The purpose of the Garden Club is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to aid in the protection of trees, plants and birds; and to nurture and improve the quality of the environment.
In 1950, the Henry Clay Foundation asked the Garden Club of Lexington to create a garden on the grounds of the famous statesman's estate. Using funds from war bonds, the club hired Cincinnatian Henry F. Kenney to design a plan for the twenty-acre grounds and half-acre garden. Members have been tending the parterres since 1951 and in 2005 received a Historical Preservation Award for their years of stewardship.
To continue to fund Ashland Garden, the Garden Club of Lexington published a cookbook in 1985. Bluegrass Winners' mix of Kentucky's culinary heritage with its culture of horse racing proved to be a huge success.
In 2007, members decided to undertake a second cookbook, focusing on the horse farms themselves. Entertaining With Bluegrass Winners contains lush photographs and histories of the horse farms as well as the recipes and menus that define them.
The sale of both cookbooks will continue to fund the gardens at Henry Clay's Ashland. Members of the Garden Club of Lexington are proud to be caretakers of a plot of land that is enjoyed by school children, artists, neighborhood people, and visitors to our city.