The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon - Distribution of Grants Funds in 2004

Grants Awarded in 2004

Thirteen groups received a total of $12,000 in grants from HPSO this year, as approved at the February 25th Board meeting. Funding for grants comes from donations and special fundraising projects (Annual Meeting Silent Auction, Garden Art Fair) as well as some of the profit generated from book sales, plant sales and other activities.

Below is a list of this year's recipients, which include schools, community gardens, public gardens and a miscellany of non-profit groups doing community work, which fulfills HPSO's mission. We honored one recipient, Growing Gardens, with the donated funds remaining in the Madeleine Keeve Memorial Grant Fund. Madeleine was an avid supporter of Growing Garden's work and would have been pleased by their selection.

Project Name: "Grow with Trust" Watershed Replanting
Organization: Nehalem Elementary School
An environmental classroom project consisting of gardening and habitat restoration work at a site near the elementary school, as well as continuation of work on a native plant nursery to supply plants to this and other community/school sites. Still another component is a winter vegetable garden.

Project Name: Naturally Native
Organization: Chapman School (Salem, OR)
This project involves an ongoing environmental learning classroom, where students, teachers, and community volunteers are reclaiming an area that had been overgrown with blackberries, ivy and poison oak.

Project Name: Growing Home Gardens Initiative
Organization: Growing Gardens
This group works with low-income Portland residents to successfully establish organic home vegetable gardens, in order to improve food access, health, and an increased sense of community. Education and on-going support are components of this program. Funding will be used for garden materials, plants, hardware, landscaping materials and written materials.

Project Name: Siskiyou Bed Interpretation
Organization: The Berry Botanic Garden
This continues an earlier grant given to establish the bed. Funding will be used for designing interpretive signs and brochures, and their production.

Project Name: Forest Grove Community Garden
Organization: Pacific University Humanitarian Center
This is for an extension to a community garden, with raised beds (constructed with straw bales) to accommodate people with limited mobility. Funding will also be used for a tool shed

Project Name: Sunset Park Native Garden
Organization: Raindrops to Refuge (Sherwood, OR)
This group's mission is to "… inspire and facilitate community action and cooperation to protect and restore Sherwood's local watersheds." They are building a native garden in the new Sunset Park. Funding from us will be used for interpretive brochures and horticultural publications used in tours, workshops and for homeowners to borrow. Good planning, public outreach and sustainability were the markers in our decision to fund this grant.

Project Name: Water Efficient Demonstration Garden
Organization: South Fork Water Board (Oregon City, OR)
This will be a model garden/environmental classroom education on low water use landscapes. It is sustainable, and will have a wide community exposure. Funding will be used for plants and interpretive materials.

Project Name: Rhododendron Companion Plants
Organization: Lloyd Baron Rhododendron Garden Planning Committee, Tualatin Valley Garden Club
This project enhances a new rhododendron garden with inter-plantings of NW native woodland plants, both herbaceous and woody. It is a botanic garden with an educational emphasis, on two acres, partnering with Hillsboro Parks and Recreation. Funding will be used for plants.

Project Name: Lord and Schryver Conservancy Study Archive
Organization: Lord and Schryver Conservancy (Monmouth, OR)
This project involves collecting, protecting and making accessible archival materials related to the L&S legacy, in a consolidated collection. This will be a great asset essential for the development of the garden preservation work of the L&S Conservancy. Funding of this project meets an often neglected part of HPSO's garden preservation mission.

Project Name: Educational Tree Protective Platform
Organization: Audubon Society of Portland
This is a major hardscaping project to protect an old-growth Douglas fir from soil compaction around its roots. It is one of their outdoor classroom sites. Audubon serves a diverse socio-economic population of students and has a good track record with previous grants from HPSO.

Project Name: Elk Rock Plant Labels
Organization: Elk Rock Garden, Episcopal Diocese of Portland
This project is for expanded labeling of the plants at Elk Rock Garden, which will benefit public visitors.

Project Name: Courtyard Teaching Garden
Organization: Meadow Park Middle School (Beaverton, OR)
The garden involves children in an environmental classroom, predominantly native with bird habitat emphasis, but they will also be raising plants for fundraising to maintain the garden. This school has a diverse population of middle school students, with a balance between TAG, special education, non-English speaking, and free/reduced lunch students. Funding will be used for garden materials, plants, hardware and landscaping materials.

Project Name: Eastmoreland Garden
Organization: Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association
This is a neighborhood enhancement project garden, replacing an underutilized parking lot for the Eastmoreland Golf Course.