Grant Helps Fund Portable Hoop Houses
GC of Madison Supports City Green in Clifton, NJ

Thanks to a $10,000 grant from The Garden Club of America’s New Jersey Committee, City Green, an urban farm and garden organization in Clifton, NJ, recently acquired two portable hoop houses to grow vegetables year-round. The grant was secured by the Garden Club of Madison to support City Green’s mission to revitalize urban areas through agriculture and educational programing. City Green also provides inner-city communities with access to fresh, local produce through CSAs, Farm Markets, and City Green’s moving farm market, the Veggie Mobile, that stops at thirty-four sites throughout northern New Jersey.

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Local Eyesore Becomes Important Ecosystem
Carmel-by-the-Sea GC Restores Native Dune

Restoring the last intact native dunes within the city limits of picturesque Carmel-by-the-Sea seemed as challenging as counting the grains of sand that make up this iconic shoreline. Littered with debris and covered with unappealing conicosia (ice-plant), the North Dunes was a major eyesore at the base of the city’s main street. Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club was determined to do something about that.

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Testing Saves Kentucky Waterways
Glenview GC Partners with Salt River Watershed Watch

The Glenview Garden Club in Louisville, KY, has partnered with Salt River Watershed Watch to monitor the health of the Sinking Fork Creek, one of the many tributaries to Harrods Creek. From a designated spot on the creek behind Hermitage Farm, samples are taken on specific weekends in May, July and September. In addition to testing for pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and temperature, samples are given to a commercial lab to test for bacteria. The testing kits and training are provided by Salt River Watershed Watch. GCC members also assess the extent of erosion along the creek banks, as well as the biodiversity of the area. The healthier the flora and fauna, the healthier the water.

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Understanding Unintended Outcomes
GCA Scholar Studies Ex Situ Conservation

Science is saving at risk plants by propagating them outside of their natural habitat, or ex situ. But what about the “law of unintended consequences”? Bing Li, recipient of The Garden Club of America’s 2021 Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship in Plant Conservation, now in the Ph.D. program at University of Wisconsin, is on the case. Li’s M.S. research with the Plant Biology and Conservation Program, a joint program between Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden, studied Oenothera organensis, a species of evening primrose, at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center using the garden’s extensive collection.

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A GCA Garden History & Design Video
Frederick Law Olmsted, the Father of American Landscape Architecture - Celebrating a 200 Year Legacy

The Garden Club of America is celebrating Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday with a focus on the importance of parks and open spaces in member communities. The GCA’s Garden History & Design Committee kicked off the celebration by producing a short video entry for the GCA’s 2021 Annual Meeting Around the Green flower show which highlights how Olmsted’s revolutionary work shaped American landscape architecture in parks and public landscapes - creating visionary masterworks. The video explores his legacy, theories, design elements, and principles that still remain relevant for today. Keeping reading to watch!

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Beauty in the Byways
Partners for Plants Helps Restore Wildflowers to the Louisiana Roadside

The Monroe Garden Study League, with the help of two community partners, set out to restore native wildflowers to the byways of the main thoroughfare of their city, Monroe, Louisiana. Using monetary resources from Partners for Plants, a program of the GCA's Civic Improvement Committee, and other club resources, the project was launched.

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The 2021 Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference
Finding Hidden Treasures: Discovering America’s Horticulture Gems

GCA club members spent two days together (virtually) delighting in the knowledge and joy of gardening. The GCA’s 2021 Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference Finding Hidden Treasures: Discovering America’s Horticulture Gems featured horticultural experts and enthusiastic chatting among the participants, as they experienced each unique element of the eight-hour conference agenda.

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