The Des Moines Founders Garden Club chose to make the introduction of Disease Resistant Dutch Elm Trees to our community our centennial project. Our Mission Statement was: To study, grow, educate, evaluate, and promote this worthy tree. We partnered with the Brenton Arboretum and the City of Des Moines Department of Park and Recreation to achieve our goal. To date, 300 trees have been planted in Des Moines parks and public areas.