Gardeners Connect History

Founded in 1958, as the Garden Center Association and in 2012 to become Gardeners Connect we have had a long and venerable history.

Early Years

Our founding mission was to promote and encourage among citizens of the greater Kansas City area an interest in horticulture and related gardening activities through education and information. Foster involvement to attain a more attractive and beautiful community, thereby helping to increase tourism, increase property values, preserve the environment. To make the community a more desirable place for business to locate and individuals to live.

The Garden Center Building in Kansas City’s Loose Park was constructed in conjunction with our founding. The buildings cost and a director of the building was hired with funds from the Ella C. Loose Trust. Horticulture classes were offered as well as soil testing. Garden clubs and societies were formed whose activities were based in the building.

A horticulture reference library with books donated by the Kansas City Library at the time of the construction of the building and two meeting spaces with small kitchens were part of the original construction. The library also served as a conference room, and was used by Gardeners Connect for monthly board meetings.

The Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department took over the operation and maintenance of the building a few years later and has remained in control ever since.

Arboretum

In the 1960’s the trees at the park were mapped by Spenser Crews and plans were begun to replace those that were declining. In the 1980’s, we founded the Stanley R. McLane Arboretum adding 450 species of trees to the park and providing funds to maintain them. New trees were added to the arboretum yearly along with the annual Arbor Day planting.

Gardeners Connect for many years donated an Arbor Day tree to Loose Park honoring individuals and organizations that supported, promoted or otherwise were advocates for trees and their planting, maintenance and preservation.

Gardeners Connect also ran a long running Commemorative Tree program at Loose Park where donors could honor loved ones with a tree planted within the park.