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Arizona Columbine Garden Club

Garden Club of America has funded more than 1400 scholars since the Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture was established in 1928. 2024 is a banner year for GCA Scholarships. One hundred scholars have been awarded a record total of $459,000 in scholarship monies. 1,800 scholarships have been awarded to date.

Twenty-seven merit-based scholarships are offered. Fields of study include botany, coastal wetlands studies, conservation and ecological restoration, desert studies, garden history and design, horticulture, international work and study, landscape architecture, native bird habitat, pollinator research, summer environmental study, and urban forestry.

Of particular interest to Arizona Columbine Garden Club is the The Garden Club of America Award in Desert Studies, which was funded by Columbine member Nancy Swanson. The Arizona Columbine Garden Club continues to financially support this scholarship on an annual basis. The award is administered by the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and is designed to further botany, environmental science, horticulture, and landscape design relating to an arid landscape.

2024 Desert Studies Scholarship Recipients

Zane Robertson 2023

The Garden Club of America Award in Desert Studies 2023

Master's Student, Plant Biology and Conservation , Arizona State University

A Taxonomic and Genetic Investigation of the Rare Plant Rumex orthoneurus

Continuing thesis research with the US Forest Service and Desert Botanical Garden staff, Robertson will look closely at Blumer’s dock, a flowering plant in the knotweed family native to western North America. Blumer’s dock is found in Arizona and New Mexico and is a US Forest Service protected plant. Robertson hopes to determine if Rumex orthoneurus is a genetically and morphologically distinct taxa. Robertson foresees pursuing a career in studying rare plants with cultural or ethnobotanical interest.

Megan Rziha 2023

The Garden Club of America Award in Desert Studies 2023

Undergraduate, Landscape Architecture and Sustainability, Arizona State University

Summer Internship at Desert Botanical Garden

Rziha will participate in a summer internship at Desert Botanical Garden and will partner with staff members from the Collections, Research, and Horticulture departments. Working on a rotational basis in several areas will expose Rziha to a wide variety of horticulture-related topics. Rziha hopes to expand an understanding of native plants, animals, and processes to create designs that support natural ecosystems as well as human use.

Arizona Columbine Garden Club

Founded in 1946. Member of Garden Club of America since 1989.

The purpose of the Arizona Columbine Garden Club is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, aid in the protection of native trees, plants and shrubs, and restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment through programs and action in the fields of conservation, civic improvement and education.

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