Members of the Four Flags Garden Club are helping to uphold a tradition that has long brightened the arrival of passengers at the historic Niles Amtrak Depot, 598 Dey St.

In May, garden club members re-planted a garden bed that spells out the city’s name in bright pink begonias. The garden bed is located next to the train tracks, just a couple of yards from the station.

Whether it is a passenger’s first or 10th visit to the city, members said the garden seeks to welcome those visiting Niles.

Garden club members were inspired by the work of head gardener John Gipner, who was hired in 1892 and served the train station back when it was the Michigan Central Railroad Station. In the early 1970s, Amtrak took over the station.

Under Gipner’s care, the grounds featured elaborate and colorful flower gardens that changed each year. Gipner also cared for a green house on the property.

Four Flags Garden club member Elaine Metzger, the historian for the club, said those who care for the grounds want to help Niles live up to its nickname of “the garden city.”

“We are very proud of and enjoy the history [of the depot],” Metzger said. “Niles is called the garden city because of what a great job [John Gipner] did. We just wanted to do what we could to honor that.”

Using several postcards as models, garden club members re-created the design each year.  Members typically plant the flowers in the springtime. Sometimes using a different type of flower to bring a different type of style or color to the display.

While Gipner helped to start the traditions, a Niles resident and volunteer Ray Subedissen Jr. helped to repair the grounds once they started falling into disrepair in the 1970s, Metzger said.

Metzger referred to the man as a garden “hero,” who, like Gipner, wanted those passing through the station to see something beautiful and welcoming in the form of a lush garden.

“I think it was the vision [of the garden] that we caught from Ray Subedissen,” Metzger said.

The 28 members of the club have also dedicated their time to caring for a number of other garden beds on the property which feature a number of plants, including climbing roses, lilies and a weeping mulberry tree that is believed to have been grafted by Gipner himself.

Garden club members said they also take pride in using the most sustainable and environmental practices to keep the garden healthy, including avoiding chemical fertilizers.

The club raises their own money for the garden’s operation through plant selling fundraisers.

“I think our biggest mission is to preserve the glory of the gardens at the depot,” Metzger said. “In a broader sense [the goal] is civic beautification and education about good garden and environmental practices.”