Mission Viejo Garden Club
Community Activities and Projects
The Mission Viejo Garden Club participates in projects to promote conservation, formal education in the field of horticulture, and public education through workshops and garden-oriented events. The club has also provided gardening materials and plants through low cost sales to the public.
Our projects include:
- National Arbor Day: National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. Mission Viejo Garden Club celebrates Arbor Day by ceremonial plantings close to that date in April. Thus far, our Club has planted California Pepper trees at Rancho Canada Elementary School in Lake Forest, Biloxi Crepe Myrtles and Brisbane Box trees along the Oso Creek Trail, Liquid Amber trees in Montbury Park and Sycamore trees in Applegate Park. Our club has also honored Mission Viejo City Landscape Architects with a CGCI award for their outstanding landscape design for the new city library. The presentation was made by the CGCI President and Landscape Chairman and attended by the Mayor and City Council.
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Community Rose Garden: Mission Viejo Garden Club members helped plant the original 300 plus roses at Florence Joyner Olympiad Park. Most recently, the diseased roses were replaced by the city. Mission Viejo Garden Club members continue to volunteer their time and talent tending the roses, bringing beauty and joy to the residents of Mission Viejo."
- The Garden Therapy Team is privileged to provide floral arrangements to hospice patients through St. Joseph's Hospital. Pictures of the arrangements that are created each month by gardening club members are posted on our "Photographs" page. In addition, we help our members with gardening chores on an as needed basis.
- National Garden Week: Every year communities, organizations, and individuals nationwide celebrate gardening during National Garden Week. Gardeners know, and research confirms, that nurturing plants is good for us: attitudes toward health and nutrition improve, kids perform better at school, and community spirit grows. Informational displays and floral arrangements are placed throughout the community to promote the positive attributes of gardening.
- Viejo Elementary School: Members will be supporting this elementary school garden throughout the year with hands-on support and gardening materials. Most recently we planted an avocado tree to celebrate Arbor Day.
- A Horticulture Scholarship, determined yearly, is awarded to a local Saddleback College student pursuing the study of horticulture.
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Penny Pines: The national forests in California cover some 20 million acres, or about 1/5 of the state. That is equal to an area just slightly larger than the state of South Carolina . Stretching from the Mexican border to Oregon , these forests include a variety of terrain and vegetation types.
When a fire occurs, it takes thousands of firefighters and hundreds of pieces of specialized equipment working long hours to control these blazing infernos. Fires like these leave total destruction in their wake.
As destructive as fires are, disease and insect infestation destroy seven times more forest vegetation annually than fires because forests pests are scattered and not easily detected, so are harder to control.
In time some land may recover naturally. Penny Pines provides a helping hand. It is a conservation program in which everyone can participate.
