News Items

2006 NGA Grant and Award Programs
Information on the 2006 NGA Grant and Award programs is now available on the Kids Gardening Web site. Click here for more details.

Draw Your State Flower National Contest
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company invites elementary school children (K-6) to draw their state flowers. This national contest is designed to increase appreciation for our state flowers, and to raise awareness of the new National Garden in Washington, D.C. One winner will be selected from each state, and winning entries will be displayed at the National Garden, part of the U.S. Botanic Garden adjacent to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is proud to be an Official Founding Sponsor of the National Garden. This competition is open to students in grades K-6 from all 50 states; contest deadline is November 1, 2005. Visit the Scotts’ Web site for more details.

Raise Money with Flower Bulbs: Keep 50% of Total Sales!
NGA is proud to endorse the Dutch Gardens Bulb Fundraising Program. The Summer-Fall program offers spring-blooming flora: tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and more. And it's a great deal -- your school or youth program gets to keep 50 percent of total sales! To learn more, visit here.

Last Chance for Free Pollinators Poster!
The Great Pollinator Partnership educational poster was created by the U.S. Botanic Garden and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC). The back of the poster features ideas for putting it to use in the classroom. Just a few hundred remain available to accredited schools and home-school situations, so order yours now!

 

Funding Opportunities:

2006 Youth Garden Grants: Apply by Nov. 30 ~ Applications for the 2006 Youth Garden Grant, sponsored by The Home Depot, are now available. Click here for criteria, prize structure, and to download an application.

12th Annual Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs Awards ~ This program of the Mailorder Gardening Association, offered in conjunction with the International Flower Bulb Center, Dutch Bulb Exporters, and the North American Flower Bulb Wholesalers Association, awards schools with a package of 200 premium Dutch flowering bulbs and related educational activities. Application deadline: April 1, 2006. Click here for more details.

2006 Mantis Awards ~ Mantis proudly announces its expanded 2006 award program in support of charitable and educational garden programs that enhance the quality of life in their host communities. In partnership with Mantis, NGA will select 25 gardens to receive a prize: 20 will each receive a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator, and five will receive a ComposT-Twin composting system. We welcome applications from all nonprofits. Past winners include community gardens, schools, ministries, colleges, master gardening groups, and hospices. Click here for more details.

Adopt a School Garden Registry ~ This new program from NGA matches schools in need of resources for their gardening and plant-based education programs with people who have the ability and desire to help. NGA will also mentor educators and volunteers, and provide resources to ensure program sustainability.

If your program is already listed in the School Garden Registry on Kidsgardening.com, your listing automatically appears in the searchable Adopt a School Garden (ASG) database on the National Gardening Association Web site. To be sure your information is current, please take a moment now to:

  2. add your school to the ASG database

Remember, if you're listed in the School Garden Registry, you're also in the ASG database, so you don't need to submit your school to both. Thanks for participating!

National Geographic $5,000 Teacher Grants ~ Apply by Sept. 2
This year the National Geographic Society Education Foundation plans to give more than $100,000 in grants (up to $5,000 each) to teachers. Teacher grants are given directly to educators to facilitate their work in promoting and increasing geographic literacy in the classroom, school, district, and community. Click here for more details.

GreenWorks! Grants ~ Apply by Sept. 30
Do you have an idea for an exciting service-learning or community action project for your students but you don't have enough funds to implement it? GreenWorks! offers educators trained by Project Learning Tree the opportunity to apply for grants ($50 - $1,000) to make their projects possible. Click here for more details.

Service-learning Minigrants ~ Apply by Oct. 14
Constitutional Rights Foundation's (CFR) Robinson Mini-Grant Program honors the late Maurice R. ("Robbie") Robinson, founder of Scholastic, Inc., champion of innovative education, and longtime supporter of effective citizenship education. Each year, CRF awards mini-grants of up to $500 for K-12 service-learning projects designed to address serious community issues. Click here for more details.

Pay It Forward Foundation Mini-grants ~ Apply by Oct. 15
Pay it Forward Foundation offers minigrants ($50 - $500) to fund service-oriented projects designed for youth in support of schools, neighborhoods, or the greater community. Projects must contain a "pay it forward" focus -- that is, they must be based on the concept of one person doing a favor for others, who in turn do favors for others, with the results growing exponentially. Click here for more details.

Organic School Garden Awards ~ Apply by Oct. 31
Teams of students and teachers submit essays and posters that express how their school garden improves students' health and the health of the Earth. Three winning schools will receive cash prizes of $250, $500, and $1,000. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2005. To learn more about contest details, visit the Rodale Institute's KidsRegen.org Web site.

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Plants in the News

Keep an Eye Out for Sunflower Butter
Food technologists with the Agricultural Research Service developed a new specially processed sunflower butter spread called “SunButter” to be used as a substitute for peanut butter. The availability of a peanut-free spread is great news for the roughly 3 million American adults and children who suffer from peanut allergies. Because of concerns about students with peanut allergies, 12 states now include “SunButter” in their school lunch programs (according to Red River Commodities), and some airlines now provide SunButter or snacks made with SunButter to their passengers as an alternative to peanuts. Click here for more information and the full ARS press release.

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Hot Horticultural Resources from NGA

Plant Finder
Looking for a plant with specific characteristics? Try searching NGA's new Plant Finder database. More than 1600 plants are tagged by attributes, such as plant type, hardiness zone, flower color, and season of bloom; as well as special features, such as "attracts butterflies" or "good for cut flowers." You can go on to access detailed information and photos. Check it out!

Regional Reports
NGA's biweekly Regional Reports are one of our most popular features, and for good reason! Twice a month our 12 horticultural columnists offer recommendations for gardeners in their area. You can read them at the NGA Web site, or subscribe for the bimonthly e-newsletter version. Read the current reports.


Copyright© 2005 National Gardening Association