Colorado Garden Foundation celebrates 60 years

Colorado Garden Foundation Mission to support sustainable

celebrates 60 years

horticulture still going strong

The Colorado Garden Foundation (CGF) celebrated its 60-year anniversary this year and awarded more than half a million in horticultural grants during the Colorado Garden & Home Show, February 9-17.

More than $513,000 was awarded in grants to 62 organizations at the grant ceremony. This year’s two major grant winners were the Denver Botanic Gardens and the WOW! Children’s Museum.

Each year, 100% of show ticket proceeds go toward funding horticultural grants and scholarships. In its 60 years, the foundation has contributed more than $9 million across the state, including matching grants by show sponsor Bellco of more than $185,000 to date. “These grant recipients support the Foundation’s mission of supporting programs that instill in our youth the importance of sustainable horticulture,” said Jim Fricke, CGF executive director. “We look forward to seeing this support come to life in the gardens that they create.”

The Colorado Garden Foundation was created to raise funds for horticultural projects. In its first year, its purpose was to raise funds for the Denver Botanic Gardens. The foundation held its first garden show that same year. The show began with fewer than 50 participating companies and has grown to feature 625 companies in 2019.

The first ten years featured gardens only before adding home services to the program to become the Colorado Garden & Home Show as it is known today. | CG

Photo courtesy Winger Photography

CGF supports Pathways schools

The Landscape Career Pathways Program benefitted from Colorado Garden Foundation’s grant program in 2019. Lone Star School Agriculture Department received a grant of $6,750 that will be used to build a greenhouse where students can learn horticulture through hands-on experience growing plants.

SaraLynn Vetter, who leads the Lone Star program, is an enthusiastic supporter of the Landscape Career Pathways Program. She has regularly attended annual teacher training sessions led by ALCC volunteers and she provides opportunities for students to learn about the green industry. Though her high school has only a few hundred students in rural Otis, CO, Vetter has made the effort two years in a row to bring students to High School Day at ProGreen EXPO. She wants them to learn more about careers in the green industry and meet with industry professionals. Lone Star’s Limon School District also received a $15,000 grant. Colorado FFA Foundation, which has worked with the Career Pathways program to support students interested in horticulture, received a $4,000 grant.

SaraLynn Vetter