President’s Project 2023
Theme: Growing our knowledge through education, experience, experimentation, and sharing
Project: Educating our members, our youth, and the public in gardening, horticulture, landscape design, environmental conservation, and the art of floral design through presentations, demonstrations, interactive workshops, and community projects.
The best way to grow your own knowledge of gardening is to help educate others, especially our youth. When we share our knowledge and experience we grow. It is important to collaborate with your fellow gardeners and exchange your knowledge gained through experience, experimentation and education.
Penny Pines
NGC and the USDA Forest Service are proud partners in this reforestation/forest education program. With greater member support and advocacy, we can grow this program and increase its impact. Your Garden Club can participate in this meaningful and practical conservation project by contributing $68, or multiples of $68, to a Penny Pines plantation as part of the cost to replant replacement trees indigenous to a particular damaged area. Click here to learn more.
Blue Star Memorials
Among the most visible and popular service projects nationally is the Blue Star Memorial initiative, which honors U.S. servicemen and servicewomen and beautifies public settings. Since the program’s inception in 1944, garden clubs have dedicated nearly 3,000 markers along U.S. highways and at national cemeteries, parks, and government facilities. A related project is Sage & Roses, which uses email holiday greetings to raise funds for erecting new Blue Star Memorial markers.
For a list of locations in Colorado: Blue Star Memorial Marker Locations 2022
Plant it Pink
This is a continuing project, which recognizes that virtually all of us have been touched in some way by breast cancer. Clubs are encouraged to plant pink gardens at hospitals, cancer centers, and memorial gardens, participate in garden therapy activities, offer pink flower show classes and participate in other activities to promote awareness of the fight against breast cancer. Projects may be carried out by NGC clubs working alone or by partnering with appropriate groups of the choice.
Habitat for Humanity
In May of 1999, a partnership was formed between NGC and Habitat for Humanity. Habitat’s mission is to eliminate poverty housing while NGC’s goal is to encourage garden clubs to participate in the landscaping of the Habitat homes. The theme is ‘Open Your Heart and Hands’. A direct line of communication has been put in place for one-on-one networking between HFH Affiliates and garden club representatives. The more than 1,500 HFH affiliates have been made aware of the NGC and HFH partnership.
The emphasis is on enhancing the environment by landscaping with hearty native trees, shrubs, and plants that also attract butterflies. It is the hope of NGC to have the community, both adult and young gardeners, involved in this very worthy project. NGC’s goal is 100% participation, in some manner across the nation.
National Garden Week
The first full week in June, beginning on Sunday, is always proclaimed “National Garden Week” by NGC. Plan an exciting event to celebrate National Garden Week in your community!
- Some possible thoughts . . .
- Sponsor a hands-on “How Do You Select Flowers/Shrubs for Your Garden” workshop at an area nursery.
- Select a manageable blighted area with the cooperative efforts of another group and beautify it.
- Have some of your members conduct a garden tour that week–include a water garden, a vegetable garden, a rose garden–just to name a few.
- Have a “Getting to Know Us” event at the public library.
Whatever you do, publicize the activity so you get maximum visibility of the garden club and the benefits of being a member.
Native Plants Patch for Girl Scouts – Nurture the Earth – Plant Native Plants
This program encourages partnerships between Girl Scouts and local National Garden Clubs to teach Girl Scouts about native plants in their area. Girl Scouts of all age levels are eligible to earn this patch.
Discover, Connect and Take Action by earning the National Garden Clubs Native Plants Patch for Girl Scouts.