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About Us

The Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) is a small, friendly garden club that meets in Portland, Oregon and draws members from northwestern Oregon, Vancouver, Washington and southwestern Washington. Our chapter has been active for about four decades and has hosted a number of regional and national NARGS meetings.

Members’ interests range widely, always including rock gardens and seeing plants in the wild, but extending to woodland gardens, bulbs, rhododendrons, container gardening, and even hardy orchids.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month except January, July and August,  in the SMILE Center, at 8210 SE 13th Ave, just a block south of Tacoma Street in the Sellwood neighborhood. Social time starts at 7 pm and the meeting begins at 7:30. Each meeting features an illustrated lecture or other plant-related event such as a non-competitive show, along with socializing, refreshments, and plenty of door prizes. Choice and unusual plants are sometimes available for purchase. In spring members enjoy garden tours and hikes.

The meetings are open to the public at no cost, so if you love unusual plant species and creating special habitats for them, on rocks or otherwise, please come and meet us!