions in the club.
Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
Julian: Although I would consider this a part-time, volunteer position, my husband certainly thinks I am always working on LGCR! But the job is challenging and enjoyable. I also sit on the board of the Rye Nature Center and volunteer at a Catholic parochial school in Mount Vernon. I also run our family’s foundation. And I have two grandchildren I adore and love spending time with (in the garden, of course, when possible. This weekend we will plant daffodil bulbs and one of the Acorns to Oaks saplings!)
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Julian: Warm.
Where did you grow up?
Julian: I grew up in Scarsdale and moved to Rye when I was 15. I love this community!
What principles guide you when you have to make a difficult decision?
Julian: When I have to make a difficult decision I like to hear opinions from others and try to see the other points of view. Then I make the decision. I think delaying a decision is actually the worst course of action.
What excites you most about the future—for yourself or for the world?
Julian: I am hopeful for the future because I feel that people are becoming more and more aware of how important being in nature is, especially for children. So many studies point to how being outdoors reduces blood pressure and stress, eases the symptoms of ADHD, and mitigates aggressive behavior. Gardening is a wonderful way to get outside, see the sun and clouds and listen to the birds. I am encouraged that so many children attend the Rye Nature Center’s Forest Preschool where they can run and get dirty and be in touch with nature while growing more independent. I am inspired that through the efforts of Rye Sustainability, more and more people in Rye are leaving the leaves and are planting and growing oak trees on their properties. I am appreciative that Rye is becoming more supportive of native plants and maybe having some messy edges because it is better for the birds and fireflies and pollinators. I am hopeful for the future because I believe that as more people garden and become closer to nature, more people become happier…
Where do you live and how many years have you lived there?
Julian: I now live on Belmont Avenue on the Westchester Country Club grounds.. We have been here for the last 8 years. Prior to moving here we were 30 years in Indian Village on Onondaga Street.
Thanks Mary!
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