Is It National Garden Month Already?

Wow.  It feels like the last National Garden Month just ended!  Like, today.

But here we are on the brink of April 1, and according to this here press release, the National Garden Bureau (a non-profit run by representatives of the seed industry with the goal of 'disseminating accurate information about gardening') and the National Gardening Association (a non-profit with a more diverse group of horticultural types on its board; its aim is to provide 'plant-based education') have teamed up to celebrate National Garden Month.

There's a festival in Manhattan's Union Square called NYC Grows, sponsored by Target, Lowes, Scotts, and others, which is described on the National Garden Month website as an event that will (I'm not making this up) "provide opportunities for national, regional, and local companies to demonstrate their social responsibility to, and create brand awareness among, consumers interested in making their lives more 'green.'"

Create brand awareness.  That's the actual, stated, right-there-on-the-website goal of this event.

And it seems to be the only real, official event of National Garden Month.  Other than that, we are encouraged to troll the website for Easy Garden Tips, search an online calendar for garden shows or 'educational programs' in our area, and generally celebrate the 'endearing and enduring love of nurturing plants.'

So get out there, folks!  Enjoy National Garden Month while you can! 'Cause it's going to be over in..uh... a month!  Oh, and don't forget about that brand awareness.  You're gonna need that.

Comments

[Michele Owens]

The fact that APRIL is National Gardening Month is proof alone that it was dreamed up by PR people, not the nation's gardeners. If it were May, they'd have a point.

[Jim/ArtofGardening]

Organizations get so hung up in jargon that anything they have to say loses all meaning.

I think they need an above-board, actionable, base-tending, paradigm-shift that would be a big-learn or skill-set addition with a buy-in for us all, and gets us some face time with its human capital. Otherwise, it's a zero-sum game for that brand awareness.

[Spidra Webster]

HAW! Jim wins for comment of the year.

[Emmakw]

Huh, here in MA April is " Think about Gardening Month!" - today, a balmy high of 65, but possible snow showers by the weekend!!

[Barbara]

PR indeed! I was used, bled dry, and kicked to the curb by the NGA. When I think of the hours (and money)I spent introducing NGA's Rose Getch to the NYC gardening community I gag. The hope was for a positive,learning event about gardening, community beautification efforts, attracting pollinators, street tree care, organic methods, composting, volunteering in parks, etc. Ha! Instead, chemical-laden products are pushed, sponsors coddled, and NGA salaries paid with high booth prices. Organic? No way - they sold their souls for the dollar.

[luise h.]

To me April i s gardenmonth.I am out there cleaning beds,cutting back perennials from last year,cleaning the first emerging weeds,digging up sod to make the beds larger(again).I am gardening my pants off!It's also in april that i harden off some of the seed grown plants so they can be planted out in May when all danger of frost has past.By the way,my friends are out there doing the same thing,squeezing as much work as possible into the days with temps just a little above freezing.Yup,April is gardenmonth.