SCR Garden Clubs

Warm greetings to the members of the South-Central Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc. and to those who visit this website, Welcome! Join our organization and work with us to “Plant America”!

The four states that make up our region offer many educational opportunities: Environmental Schools, Gardening Schools, Landscape Design Schools, Flower Show schools and Judges Symposiums. Check our website for dates and locations. I am happy to announce that my home state, Arkansas has successfully completed Flower Show School Course 1 and will present Course 2 March 7-10, 2022, in Little Rock. Join us for an exciting journey toward accreditation as an NGC Flower Show Judge.

Our theme “Plant America – Embrace the Future” will come to life through our SCR term scholarship fund raiser “SCR Gardening Hero” effort. Every penny donated will be go to fund scholarships. Find the description and entry form on the website! We have named eighteen “SCR Gardening Heroes” so far! Oklahoma has two SCR Gardening Heroes, Texas one and Arkansas fifteen. They will be honored at their state conventions and our SCR Conventions in April 2022 and 2023. Nancy Voyles is serving as SCR Gardening Hero Chairman.

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We will embrace the future by planting trees in the National forests in each of our states through Penny Pines Plantations. Heather White, SCR Penny Pines Chairman has designed a contest between the four states, the winning state will be honored at our SCR Convention 2023 in Oklahoma. It is a situation where everyone benefits, we plant trees, and people are honored with “Plantations” in their name. We have three $68 Plantations completed in Arkansas! Oklahoma has at least one “Plantation” also. The Contest Rules are available on the website and appear in the June 2021 issue of the SCR Communicator.

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Our updated SCR Awards Guidelines are available on this website. I encourage every club to participate in our awards programs. It makes for excitement at the local, state, region, and national level! I look forward to our Awards Ceremony at SCR Convention in Galveston, April 19-21, 2022. I am delighted to have the leadership of Rose Schultz, Adult Awards Chairman and Linda Jean Brown, Youth Awards Coordinator. I know they will provide the leadership and publicity needed for the success of the award program. I especially encourage all clubs to include youth contests and actvities in your plans! They are our future!

Our Director’s Project for the term encourages the inclusion of youth in gardening. “Fun with Pollinators” will name two award winners at convention in 2023. The criteria and entry form are available in the SCR Awards Guidelines here on the website. There will be awards for the best overall pollinator garden project and the best overall pollinator habitat project. The booklet “Pollinator Power” on the NGC website has excellent information to assist you in beginning your project NGC is offering a Youth Pollinator Grant of $200; information is available on the website. I encourage you to take advantage of those offerings by NGC and join in the fun! Nancy Rana, SCR Alternate Director, will lead in this project.

I look forward to our continued work together during this term, may we forge connections with other garden associations, go forward to “Plant America – Embrace the Future”!

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Rose Knight

SCR Director