Growing in the garden: Canton Garden Club update

By Guest Columnist Jessica Stein

Canton Garden Club stepped lively into the New Year with a workshop on Native Plants given by wonderful ladies from the Madison Garden Club. We also spent important time reflecting on the impact we’ve made in the last year and our plans for 2026. 

The club hopes you had an opportunity to tour the incredible decorations around the Historic Canton Square this holiday season. Our membership helped with the lights around the square and decorated an entire balcony. One person hand-painted the teddy bears, which looked nearly fluffy enough to snuggle! We finally took the lights down after January; a morning of camaraderie and cutting zip ties. We also hope the month before you were able to explore Upstairs Downtown, the biannual event which funds many of our projects.

We speak often of our love and wishes for Canton, and have taken many recent steps to put this love into practice. Many know of our construction and maintenance of the Outdoor Education and Pollinator Pavilion across from the county co-op, as well as our faithful commitment to Keep Canton Beautiful’s Clean-Up Days, which now happen more than once a year.
A few may know of other special plantings around the city and the summer cutting beds attended every year by the club. Our by-laws specifically promote civic beauty, and, to that end, we’ve taken on several new special projects. We’ve always maintained the beds around the square, hung holiday lights, hosted Easter bulb give-aways, and organized the continuing biannual smash Upstairs Downtown. This year, we have contracted with a landscaping company (in partnership with municipal interests) to replace the sod outside the fence. We also purchased and filled several statement planters at the entrances to the courtyard. 

In the future, look out for new banners on the light posts around town. We also have a plan to put hanging baskets of flowers on the square and refresh some of the murals. Our members are bursting with ways to express Canton through our eyes, and we can’t wait to continue to take you on the journey. Your support and neighborly care make it possible!