FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) — Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation and the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory are celebrating 100 years of the Grow It! School Plant Program.

The annual City-Wide Blue-Ribbon Plant Show was held Saturday, Sept. 12, at McMillen Community Center, recognizing student gardeners from more than 60 elementary schools and homeschool groups.

Each spring, Fort Wayne students in kindergarten through fourth grade receive a plant grown by staff at the Lawton Park Greenhouse. School-level plant shows are held throughout the summer before the top student gardeners are recognized at the citywide event.

More than 17,000 plants were distributed to students in 2026.

The Grow It! program began in 1926 as the School Children’s Flower & Vegetable Association. It was founded by Fort Wayne Parks Superintendent Adolf Jaenicke in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce.

The program was reorganized in 1961, leading to the volunteer-led school plant shows and citywide exhibition that continue today.

The program is now managed by the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory and Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation, reaching more than 60 schools and homeschool groups each year.

The program aims to give students hands-on experience with gardening while teaching responsibility and encouraging a lifelong connection with nature.