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Our Programs

2024

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.

Contact us for program details

February 13, 11: 30 am

“The Three S’s:  Socializing, Sharing and Swapping”

Once again we will kick off the new gardening season with this informal meeting in which members can learn from each other.   We will begin with a pot-luck lunch, so bring a table-ready dish to share. After a short business meeting, we’ll have a “potluck” of gardening tips, tricks, and favorites. Don’t be shy about sharing!  

There will also be an opportunity for each committee to share their plans for an exciting 2024 as well as a swap table. If you have a duplicate catalog, gardening tool,book, houseplant or other garden-related item, bring it along. Your discard item may be a “treasure” to another gardener!

March 19 5:30 pm          

Bulbs and Branches: Using Indoor & Outdoor Natural Materials for Spring Floral Design

In March, when our gardens seem their most quiet, we can still use natural materials at hand to create stunning floral arrangements.  Nancy Balleck MacKinnon, a partner in Balleck’s Garden Center in East Haddam CT, will demonstrate how to combine branches, flowering bulbs and eclectic containers to brighten up our interiors.  Consider planting an extra pot or two of your favorite bulbs to have at the ready when, after Nancy’s presentation, you might want to experiment at home.   

April 16, 5:30 pm

Pollinator Support: Taking it to the Next Level

Our speaker, Kathy Connolly, is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants.  Pollinator support is a year-round process.  Kathy will show us how to protect and encourage pollinators by taking cues from nature’s own designs.   We’ll look at the importance of continuous bloom from March to November and how to use nature’s cues to improve habitat on any property, private or public.  We’ll talk about the full growing season, not just the colorful summer months, and review the importance of habitat connectivity, fallen leaves, water sources, and deadwood.  We’ll learn about high-value plants and where to buy them.  An extensive handout and plant list are included with this talk. 

July 16, 5:30 pm

Mid-Summer Inspirations: Caring for Our Air and Design Case Studies

We have two very special speakers scheduled for this month.  We are honored to welcome Karin Pyskaty, current president of the Federated Garden Clubs of CT (FGCCT).  She will focus in on her presidential theme (and our 2024 Yearbook theme), “Care for Our Air”, and will also give us a quick overview of what resources FGCCT has to offer to its members.  Following Karin’s presentation and a short Q&A, we’ll showcase the garden talents of one our own members.  Vilma Gregoropoulos, professional gardener and landscape designer, will show us some gardens that she has worked on that illustrate some basics of landscape design.

August 20, 5:30 pm

Salt Marsh Haymaking 

Did you know that our salt marshes – home to fish, birds, crabs and turtles – were actually used for agriculture over hundreds of years?  Well into the 20th century, coastal farmers regularly harvested salt hay for their livestock and other purposes.  Scenes of marsh haystacks were romanticized in postcards and oil paintings for decades.  Ranger Shaun Roche from Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge will present on the fascinating lost practice of salt marsh haymaking in the Northeast. 

September 17, 11:30 am

Garden Jeopardy

Renee Marsh is a garden designer, an advanced master gardener and a horticulturist.  Under her guidance, we will test our horticulture, insect, and gardening knowledge in a lively game of “Garden Jeopardy”.  The game is structured like the Jeopardy TV game show, including double jeopardy and final jeopardy questions.  We will divide into teams (distributing our own master gardeners equitably) and be challenged with questions on flowers, native plants, invasive plants, pollinators, as well on Connecticut flora and fauna.  Sounds like fun, yes?!

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