Our Programs

2026

Our programs are offered primarily for our members, and are held in conjunction with our monthly business meeting; however, anyone is welcome to attend as our guest. If an event interests you, and you would like to attend, please get in touch and we will provide location and other details including Zoom details. This enables you to choose whether you wish to come for the program only, or also for the members’ meeting.

March 17 5:30 pm

Discovering the Vital Connection Between Habitat and Wildlife

Consistent with our yearbook theme of “Bee Resilient – Plant for Natives”, we have invited DEEP Wildlife Biologist Peter Picone to be our speaker. In his power-point presentation, Peter will show us how to make a difference for wildlife in our home gardens by the native plants and trees we choose and how we arrange them.

April 21, 5:30 pm

Flowers, Finally!!!

Carol King Platt is an accomplished flower arranger, landscape designer and writer, and for 23 years wrote a weekly garden and lifestyle column for the New London Day. In this lighthearted and humorous program, Carol will demonstrate, using mostly garden flowers, foliage and branches, how to decorate your home for Spring. She will use vintage or unique containers and will show ways to secure flowers without floral foam, since she, in her lifetime, has already disposed of enough Oasis to create her own large, but very lightweight Mount Trashmore. Five decorations will be raffled off.

July 21, 5:30 pm

Good Bugs, Bad Bugs

Our speaker, Pamm Cooper, works at the University of Connecticut Home and Garden Education Center offering advice on cultural and pest concerns for gardens, landscapes and natural habitats. Also an accomplished nature photographer, we can enjoy her beautiful slides as Pamm takes us on an in depth look at some common and uncommon pests and beneficial insects, as well as benign insects of interest.

August 18, 5:30 pm

Low Maintenance Techniques, Sustainability, and Native Plants

In 2024, Vilma Gregoropoulos, longtime member of NSGC and a landscape designer, wowed us with a short presentation on Landscape Design with Case Studies. Back by popular demand, Vilma will focus on a different topic, and in support of our yearbook theme of “Bee Resilient – Plant Natives”, will guide us how to create landscapes with less maintenance requirements, work with natural areas and rain gardens, and choose the right plants for our environment.

September 15, 11:30 am

Gardening for Birds

Kim Hargrave, Executive Director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Mystic, CT, will be our final speaker this year. Our backyards can be havens for a wide variety of beautiful birds – but our landscaping often lacks the essential elements birds need to truly thrive. In this program, Kim will take us on a “birds-eye view” of the backyard to explore what our feathered friends are really looking for: food, water, and shelter. She’ll also highlight some common bird species you might attract and the native plants they prefer, helping you to create a more bird-friendly habitat right at home.