Springfield Garden Club
Springfield, Massachusetts
"Rooted in the Past and Still Growing"
The Springfield Garden Club was organized in 1917,
federated in 1928 and celebrated its CENTENNIAL in 2017-2018
This is us....
The Springfield Garden Club strives to:
create interest in the art of gardening
stimulate the promotion of civic beauty through horticulture and conservation
encourage the appreciation of the visual art of designing with plant material
Our Affiliations
We are proud member of:
National Garden Clubs, Inc. www.gardenclub.org
New England Garden Clubs, Inc. https://newenglandgc.org/
Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. www.gcfm.org/districtclub
Tower Hill Botanic Garden www.towerhillbg.org
Happenings and Highlights
November Meeting
Winter Sowing Workshop
Presented by Janet Dolder and Beate Bolen
Let's get a head start on Spring planting! In this hands-on workshop, with guidance from Master Gardeners Janet and Beate, we will plant perennial seeds in repurposed plastic containers. You will be invited to return with these seedlings in May to show off your results, perhaps choosing to share with fellow members. All supplies will be provided.
December Meeting
Celebrating the Holidays with Mystery Guests
Presented by Springfield Garden Club Designers
The Old Monkey House in Forest Park will be transformed into a banquet hall of unique tablescapes. Each table will be themed to honor a distinguished guest, fictional or real, past or present.
This holiday luncheon meeting will be exclusive to MEMBERS ONLY. However, doors will open Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday for public viewing. Hours and ticket information will be available here shortly.
February Meeting
Beneficial Late Winter Garden Chores
Presented by Melissa Pace
Master Gardener and educator for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Melissa Pace, will guide and encourage us to undertake late winter tasks including pruning, soil testing, hardscape repairs, tool maintenance, and springtime project planning.
See our Events Page for More Happenings and Information
Past Events
October Meeting
2024
Everything You Want to Know About Hydrangeas
Presented by Dan Ziomek
Have questions about selecting, planting, pruning, deadheading, or simply enjoying the many hydrangea varieties now available? Don Ziomek, manager of Sugarloaf Gardens in Sunderland, will share his 30+ years of experience so that we can become confident stewards of these New England staples.
Click Here to Learn More About Don
Arbor Day 2024
Tree Dedication in Forest Park
Honoring Patrick Sullivan
On April 26th we celebrated Arbor Day with the planting of a Sourwood tree in Forest Park. This year's Tree Planting was dedicated to Patrick Sullivan, recently retired Springfield Executive Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreational Management. Patrick served the city over a 37-year career. He has been and continues to be an avid supporter of the Springfield Garden Club and was instrumental in the Club's return to Springfield and Forest Park in 2020. We are immensely grateful and proud to call him a club member and a friend.
Special thanks to Joe Carvalho for his original musical score and to Bob Pellin for the creation of this photo compilation
April Meeting
2024
Sustainable Raised Bed Gardening
Presented by Gretel Anspach
Lifetime Massachusetts Master Gardener, Gretel shared with us her extensive knowledge and expertise on using raised beds for food production. She has established and maintains a 20,000 square foot raised bed garden that has provided fresh produce for the Marlboro and Maynard Food Banks for the last 10 years.
Festival of Flowers
April 2024
Springfield Garden Club
Member Contributions
If you were one of the fifteen club members who generously created an arrangement for this event, we are so very proud of each and every one of you!!
A note from the Springfield Museums:
"Thank you all for another incredible year of flowers! The 11th annual event drew more than 3,000 visitors, and we had our best Festival of Flowers Saturday (Family Day) ever! Your generosity and dedication made this possible."
More Photos will be available soon.
March Meeting
2024
Mechanics Toolbox
Presented by Bob Whitney
As entertaining and informative as ever, Bob Whitney joined us in the Monkey House at Forest Park. Drawing on his extensive design experience, Bob demonstrated the creation of arrangements sprinkling in hints and tips for using multiple techniques and tools like braiding, wiring, taping, gluing, preservatives, paints, and wires.
February Meeting
2024
Interpreting Art in Flowers
Presented by Springfield Garden Club Designers
Have you been inspired by the beautiful designs created for the Festival of Flowers? Would you like to be part of it but wonder how to put it all together? Talented and adventurous club members shared how they moved through viewing and selecting an art piece, envisioning a representation, selecting materials and building a design. We hope that you all have been inspired and will come to enjoy the spectacle of the Festival of Flowers April 4-7.
November Meeting
2023
Growing Natives From Seed
Presented by Alexis Doshas
Ever wonder why some seeds are so hard to get started? As the manager of Nasami Farm Nursery, Alexis shared her extensive experience in starting and growing native seeds and why they are so important for us to add to our gardens.
Special Zoom Program
October 2023
The Unexpected Houseplant
Presented by Tovah Martin
Tovah joined us via zoom from her beautiful hame in Connecticut. With her book of the same title as a starting point this horticulturist, photographer, author and lecturer encouraged us to "dust off our houseplants and update their image." She was gracious enough to stay with us after her presentation to answer all of our questions with her warm and witty style. You can follow her on Facebook at Plantswise by Tovah Martin.
October Meeting
2023
PROGRAM: Bringing Home the Beauty: Native Plants in Our Gardens
Director of The Native Plant Trust since March of 2019, Uli Lorimer joined us at Forest Park. He has advocated tirelessly for the use of native plants in public and private gardens. His staff of 25 and more than 700 volunteers work throughout New England to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants and collect and preserve native seeds to ensure plant diversity. With his Northeast Native Plant Primer as a starting point, he will showed us how we can bring the beauty of native plants into our own gardens.
September Meeting
2023
PROGRAM: Rain Gardens, Why They Are Important and How To Make One That Works.
Rachel Lindsay explained why rain gardens are an effective, nature-based “Green Infrastructure” solution to prevent larger environmental problems caused by run off from our streets, roofs, driveways, and patios. Rachel is Head of Landscape Design at the Regenerative Design Group. If you'd like to learn more, please visit their website.
This GCFM award-winning video of member photos of beloved trees was created in celebration of the
150th anniversary of Arbor Day
Created by Bob Pellin,
member Springfield Garden Club
Scholar's Art Project
2021 Scholarship recipient Aaron Richmond-Crosset shares with us his creative art project and what it may represent.
See more photos and Aaron's detailed description on our Scholarship page (click here)
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