The purpose of the Hamilton County Master Gardener Association shall be to promote the art, science, and pleasure of gardening in the community, in cooperation with the Cooperative Extension Service of Hamilton County and Purdue University.
A Brief History . . . . .
The Master Gardener Program began in the early 1970’s in Seattle, Washington, and came to Indiana in 1978. From the very beginning the Master Gardener Program has been about people wanting to learn more about good gardening practices, meeting the challenges of gardening and sharing that knowledge with others in their communities.
Here in Indiana there are more than seventy-five counties currently offering Master Gardener Programs and some 50 counties with active Master Gardener associations. The Hamilton County Master Gardener Association (HCMGA) was formed in 1985 by half-a-dozen gardeners and was among the first in the state.
Our purpose . . . . .
as stated in our Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws . . . is to promote the art, science and pleasure of gardening in the community, in cooperation with the Cooperative Extension Service of Hamilton County and Purdue University.
Ways of accomplishing this . . . . .
HCMGA provides the community with information on good gardening practices through news articles, talks and presentations; by staffing information booths at the Flower & Patio Show, the State Fair and the Hamilton County 4-H Fair; providing answers to gardening questions through the Purdue, Hamilton County, Education Center: answering questions at the annual plant sale; by presentations provided county wide by the Seeds of Knowledge volunteers; and working with youth organizations and schools.
Structural Details . . . . .
HCMGA is an Indiana not-for-profit corporation. The funding of the associations activities comes from the sale of plants at the annual Spring Plant Sale and the sale of iris and daylilies. Proceeds from these sales allow for the funding of the Barney Hobbs Memorial Horticulture Scholarships, the Small Grants Programs, and the activities of all the association’s committees. HCMGA receives no government funding.
There are eleven (11) elected officers: Past President, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and five (5) Officers-at-Large elected each October at the HCMGA Annual Meeting. These officers form the Board, that meets once a month and is charged with supporting the activities of the committees and the membership. The Purdue ANR Educator is the master gardener adviser and also makes the decisions as to what counts for volunteers hours, education hours and tracks all of these electronically.
HCMGA is based in the Purdue Extension Office, Hamilton County:
address: Hamilton County Master Gardener Association
2003 Pleasant Street, Noblesville, IN 46060
phone: (317)776-0854
HCMGA is also supported by the Purdue Extension, Hamilton County staff who also support all other activities of the Extension program.
