Local clubs unite in honor of National Garden Week

Garden club members in the county have joined gardeners across the nation in celebrating National Garden Week, with events culminating this weekend.

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Locally, the week included proclamations, presentations and public awareness activities.

Augusta Council of Garden Clubs President Pat Hathaway said the week started with a proclamation of National Garden Week by Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver.

"We presented the mayor with a gift of a vegetable plant to promote our theme 'Stimulus Package -- Plant a Vegetable Garden,'" said Hathaway, who became president of the ACGC in March. "After our presentation, we traveled to the Riverwalk to review our perennial garden, which has been an ongoing project to beautify the area for 10 years."

National Garden Week each year is for clubs to "focus public attention on the role of garden clubs and to tell the story of gardening."

National Garden Club President Barbara May notes in her national proclamation that "gardeners have passion for nurturing the beauty and resources of the earth through the planting of seeds, the care of all plants and the riches of their efforts.

"Garden club members seek to add beauty, splendor, fragrance and nutrition to their lives through the growing of herbs, vegetables, foliage and flowers. Gardeners enable members of garden clubs across the nation and the world to serve others in the communities where they reside and work."

The Augusta Council of Garden Clubs includes 20 clubs in Columbia, Richmond and Lincoln counties. The clubs are active in hundreds of projects in the area, including maintaining gardens at schools, hospitals, nursing homes and libraries.

In addition to gardening-related projects, club members raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House, help with Habitat for Humanity and volunteer at area schools and hospitals.

Cherokee Rose Garden Club members took flowers to Westmont Elementary School last week in honor of National Garden Week. The club also maintains a flower garden at the school. The Iris Garden Club recognized National Garden Week with a pot luck dinner at Pendleton King Park, where guests toured the park's gardens and heard a presentation on plans for the park.

Additionally, members of the After Six Garden Club were on hand at the Riverwalk Perennial Garden during a question-and-answer session and also were attending the annual day lily show this weekend.