National Garden Week runs June 6–12, 2027, a week-long tribute to gardens and the people who tend them. Garden clubs across the country use it to open their gates, hold shows and plant something new.
First Full Week of June
Every year, from Sunday through Saturday of June’s first full week. The 2025 edition fell on June 1 to 7, and 2026’s on June 7 to 13.
Leading it is National Garden Clubs, or NGC, which calls itself the largest volunteer gardening organization in the world.
No federal law sets the June dates today. NGC announces them, and local clubs ask mayors and councils to proclaim the week.
From Petitions to a Proclamation
Back in January 1981, a bill for a National Garden Week was introduced in both the House and the Senate.
Members got to work. A 1981 article in NGC’s magazine, The National Gardener, urged them to gather petitions and hand them to their congressmen.
It paid off. Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 136, and on April 18, 1986, President Reagan signed Proclamation 5462 for the week beginning April 13, 1986.
Accounts of the start differ. NGC’s own history also claims the week was first celebrated April 12 to 18, 1987, a year after Reagan’s proclamation.
Later the timing moved from April to early June. NGC’s 2021 week, for example, ran from Sunday, June 6, to Saturday, June 12.
Founded in 1929, the organization behind it is decades older than the week itself.
Why Gardens Get a Week
Clubs carry the week. NGC lists over 5,000 member clubs, and the membership figures on its website range from about 130,000 to 165,000.
Its projects go well beyond flower beds. Plant America, launched in 2017, funds community planting, and the group also places Blue and Gold Star Memorial markers.
Reagan’s 1986 proclamation noted that “millions of Americans turn joyfully to gardening” each spring. The week gives that habit a public moment.
Montana shows how it works locally. In 2025, Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves proclaimed June 1 to 7 as National Garden Week, naming three area clubs.
Reeves praised gardening for building care for the environment and respect for hard work. Patience mattered too. He called it a kind of partnership with soil and sunlight that teaches foresight.
Connecticut’s Duck River Garden Club went further that year, planning events on every day of the week.
Ways to Join In
Suggestions from NGC are simple and local, and some of the best ideas come from small clubs.
Mississippi offers two examples. The McComb Garden Club moved a 9-foot flower sign from one local business to another. In Brandon, the club set up a library display with coloring sheets for kids and adults.
- Plant one new thing this week, even a pot of herbs on a windowsill.
- Visit a public garden or a garden club’s open house near you.
- Deliver a small flower arrangement to a neighbor or a local business.
- Post one gardening tip a day on social media for the full seven days.
- Ask your mayor or council to sign a National Garden Week proclamation, and invite the local paper to the signing.
- Join a local garden club or help with a community planting day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is National Garden Week the same as National Gardening Month?
No. This is a single June week led by garden clubs.
Where are the official dates posted?
On the National Garden Clubs website, along with a sample proclamation.
Do I have to belong to a garden club to take part?
Not at all. Anyone with a yard, balcony or windowsill can join in.
Sources
- National Garden Clubs – National Garden Week
- National Garden Clubs – Celebrate National Garden Week
- National Garden Clubs – About Us
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – Proclamation 5462, National Garden Week, 1986
- City of Great Falls – National Garden Week proclamation (2025)
- Lyme Line – National Garden Week, Duck River Garden Club (2025)