The National Garden Association 
President: Leonard Barron, F.R.H.S. 
Honorary Pice-Presidents: J. Horace McFarland, Mrs. Francis King, Mrs. Russell. Tyson, Mrs. 
Thomas G. Winter, Mrs. Samuel Sloan, Mr. Frederick Newbold, Mr. Robert Pyle, Mrs. John 
D. Sherman. 
Cooperating Societies: National Plant, Flower and Fruit Guild; American Dahlia Society; 
American Iris Society; Ontario Horticultural Association; American Forestry Association; 
Women’s National Farm and Garden Association; Wild Flower Preservation Society; National 
Horticultural Society: The Agassiz Association; The School Nature League. 
m m YEAR ago this month, The Garden Magazine con- 
ce ’ ve d ar *d oulined the plan of a National Garden 
(TWlL Week in an earnest desire to make this country the 
garden spot of the whole world. 1'he General Federa¬ 
tion of Women’s Clubs, many other organized groups and in¬ 
dividuals so successfully cooperated in this great initial festival 
that hundreds of communities to-day show the result of that 
week and thousands of individuals have reaped the benefits. 
Out of the great number of letters that have come to us, the 
pages of appreciation, the plans and articles on achievements 
due to National Garden Week, there has crystallized a very 
definite conception of the results of that week. We know 
beyond question that a nation-wide interest in the individual 
home garden has been aroused which is leading to a new and 
very broad appreciation of the value of such gardens to the 
community. And following this comes a widespread awaken¬ 
ing to the value of garden clubs and the formation of hundreds 
of new groups, all working to increase the beauty of their lo¬ 
calities by planting. Out of the making of the personal garden, 
the improvement of the home plot, grows the impulse toward 
that broader phase of gardening—community beautifying. 
Garden Clubs are the most all-embracing of civic organiza¬ 
tions, for a garden club works for the whole community. It 
covers every phase of welfare. No town is any lovelier than 
its poorest quarter or more beautiful than its most unattractive 
street. A garden campaign means a clean-up campaign and a 
clean-up campaign is a health campaign and so, step by step, 
gardening activity spreads through the city, out into the high¬ 
ways where it cleans up, out into the by-ways where it con¬ 
serves the wild flowers and trees, out into the waste places to 
turn them into play places for children—that is what a garden 
club has grown to mean in any locality. 
During the past year The Garden Magazine has helped to 
establish a great number of such clubs, and it will send to every 
individual or club asking for it, a constitution, by-laws, and 
program for a garden club; and will also be glad to aid garden 
clubs to federate. 
It is now time to plan for the second observance of National 
Garden Week, from April 20 th to 26 th. Many communities 
are already starting the work for this Week, and Mrs. John D. 
Sherman, one of the Honorary Vice-Presidents of the National 
Garden Association, and National Chairman of Applied Edu¬ 
cation, Federation of Women’s Clubs, has assured us that the 
Federation is again planning to vigorously sponsor a country¬ 
wide observance. 
In anticipation of the demands for helpful bulletins, we have 
secured the following for distribution: 
What One Town Did Flower Shows 
Clean Up and Clear Up Beautifying the Farmstead 
The Use of Rural Community Buildings Roses 
The School Garden Growing Annual Flowering Plants 
The City Home Garden Trees for Town and City Streets 
And for those who live in Tennessee a most helpful booklet on community 
organization, giving programs, constitutions, and by-laws. 
A New Affiliation 
In union there is indeed strength, and as the scope of the 
National Garden Association grows and broadens other na¬ 
tional organizations are giving it their support and desire to 
stand on record as working with us. The newest member of the 
Association is the School Nature League, an organization to 
establish a nature room in each city school to put within reach 
of every child some knowledge and appreciation of the great 
out-of-doors—a constructive endeavor in both gardening and 
citizenship which at once wins wholehearted applause. 
PLAN FOR NATIONAL GARDEN WEEK IN YOUR TOWN 
A LL that you have to do is to start the ball rolling! Make your 
campaign such as will enlist the active assistance of every indi¬ 
vidual; get Garden Clubs, Women’s Clubs, Boy Scouts, American 
Legion, National Congress of Mothers, and the Parent-Teachers 
Association to help. 
Decide what is the greatest civic need. Is it parks? Play 
grounds? Better streets? Trees in home grounds and along streets? 
Flowers? Gardens? Public interest? 
Work out your plan carefully along lines most necessary and valu¬ 
able. Take your plans to your local Board of Trade, Chamber of 
Commerce, or Village Board. YOU must arouse their interest and 
secure their assistance. 
Your plans are of interest to your local newspaper. Tell them 
exactly what you are striving for. They will aid you in stimulating 
interest and enthusiasm. 
Adopt some flower for your city that grows readily in your 
locality. Get local business organizations to offer seeds and prizes for 
home gardens, best flower, and various phases of city beautifying. 
Distribute free seeds among interested families in the congested 
districts. Local charities will furnish you with these names. 
Select unattractive vacant lots in your town. Gain their owners’ 
permission and allot these to various clubs to turn into beauty spots. 
Get banks, business houses, etc. to offer prizes for the greatest improve¬ 
ment. This stimulates friendly competition. Have “Before and 
After” photographs taken—these to make an interesting exhibit at 
whatever time the prizes are to be awarded. 
Decide on a local “Tree Day” when each home owner will agree 
to plant at least one tree or shrub! The city council on that day should 
be urged to plant trees in parks and along all highways. 
Plan to preserve your city’s historical spots. Make them accessible 
and attractive. 
Plan to do away with all unsightly billboards and advertising. 
Urge School Gardens at Every School. Urge gardens at all 
orphanages. Give them a happier conception of what life can mean. 
Remember that the children of to-dav are the citizens of tomorrow. 
If you live in a small suburban town, especially encourage the 
cultivation of gardens and distribution of seeds to school children—- 
both flowers and vegetables so that a “ Harvest Home” may be held in 
the autumn as the result of these gardens. 
Start gardens at your nearest State Prison. San Quentin, Sing 
Sing, and Nashville prisons have “Gardens Beautiful.” These are 
proving their value in many ways as important phases of prison wel¬ 
fare work. No more necessary or helpful phase of a “State beautiful” 
campaign could possibly be conceived! 
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