Projects

The National Garden Clubs, Inc. have had a program in place to honor service men and women since 1945. It's the Blue Star Memorial Program. In 1944, the ladies of the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs persuaded the New Jersey Legislature to dedicate a six mile stretch of Highway 22 as a memorial drive to our Armed Forces. Through subscriptions of $1.00/tree, they lined the highway with 6,000 dogwoods. The following year the National Council of State Garden Clubs, as it was called at the time, adopted the program and began a Blue Star Highway system, which covers thousands of miles across every state, including Alaska and Hawaii. A large metal Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker was placed at appropriate locations along the way. The program was expanded to include all men and women who had served, were serving or would serve in the armed services of the United States.

There are now three types of markers: the Memorial Highway Marker, found alongside roadways and at rest stops; the Blue Star Memorial Markers found at veterans' hospitals, national cemeteries, etc.; and Blue Star By-Way Markers which can be placed in any appropriate garden setting. NGC Member Services provides a guideline for ordering a memorial marker and suggestions for installation.

Click on this link to read a story about the Mission View Garden Club Blue Star Marker dedication in Charlo, Montana.

Click on this link to read about the Townsend Garden Club Blue Star Marker dedication in the town's Veterans' Park.

Click Here to return to the top of page

Carol Works, Member Services Chair
15920 Kenilworth Rd., Big Sandy MT 59520 (phone 378-3163)

This is a program for planting trees to restore forest ecosystems and to work cooperatively in the conservation, protection, and development of the natural resources on National Forest System lands. National Garden Clubs partners with the Forest Service by providing funds to plant trees in areas where natural or human-caused catatrophes have created the need for reforestation. By collecting pennies, each $68 covers the planting of approximately one half acre of National Forest System lands with trees native or best suited for the selected area. Trees are not necessarily pine trees. Trees selected for planting are indigenous to the geographical locations in both species and elevation. This program is intended to be on going for five years.

We propose, that if clubs choose, that at each meeting "the hat" is passed around for members to clean the pennies and other coins out of their purses for the Penny Pines program. Each club treasurer can keep track of what is contributed and once a year send it to the state treasurer who will send in on the the National Garden Club project chairman.

So please remember to bring your extra change to your garden club meetings to help fund the Penny Pines project. If you have any questions, please contact me.

At the start of the program in 1941, seedlings could be produced for about one cent each. Approximately 680 seedlings were used to plant a typical acre. For $68.00, seedlings for ten acres could be purchased. Site preparation and planting costs were met through regular Forest Service appropriations. The Penny Pines program was so successful that money contributed to purchase seedlings soon far exceeded appropriated funds available for site preparation and for the actual planting job. In 1964, the original cooperative agreement was rewritten to provide that funds contributed under the Penny Pines program be used for reforestation, rather than solely for purchasing seedlings.

When planting your gardens, lawn or doing landscaping, take some time to consider using native Montana plants. What is a native plant? It’s a tree, shrub, grass or flower that was growing in this state before Europeans settled here.

Why use native plants?? These plants evolved here over thousands of years and are well suited to our environment and climate. They have proven resistant to pests and disease and require little or minimum maintenance and watering once established. Most species are perennial or self seeding annual or biennial plants. By using native plants we provide food and habitat for our native wildlife. Native plants may also attract insects that prey upon pests, decreasing the need for harmful pesticides. The use of native plants helps to increase biodiversity and restore imperiled habitats.

When using native plants, it is best to use those that are from your local area. We have so many different growing zones in Montana that not all plants will thrive in all areas. One way to learn the plants native to your area is to visit a natural area nearby. We are fortunate that there are many unspoiled areas in our state where we can find native plants flourishing. Additionally you may want to seek guidance from a well established local nursery in your area.

I would like to compile a list of nurseries in the state as a resource for our members. If you know of a nursery in your area that supplies native Montana plants, please let me know- e-mail by clicking on my name above. I will put these on our web site.

References sources are available at the Federal Highway Administration which lists native plants, and the MT Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Service which explains how to grow native plants successfully.

CENTRAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS, H. Wayne Phillips - A Falcon Guide
PLANTS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, Linda Kershaw, Andy MacKinnon, Jim Pojar -Lone Pine Field Guide
ALPINE WILDFLOWERS Dr. Dee Strickler
PRARIE WILDFLOWERS Dr. Dee Strickler
WILDFLOWERS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS Carl Schreier Lone Pine Field Guide
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS, John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead Jr., Ray J. Davis - Peterson Field Guides
FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN WILDFLOWERS, WESTERN REGION National Audobon Society
ALPINE WILDFLOWERS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, oseph H. Duff & Robert K. Moseley
NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS, Wayne Phillips – A Falcon Guide
THE HISTORY AND FOLKLORE OF NORTH AMERICAN WILDFLOWERS Timothy Coffey
WILD WILDFLOWERS OF THE WEST Edith S Kinucan and Penney R. Brons
WEEDS OF THE WEST Tom D. Whitson, Editor

Prairie Smoke is also called Old Man's Whiskers or Purple Avens. It is a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae).

This perennial herb grows in dry to moist sites, often in gravelly soil from the plains to sub-alpine regions. It blooms from May to July. The stems of this plant are reddish and softly hairy. The purplish to dusty pink urn shaped flowers grow in nodding clusters (usually 3 blooms) at the end of the stems. The basal leaves are fern like with heavily serrated edges. The seed heads are long and feathery -- similar to whiskers. A field of these flowers gone to seed looks like a fog or smoke.

The Indians boiled the roots to make a tea that tastes a bit like sassafras tea..

Lewis and Clark collected specimens of this plant on June 12, 1806 at the Quamash Flats in Idaho.

Read how the Stevensville Garden Club received a $3,000 grant through the Bitterroot National Forest to establish a beautiful, native plant, educational garden. Local schools will conduct field trips to the garden and learn about the importance of native plants to the Native Salish Indian tribe and the role pollinators play in maintaining the natural plant ecosystems. Full article on the project available by clicking here.

Click on Youth Activities for more information.

For information about our partnership with First Lady Nancy Schweitzer's new math and science
children's gardening initiative called "Nancy's Garden", click this link.