National Public Gardens Day

src: publicgardens.org

National Public Gardens Day, occurring annually on the Friday before Mother's Day, is a day to promote awareness of botanic gardens, arboreta, zoos, historic gardens, or any of North America's public gardens. The day was established by the American Public Gardens Association, a Pennsylvania non-profit organization that supports, resources and promotes public gardens in North America.

Video National Public Gardens Day

Activities

Members of the American Public Gardens Association celebrated National Public Gardens Day beginning in 2009 with activities that varied by garden. The Atlanta Botanical Garden invited visitors to bring flowers, so that they could be put into arrangements for patients and their families at Children's Hospital The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, asked visitors to pledge to conserve water, displaying 400 five-gallon water containers that pledgers could adopt. National spokesperson Paul James visited media gardens, speaking with the public and media about the role public gardens play in the local community.

In 2010, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the importance of recognizing National Public Gardens Day, listing the US Botanic Garden and gardens in Illinois as examples.

Maps National Public Gardens Day

History

Created in 2009, in partnership with sponsor, Rain Bird, as a way to increase public awareness of the educational resources public gardens provide to local communities, National Public Gardens Day was adopted by the members of the American Public Gardens Association, to highlight programs such as plant conservation, water conservation, the preservation of green spaces, and home gardening.

The national spokesperson for National Public Gardens Day was Paul James, host of HGTV's Gardening By The Yard.