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September 14, 2017
September in GCA History
In September 1920, the Highway Commission of Massachusetts held a well-attended public hearing about enforcing a new constitutional amendment passed in 1918 that regulated and restricted advertising “on public ways, in public places, and on private property within public view.”
September 14, 2017
The GCA to Speak at National Meeting of Invasive Plant Experts
On October 25, Cayce McAlister, member of Garden Club of Nashville, will address 400 invasive species managers, researchers, governmental land managers, and academics at the annual meeting of the North American Invasive Species Management Association in Reno, Nevada. McAlister will speak about GCA club Weed Wrangle® projects to combat invasives on public lands and H.R.1054, the Botanical Sciences Bill, which the GCA helped to draft, calling for more botanists and the protection of native plants.
September 14, 2017
Ethnobotany and the Search for Cures
“How many of you are touched by ALS? By Alzheimer’s?” When ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox asked a packed audience at the May 2017 GCA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, nearly all 600 delegates raised their hands. Cox riveted audience members regarding his Brain Chemistry Lab’s research into plant-based therapies for ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s and stirred hope with reports of successful clinical trials.
September 14, 2017
Founder of Monarch Watch is New GCA Honorary Member
Orley ‘Chip’ Taylor founded Monarch Watch in 1992 as a collaborative of volunteers dedicated to conservation of the monarch butterfly. Monarch Watch is known for tagging more than 1.4 million monarchs during their fall migration from North America to Mexico. Taylor was among the first to recognize the alarming decline of the monarch and for mobilizing Americans to meaningful action in one of the earliest, most successful citizen science efforts.
September 14, 2017
New Native Plant Scholarship Available
The Garden Club of America is offering a new scholarship in native plant studies, with applications now being accepted. The Montine M. Freeman Scholarship in Native Plant Studies supports the study of underutilized native plants at an accredited U.S. college or university or a major botanic garden or arboretum. The GCA will fund one or more Freeman Scholarships annually at a minimum of $3000.
September 14, 2017
Take Action for Conservation Is It Safe to Drink Your Water?
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, some communities are now without a water supply. And in the communities with water, many residents are asking: is it safe to drink the water? The majority of Americans are able to turn on a tap and have clean, safe water to drink. But how clean is that water?
August 15, 2017
Garden Club of New Haven Helps Manage Rainwater Runoff
Garden Club of New Haven has created a brochure about managing rainwater for homeowners in the community. A major source of pollution, rainwater runoff collects pesticides, oil, and other hazardous materials and washes them into storm drains that empty into streams, rivers, and larger bodies of water. Installing rain barrels, catch basins, and trees, as well as minimizing impervious surfaces, are ways to help.
August 15, 2017
Take Action for Conservation: America's Endangered Wetlands
The health of our wetlands is in real jeopardy, but we are far from helpless in our everyday lives. Simple efforts, multiplied many times over, can contribute to wetlands survival. Download the GCA’s Position Paper on Clean Water. Read more to learn about what individuals can do at home and in their communities.
August 15, 2017
A Must-See Gardening Exhibition Awaits in Washington
Don’t miss Cultivating America’s Gardens, on exhibit through August 2018 in the Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The exhibition, a collaboration between Smithsonian Gardens and Smithsonian Libraries, gives visitors a snapshot of the history and culture of the American garden from its earliest beginnings to the present day. The exhibition draws from the collections of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens (AAG), which was established in 1987 in conjunction with a donation of historic slides by the GCA and is continually augmented by efforts of member clubs to document diverse gardens across the country.
August 15, 2017
August in GCA History
In 1939, thousands travelled to the New York World’s Fair to visit The Horticulture Exhibition Gardens on Parade. The GCA contributed the Woodland Garden and Garden of Tomorrow, participating along with the Horticultural Society of New York, The New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Society of American Florists, and the New York Florists’ Club. Harriet Pratt, president of the nonprofit formed to manage the exhibition, also was the first secretary of the GCA (1919-27).