🌱 Exciting news from Clarksville! Clarksville Christian School (Hwy TN-76) has been awarded a $500 grant from the Tennessee Native Plant Society to create a native plant garden on their campus. Students in grades 7–12 helped design the garden by voting on their preferred native species. The garden design and native plant selections were guided by their mentor Kathryn Lee, President of the Montgomery County Master Gardeners Association.
Kathy is a longtime SGI supporter and volunteer at SGI & APSU's Native Plant Teaching & Research Garden, which served as a model to help inspire the design of this new garden. In the spirit of shared learning and local conservation, the SGI Volunteer Team donated native seed collected in Fall 2025—right here in the same seed zone—to support this thoughtfully planned project. This marks SGI’s first-ever native seed donation to a community garden, and we hope to continue making important connections like this within the Clarksville, Montgomery County, TN community.
With help from instructors Mr. Remy Powell and Mr. Josh Gallimore, students planted Common Milkweed, Round-Headed Bush Clover, Prairie Coneflower, Senna, Mountain Mint, and Partridge Pea; other donations from the community included generous garden mulch for the beds and natural stone, pea-gravel for the walkway that brought the space together. The seeds are now settling in over winter in preparation for germination this spring.
More photos to come as this garden grows into full maturity over the next few years—we love seeing native plants (and partnerships!) take root. 🌾💚
Blog prepared by Laura Hunt, SGI Volunteer Coordinator, and Eleanor Lopez, SGI Communications Specialist.