The women of Green Hills Garden Club of Vicksburg have taken home another award for their work in Sister Isabel’s Garden, this time at the national level.

“I was truly dumbfounded,” said Janis Koestler, president of Green Hills Garden Club of Vicksburg, an affiliate of Garden Clubs of Mississippi Inc.

The national recognition, a certificate of merit for historic preservation, came after the group received a first-place state award in May for the group’s work in the garden on the Adams Street side of Southern Cultural Heritage Center.

Sister Mary Isabel Rand, R.S.M., lived at the Sisters of Mercy Convent and tended the garden in the early 1900s to use its yield for the kitchen and flowers for the tables at St. Francis Xavier Academy where she taught.

Two years ago, Green Hills Garden Club stepped up to bring the garden back to life.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Koestler. “It’s little, but we’re very proud of it.”

The club was recognized this month at the National Garden Clubs convention in Washington, D.C.

The club, which has 26 members whose ages range from 40 to 90, had full participation in the project.

“Everyone contributed somehow,” Koestler said. “That’s something that helped us win this award.”

Koestler said members were surprised and excited to learn of their award.

“Everyone was happy,” Koestler said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would win at a national level.”

But the work does not stop there.

“Now we have to stay on top of it,” Koestler said. “Our goal is to have something blooming out there year-round.”