As CHS President Steve Silk recently wrote in an issue of CHS Newsletter, the Connecticut Horticultural Society is mindful of its horticultural legacy and the ways in which it passes the legacy to the next generation.

The lynchpin is the award of scholarships for deserving students of horticulture in the state. The fund began in 1959 with the award of a single scholarship of $100 to a student at the University of Connecticut. In 2010, CHS awarded about $10,000, divided among three students in the plant sciences program at UConn and, for the first time, a student in the horticulture program at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

Since its inception, the fund has awarded a total of more than $141,000. The CHS spring and fall plant auctions are the main ways in which the society raises money for the scholarship fund.