GCA RESTORATION INITIATIVE

January 17, 2019

Clubs Tackle Catastrophic Damage Due to Natural Disasters

In the face of catastrophic weather-related disasters across the country, The Garden Club of America (GCA) launched a national Restoration Initiative in 2018. Five GCA clubs, whose communities had been devastated by natural disasters, received $10,000 each to help underwrite restoration costs due to damage caused by hurricanes, flooding, and fires. With projects underway in Florida, Georgia, Oregon, and Texas, the impact of the GCA in times of crisis is tangible.

Late Bloomers Garden Club, Jacksonville, is working with staff and trustees of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens to address damage due to Hurricane Irma. Reconstruction efforts include drainage and the rebuilding of pools in the Italian Garden.

Trustees’ Garden Club, Savannah, is working with other community leaders to support a long-term strategic plan in Forsyth Park, one of the country’s oldest public parks. In 2016 and 2017, the park was battered by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.

In collaboration with the Oregon State Parks and Friends of the Gorge, The Portland Garden Club is assessing trail area safety, evaluating native species recovery, and targeting invasive species at the Columbia River Gorge which was severely damaged by fire. In February, the club will host a panel discussion, “Gorge-ous Again: Reflections on the Post Fire Scenic Columbia Gorge.”

In Beaumont, Texas, Magnolia Garden Club members have focused attention on restoration of The Pollinator Garden and Grandmother’s Garden at the Beaumont Botanical Gardens, devastated by Hurricane Irma. The club will next turn its attention to containing damage wreaked by nightly foraging raids of feral hogs which are uprooting native plants.

The Garden Club of Houston is helping renovate boxwood plantings and other Gulf Coast species at the Mercer Botanic Gardens. Through the Restoration Initiative, Mercer Botanic Garden has been able to establish a healing garden. A recently dedicated plaque reads, “This garden is dedicated to those who have helped our community recover from Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters. The Mercer Community thanks The Garden Club of America for supporting this restoration and for bringing renewal through the healing powers of nature.”

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