Connecticut Horticultural Society

Trip to New Hampshire Farms for foraging and fun September 16-19, 2025
2025-09-16 - 2025-09-19 | CT
The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut and Friendship Tours are hosting a trip to New Hampshire September 16-19 for fun and foraging at farms!
Come join the fun to tour highlights of New Hampshire in the prime early-fall season. In just four days, visit farms and gardens, have a go at foraging and enjoy special meals together with our congenial group of travelers.
You’ll spend all three nights at the Hotel Concord centrally located in Concord, New Hampshire. From there, you’ll branch out to visit some of New Hampshire’s premium sights.
Join the Tour!

Click here for more details and registration information.
Pricing is based on a minimum of 25 passengers
$1698 Per Person Double
$2079 Per Person Single
$75 Non-Member Surcharge Applies
The hotel has 7 rooms with two beds
King-bedded rooms & Kings with pull-out sofa bed available
What is included?
$100 Donation to FGCCT Included (non-refundable)
Deposit $350 per person
Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation
Three Nights Hotel Concord
3 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches and 2 Dinners
Sightseeing per itinerary
Friendship Tours Escort
All gratuities included
Snacks and Refreshments provided.
Pickups will be New Haven and Farmington
Cancellation policy: Final Payment due June 27, 2025
From deposit to June 27, 2025 fee of $250 pp. June 27-July 25, 2025, a fee of $1000 pp is applicable. After July 25, 2025, it is non-refundable unless a substitute is provided.

Gardens of Southern Italy and the Amalfi Coast • September 9-19, 2025
2025-09-09 - 2025-09-19
Wow, this trip looks just amazing!
Gardens of Southern Italy the Amalfi Coast – Cole Burrell – Final Flyer
Join Garden and Nature Tours with C. Colston Burrell, local guide Guido Gambone, Friendship Tours and Minnesota State Horticulture Society in Naples, Italy to begin exploring both iconic and personal gardens in the historic cities, charming towns and sublime landscapes of Southern Italy and the Amalfi Coast. This bucket-list trip offers exciting opportunities for exploration, discovery and enjoyment.
Travel with C. Colston Burrell and Guido Gambone along stunning coastlines above azure waters of the Mediterranean to discover the rich history, private gardens, grand villas, and sumptuous cuisine of Southern Italy and the Amalfi Coast!
We begin by exploring the ruins of Pompeii and discovering the charms of Sorrento, Salerno and Naples, including markets, churches, cathedrals, artisan shops, and outdoor cafes.
Our journey includes visits to Giardino della Minerva, Villa Cimbrone, Villa Rufalo and more. On the Isles of Ischia and Capri, we visit Giardini la Mortella, Villa Jasmine, and Villa San Michele. The ruins at Gardens of Ninfa are a fantasyland awaiting discovery. In Rome we visit two iconic gardens, Villa d’Este and Villa Borghese.
Stunning scenery, glorious gardens, delicious meals and warm companionship await. This is a popular tour so register early.
See you in Naples!

Board Meeting
2025-09-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Designing for Habitat: From Back Yards to Byways with C. Colston Burrell June 26, 2025
2025-06-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Designing for Habitat: From Back Yards to Byways with C. Colston Burrell
June 26, 2025
COLE WILL JOIN US VIRTUALLY THIS EVENING, DUE TO UNEXPECTED FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS.
7 pm
Live and on Zoom
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free Center, 725 Main Street, Middletown, CT
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
What does a garden need to attract and sustain wildlife? How do we meet the aesthetic goals of owners while providing the structure and resources necessary to maintain the insects and birds we love? Can we create healthy habitat with a mixture of native and exotic plants? This lecture explores the possibilities and limitations of designing sustainable habitat gardens at various scales, from urban spaces to rural retreats.
Colston Burrell is an acclaimed lecturer, garden designer, award-winning author and photographer. A certified chlorophyll addict, Cole is an avid and lifelong plantsman, gardener and naturalist. He has twice won the American Horticulture Society Book Award for Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide, Timber Press, in 2007, and for A Gardener’s Encyclopedia of Wildflowers, Rodale Press, in 1998. Cole received the Award of Distinction from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers for his work promoting sustainable gardening practices.
Cole is a popular lecturer internationally on topics of design, plants and ecology. He has shared his love of plants and regional landscapes with professional and amateur audiences for 45 years. He is principal of Native Landscape Design and Restoration, which specializes in blending nature and culture through artistic design.
Cole has teamed up with Friendship Tours and The Minnesota State Horticultural Society for Garden and Nature Tours with C. Colston Burrell to offer personalized leisure tours to exceptional gardens and natural areas around the globe. His one-of-a-kind tours explore the best private and public gardens and the most ecologically diverse natural areas to create once in a lifetime travel adventures.
He has an M.S. in Horticulture from University of Maryland and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota. He is a lecturer in the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he teaches about plants and their ecological connections to natural systems and cultural landscapes.

June Board Meeting
2025-06-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Location TBD.

Save the Date! Plant Sale & Auction returns on Friday, May 16, 2025
2025-05-16 18:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Click here for the CT Hort 2025 Spring Auction flyer.
Connecticut Horticultural Society’s annual Plant Sale & Auction returns on Friday, May 16 from 6:30-9pm at Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, CT, and will include an unusual collection of plants and shrubs.
Doors open at 6:00pm with a plant sale and silent auction of perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs, shrubs and silent auction treasures from local growers, wholesalers, and businesses, and ends with a live auction of some eclectic offerings.
Horticulturalist Nancy DuBrule-Clemente will once again curate and serve as one of the auctioneers, alongside Jim Sirch and Kevin Wilcox. Together, they have well over 100 years of experience in the field.
Nancy DuBrule-Clemente is the founder of Natureworks Horticultural Services, an organic garden center, landscape design, consultation, installation and maintenance service in Northford, CT that she started in 1983. She is also the author of Succession of Bloom in the Perennial Garden: A Manual for Garden Designers, Including Shrubs and Vines Often Found in Perennial Gardens and A Country Garden for Your Backyard: Projects, Plans & Plantings for a Country Look.

Jim Sirch has been giving lectures on pollinator gardening and propagating native plants from seed for over 20 years. He is on the board of the Connecticut Horticultural Society and founded the Beardsley-Maritime Chapter of FrogWatch, a national citizen science program. A CT Master Gardener, Jim serves as vice president of the CT Hort Board of Directors and co-founded the Hamden Public Library’s Pollinator Seed Library. He recently retired working as Education Coordinator at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
Kevin Wilcox is CT Hort’s resident horticulturist and has more than 30 years of experience in the field. An accomplished and sought-after lecturer, he has presented to plant societies and garden clubs on a wide range of gardening topics as well as specific groups of plants, including rhododendrons, Japanese maples, and conifers. He has served on the CT Hort Board of Directors and is the vice president of the CT Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society.
Those who attended last year will remember that the auction included dozens of shade plants from CT Hort member Judy King’s amazing garden. This year, there will be another round of shade-loving specimens donated by Ms. King.
The silent auction will include a framed image by garden photographer Ellen Hoverkamp. Ellen died at a young age a couple of years ago.
Proceeds from all sales are deposited into the Society’s Scholarship Fund and used to provide scholarships to Plant Science students at the University of Connecticut (since 1959), and Naugatuck Valley Community College (since 2011). In addition, funds in excess of our scholarship commitments will spill over to CT Hort Cares, our civic grants program.
Admission tothe Plant Sale and Auction is $5 and includes refreshments.
Bethany Covenant Church is at 785 Mill Street in Berlin, CT. For more information, visit www.cthort.org or email auction@cthort.org.
Can you provide a donation? Click here for a letter that doubles as a tax receipt.
Stay tuned for more information on volunteering that evening.

Crevice Gardening: Even more than it’s cracked up to be with Panayoti Kelaidis May 15, 2025
2025-05-15 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Crevice Gardening: Even more than it’s cracked up to be with Panayoti Kelaidis
May 15, 2025
7 pm
Live and on Zoom
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free Center, 725 Main Street, Middletown, CT
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
The history of rock gardening goes back a few centuries in Western Europe and America, and a few millennia in East Asia—it’s always seen as a somewhat “niche” form of gardening—pursued by enthusiasts, while “ordinary” people stick to perennial gardens or perhaps annuals or even conifers. This talk will show the enormous scope and variety of the modern crevice garden as it’s being practiced around the world—especially in New England where spectacular examples exist.
In rocky Connecticut, this isn’t quite so much the case—there is a long deep history of rock gardening in New England (with all those rocks!). But trough gardening, and especially the exciting new art of crevice gardening are breathing new life into the art of plants and rocks.
This iteration of rock gardening was born in the Czech Republic almost 60 years ago, where it was perfected and has transplanted vigorously in North America—especially in Victoria, British Columbia thanks to Paul Spriggs, and in Colorado thanks to Kenton Seth. Crevice gardens have become an exciting new way to grow all manner of plants, from challenging alpines, to woodlanders and even cacti and succulents.
Panayoti Kelaidis is a plant explorer, gardener and public garden administrator associated with Denver Botanic Gardens where he is now Director of Outreach. He began his career at DBG in 1980 as curator of the Rock Alpine Garden, where he designed and oversaw the initial plantings of this extensive garden. Garden Design Magazine has rated this garden as the best public rock garden in North America. He has designed plantings for many of the gardens at DBG, as well as being part of the design team at Centennial garden and has designed the Watersmart knot gardens at Denver’s Civic Center as part of Denver Mayor Hickenlooper’s Water Conservation initiative.
He has introduced hundreds of native ornamentals from throughout the Western United States to general horticulture. He has taken five collecting trips to South Africa researching the high mountain and steppe flora there, as well as travels to the Andes, the Himalaya (from both Pakistan and China) as well as travels throughout much of Europe, the Caucasus and Turkey. Perhaps the best known of Panayoti’s introductions are the many showy hardy ice plants: several dozen of these are now available at garden centers across America and in other parts of the world.
In addition to introducing a host of exotic plants to general horticulture, Panayoti has been a champion Western native plants. He was the second secretary of the Colorado Native Plant Society, and past president of the American Penstemon Society. He has explored the Western mountains from Alaska to southern Mexico, collecting seeds of more than a thousand kinds of Western American wild plants for Denver Botanic Gardens’ collections and for research and study.
Panayoti has been party to the discovery of a number of species of plants new to science. In 1980, he pressed the first specimens of a lady’s tress orchid in Golden that was subsequently to be named Spiranthes diluvialis by Charles Sheviak. In 1987 John Lavranos sent Panayoti an Aizoaceae he collected on Komsberg Pass in South Africa which Panayoti subsequently shared with John Trager at the Huntington Botanical Garden, and finally Steve Hammer. This taxon was finally recognized as Delosperma sphalmanthoides by Hammer. In March of 1996 Panayoti and Jim Archibald collected a specimen of an undetermined Moraea on Mount-aux-Sources, Orange Free State, South Africa which Peter Goldblatt determined to be a new species. Several more of his south African collections are undergoing evaluation as likely new species to be published in the coming years.
Panayoti takes particular pride in sharing the plants and information he accrues through many channels: he has lectured in nearly 150 cities in nine countries, and has been featured in dozens of television, newspaper and magazine pieces.
Panayoti was inducted in 2000 to the Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Growers Hall of Fame. Also in 2000, he received the Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal from the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College. In 2002, he received the National Garden Clubs Medal of Honor. In 2003, he was inducted into the Garden Club of America as Member-at-Large. In 2004, he received the Boulder History Museum’s 60 Year Living History award. He has received three of the North American Rock Garden Society’s awards over the last two decades, and in 2009, he received the Liberty Hyde Bailey award from the American Horticultural Society.
He believes that gardening is humanity’s best way to gain an appreciation of nature and natural processes. In an increasingly urbanized and polluted world, horticulture is, perhaps, the last best way to create a sustainable future for mankind and our planet.

May Board Meeting
2025-05-06 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Broadcast via Zoom.

Oh! What I didn’t plant with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente April 24, 2025
2025-04-24 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Oh! What I didn’t plant with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente
April 24, 2025
7 pm
Live and on Zoom
(Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk)
Free Center, 725 Main Street, Middletown, CT
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
Nancy’s garden is filled with so many annuals, perennials, biennials, shrubs, and herbs that she didn’t plant. They may be considered “free gifts” or they may be considered “plants gone rogue”! Dive into how to recognize, manage, move around, edit, and generally care for a generous garden that offers so much to its gardener.
Nancy DuBrule-Clemente is the founder of Natureworks Horticultural Services, an organic garden center, landscape design, consultation, installation and maintenance service in Northford, CT that she started in 1983. She is also the author of Succession of Bloom in the Perennial Garden: A Manual for Garden Designers, Including Shrubs and Vines Often Found in Perennial Gardens and A Country Garden for Your Backyard: Projects, Plans & Plantings for a Country Look

April Board Meeting
2025-04-01 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Gardens of Charleston and Savannah, March 26-April 2, 2025
2025-03-26 - 2025-04-02
Please join us for an unforgettable journey as we survey the beauty and history of the Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia, with our special guest tour guide C. Colston Burrell, garden designer, lecturer, author and photographer.
TOUR ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS:

Savor a festive Lowcountry Boil in Susan Epstein’s private garden
Explore the Lowcountry’s history, culture and cuisine
Delight in two wine receptions
Partake of three group lunches featuring local cuisine
Visit six private gardens
Tour Brookgreen Garden’s plant collections and sculptures, as well as a pontoon boat trip through rice fields to enjoy local wildlife
Walk in the footsteps of history at Middleton Place and Magnolia Plantation
Stroll through the history of Charleston, Beaufort and Savannah
Enjoy a private guided tour of the history and horticulture of Savannah’s famous squares
Discover the secrets of Bonaventure Cemetery, made famous in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Call 800-243-1630 or go to www.friendshiptours.net.
$5449 per person double / $ 6644 per person single

Escorted Australia! March 21-April 5
2025-03-21 - 2025-04-05
Escorted Australia 2025
March 21 – April 5, 2025
Escorted by Brett Isaacson, President & Owner

Join Friendship Tours as we embark on a spectacular adventure in the Land Down Under – AUSTRALIA!
President & Owner of Friendship Tours, Brett Isaacson, along with local expert guides will lead the way on this land tour to explore this amazing continent.
Discover the rich culture and awe-inspiring scenery of Australia. Considered one of the most unique destinations on earth, this land tour of Australia offers one-of-a-kind experiences from cosmopolitan cities to rainforests to the Great Barrier Reef. You will see some of the world’s most scenic landscapes & amazing animal life. This exclusive trip is limited to 30 travelers and will be an immersive experience through Australia!
https://www.friendshiptours.net/tours/australia-2025
MAIN TOUR ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS:

Sydney (4 nights): Blue Mountains National Park – Tour of iconic Sydney Opera House – Bondi Beach – Royal Botanic Garden – Dinner Cruise in Sydney Harbor
Ayers Rock (2 nights): Ayers Rock Sunset & Sunrise Viewings – Dot Painting Indigenous Art Workshop – Field of Lights Exhibition with Dinner
Cairns (3 nights): Kuranda Rainforest – Skyrail Cableway – Army DUCK tour – Kuranda Railway – Full Day Great Barrier Reef adventure with catamaran
Melbourne (4 nights): Phillip Island – Koala Habitat – Penguin Parade – KaBloom: Field of Flowers – Yarra Valley – Aboriginal Talk – Royal Botanical Gardens

TOUR DURATION: 16 Days
For Detailed brochure, click here: Australia Flyer
To Make a Reservation or for More Information, call Friendship Tours 860-243-1630 / 800-243-1630 and ask for Barb.

https://www.friendshiptours.net/tours/australia-2025

Gardening in Overtime: Getting the Most out of Your Late Season Display with Dan Benarcik March 20, 2025
2025-03-20 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Gardening in Overtime: Getting the Most out of Your Late Season Display with Dan Benarcik
March 20, 2025
7 pm
Zoom only
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
Fundamentally we all want the same thing…more! More plants, more choices, and more options to extend our gardening season. Dan will share with you ways that he extends the season on both sides at Chanticleer, both fall and spring. Plant suggestions, design tips, and techniques for how to make your late season garden sing.
Dan Benarcik has worked at Chanticleer for almost 30 years and currently oversees their Courtyard Gardens featuring tropical, subtropical, and tender perennials for seasonal display. He judges for the Philadelphia Flower Show and has worked on extended assignments at Lotusland, Long Vue House, and Ayrlies Garden. A former Regional Director of the Garden Writers Association, he has written for many publications, including Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and Martha Stewart Living.

Trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show and more-register now for next March's big journey
2025-03-07 - 2025-03-09
Register now for one of the best trips you’ll take! We’re off to the Philadelphia Flower Show, New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show and Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza next March 7-

9, 2025. Like last year, we’re thrilled to welcome special guest Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, author & founder of Natureworks Horticultural Services.
Begin the trip with a stop at the New York Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show before we head to Philly for a two-night stay at the Mendenhall Hotel for a welcome reception and dinner. The next day we are off to the 196th Annual Philadelphia Flower Show. On our last day, we will take a trip to beautiful Longwood Gardens for their spectacular orchid exhibit.
Trip includes deluxe motor coach, two nights hotel accommodations, tax and baggage, two breakfasts, two dinners, flower show admission, orchid show admission, sightseeing per itinerary, all gratuities, and a Friendship Tour director.
$975pp double / $1129pp single
CT Hort members receive a $55pp discount
Deadline to reserve your spot/deposit is January 5, 2024
Contact Barbara at Friendship Tours at barbara@friendshiptours.net or call 860-243-1630.

March Board Meeting
2025-03-04 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Gardening for the Frogs with Jim Sirch February 20, 2025
2025-02-20 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Gardening for the Frogs with Jim Sirch
February 20, 2025
7 pm
Zoom only
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
Learn about the natural history of Connecticut’s 11 species of frogs and toads and how to attract them and a host of other wildlife to your yard through bubblers, small ponds, and other water features.
Jim Sirch has been giving lectures on pollinator gardening and propagating native plants from seed for over 20 years. He serves as the vice president of the Connecticut Horticultural Society Board of Directors and founded the Beardsley-Maritime Chapter of FrogWatch, a national citizen science program. A CT Master Gardener, Jim co-founded the Hamden Public Library’s Pollinator Seed Library. He recently retired working as Education Coordinator at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

February Board Meeting
2025-02-04 19:30 - 20:00 UTC

SOLD OUT! Propagating Native Plants from Seed: Workshop with Jim Sirch Jan. 18
2025-01-18 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Sold out!
Please stay in touch to learn about future workshops.
Propagating Native Plants from Seed: Workshop with Jim Sirch
Date and time: Sat, Jan 18, 2025 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Zion Episcopal Church, 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford
Register here!
Including native plants in your garden helps pollinators. Expand your native plantings by growing them yourself from seed. We will discover the germination requirements for different kinds of seeds. We’ll plant and bring home a plastic milk jug filled with a seed selection to stratify over the winter. Proper after care will be discussed. Bring a clear (translucent), one-gallon plastic milk or water jug; we will supply the soil and seeds. Jim Sirch is a CT Hort Board member, master gardener, and has just retired as the Education Coordinator at Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
Register here!

The Wonders of the Winter Landscape with Vincent Simeone Jan. 16
2025-01-16 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
The Wonders of the Winter Landscape with Vincent Simeone
January 16, 2025
7 pm
Zoom only
(Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk)
Free for members; $10 for non-members (register here)
Winter is one of the most beautiful times of the year to appreciate the garden. Although plants lie dormant, interesting characteristics such as the growth habit, ornamental fruit, and bark interest become most evident. In addition, conifers and broadleaved evergreens can provide interesting foliage and texture. This lecture will focus on the wonders of the winter landscape and how to enhance the aesthetic value and interest of the garden by using horticultural treasures such as winter fruiting plants, broadleaved evergreens, conifers and trees with interesting bark.
Vincent has worked in the horticultural field for over 37 years. He is currently the Director of Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, NY where he has worked for 31 years and manages the facility. He received an AAS degree in ornamental horticulture from Farmingdale State College (SUNY), Farmingdale, New York and a BS in ornamental horticulture from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. While at Georgia, Vincent studied under well-known professors Dr. Michael Dirr and Dr. Allan Armitage. Vincent also obtained a Masters Degree in Public Administration from C.W. Post- Long Island University in 2003. Vincent has specialized expertise in woody plant id, culture, use and selection of superior varieties. Vincent is an experienced lecturer, instructor and horticultural consultant. He has published seven gardening books including a revised edition of a book on garden sustainability.

January Board Meeting
2025-01-07 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Wreath Workshop with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente Dec. 4
2024-12-04 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
Wreath Workshop with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente Dec. 4

Location: Country Flower Farms, 320 Baileyville Rd, Middlefield, CTDate and time: Wed, Dec 4, 2024 4:00 PM – 6:00 PMRegister here!
Join us for a creative and fun experience! Nancy DuBrule-Clemente will teach you the basics of holiday wreath making so you can create your own! The wreath will feature mixed evergreens and will be made on a 12″ box ring which will make a wreath about 20-22″ in diameter.
Each student will have a full role of florist wire and can take the the rest home after the wreath is done. Nancy will discuss the various greens, many of them which will be harvested from her yard!
If you want to purchase ribbon at the workshop, Nancy will make you a bow. The only things you need to bring are work gloves, pruners and your imagination.
Register here!

Invasive Plants in Connecticut: A Winnable War with Christian Allyn Nov. 21
2024-11-21 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Invasive Plants: A Winnable War
November 21, 2024
7pm
Live and on Zoom
Elmwood Community Center
1106 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford
(Set your GPS to Burgoyne Street, West Hartford. The entrance to the community center is off Burgoyne Street.)
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free for members; non-members register here.
It is easy for one to throw up their hands and say invasive plants cannot be managed, but by working together and doing what is hard we all can work together to solve this daunting task.
Christian Allyn has made a career of managing invasive plants across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. His company, Invasive Plant Solutions, has managed invasive plants from land trusts to backyards. He’ll share with us the ways we call can all be a part of the solution.
Christian graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2017 with a horticulture resource economics double major. Christian started Invasive Plant Solutions while at UConn and now has a staff of eight, executing management throughout Connecticut, western Massachusetts and Eastern New York.

November Board Meeting
2024-11-05 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Frederick Law Olmsted: Shaping the American Landscape with Marta McDowell
2024-10-17 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Frederick Law Olmsted: Shaping the American Landscape with Marta McDowell
October 17, 2024
7pm
Live and on Zoom
Elmwood Community Center
1106 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford
(Set your GPS to Burgoyne Street, West Hartford. The entrance to the community center is off Burgoyne Street.)
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free for members; non-members register here.
A look at the life and legacy of the Hartford-born individual who coined the term “landscape architect.” While most famous for his public parks, Olmsted’s commissions included the Biltmore Estate, the World’s Columbian Exposition, and campuses ranging from Stanford to Amherst. For a century, Olmsted and his sons dominated the profession and left a lasting mark on the landscape and psyche of America.
Marta McDowell lives, writes and gardens in Chatham, New Jersey. She shares her garden with her husband Kirke Bent and assorted wildlife. Her garden writing has appeared in popular publications such as Woman’s Day, Country Gardening, and The New York Times. She is a regular contributor to the British journal Hortus.
Marta’s work typically follows the relationship between the pen and the trowel, that is authors and their gardens. Her latest book, Gardening Can Be Murder explores the garden as the inspiration for writers of crime fiction. Timber Press also published Unearthing The Secret Garden, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, All the Presidents’ Gardens–released in a revised edition in 2024–and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. All the Presidents’ Gardens made The New York Times bestseller list and won an American Horticultural Society book award in 2017. Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life won the Gold Award from the Garden Writers Association and is now in its ninth printing. Her books have been translated into Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.
In 2023, Marta wrote the text for a book of photography by Larry Lederman about five gardens of the du Pont family, now public gardens in the Brandywine Valley, published by Monacelli Press. She also edited a facsimile edition of Elizabeth Blackwell’s 18th century work A Curious Herbal, released by Abbeville Press.
If you visit the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts, you can stroll the grounds with a landscape audio tour that Marta scripted. She was also the 2018 Gardener-in-Residence at the Museum and frequently coordinates its “Garden Days” for volunteers. Marta was an advisor for the New York Botanical Garden’s 2010 show, “Emily Dickinson’s Gardens: The Poetry of Flowers.”
Marta teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden where she has been twice awarded “Instructor of the Year.” A popular lecturer, she has been a featured speaker online and at locations ranging from the Chicago Botanic Garden to the Smithsonian Institution and the Beatrix Potter Society’s Linder Lecture at the Sloane Club in London. She was honored to appear in the PBS American Masters “Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page” which first aired in December, 2020, at the Garden Museum’s Literary Festival at Chatsworth House in July, 2022, and the Emily Dickinson International Society Conference in July, 2023.
Marta interned at Wave Hill, Frelinghuysen Arboretum, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Rosemoor in Devon, England and at the Chelsea Physic Garden. She worked as a horticulturist for five years at Reeves-Reed Arboretum in New Jersey. Marta is on the Board of the New Jersey Historical Garden Foundation at the Cross Estate. She is the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement. Her garden is included in the Smithsonian’s Archive of American Gardens.

October Board Meeting
2024-10-01 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)

Native Fruits with Lee Reich, Sept. 19, 2024
2024-09-19 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Native Fruits
June 20, 2024
7pm
Live and on Zoom
Elmwood Community Center
1106 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford
(Set your GPS to Burgoyne Street, West Hartford. The entrance to the community center is off Burgoyne Street.)
Members will receive the Zoom link the Sunday before the talk.
Free for members; non-members register here.
Most people, when they decide to grow fruits, plant apples or peaches, pears, cherries, and other familiar market fruits that mostly reflect this country’s traditionally European heritage. Consider native American fruits, which often are better adapted to withstand our pest and climate challenges, and look naturally at home in our landscapes. We’ll explore the beauty, the flavor, and the cultivation of American persimmon, pawpaw, beach plum, lingonberry, and a host of other native delectables, as well as blueberry — a relative newcomer to our market shelves.
Lee Reich, PhD dove into gardening decades ago, initially with one foot in academia, as an agricultural scientist with the USDA and then Cornell University, and one foot in the field, the organic field. He eventually expanded his field to a “farmden” (more than a garden, less than a farm) and left academia to lecture, consult, and write. He is the author of 9 books and was a syndicated garden columnist for Associated Press for almost 30 years. Besides providing a year ‘round supply of fruits and vegetables, his farmden provides a testing ground for innovative techniques in soil care, pruning, and growing fruits and vegetables, and provides an educational site for workshops and training. Science and an appreciation of natural systems underpin his work.

Coastal New England Gardens Sept. 12-14, 2024 with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente!
2024-09-12 - 2024-09-14
COASTAL NEW ENGLAND GARDENS
September 12-14, 2024
Featuring:
Bedrock Gardens • Moffatt Ladd House • Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens • Tower Hill • Shop at Weston Nursery • Two Nights Hotel Accommodations at the AC Hotel Portsmouth Downtown/Waterfront, Portsmouth, NH • Two breakfasts, two lunches and more!
With special guest: Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, author & founder of Natureworks Horticultural Services
$1254 per person Double / $1684PP single ($55 discount for CT Hort members)
Go to www.friendshiptours.net or Call Barbara at Friendship Tours: 860-243-1630
Click here for details and registration information.

September Board Meeting
2024-09-03 19:00 - 2024-09-10 20:00 (America/New_York)
Broadcast via Zoom

A trip to Cape Ann—the "Other Cape" (July 21-23)
2024-07-21 - 2024-07-23
Three Day Jaunt to Cape Ann, Massachusetts….
Come along on a summer interlude July 21-23 to beautiful Cape Ann in the height of summer. Enjoy two nights at the Ocean House Hotel at Bass Rocks located on the ocean. Our congenial group will enjoy included dinners on both nights of our stay! We will cruise the Essex River estuary at sunset. Private gardens with refreshments will highlight one day of our tour. On our trip back to Connecticut we will visit Neal Sanders, author of many mysteries including A Murder at the Flower Show! Join us for this fun trip—sign up now! In conjunction with Federated Garden Clubs of CT
Deluxe Motorcoach • 2 Nights Ocean House Hotel• Two Continental Breakfasts • Two Lunches • Two Dinners
$1499 PP Double • $1889 Single 25 Passengers total–register now!
Click here for trip information.
Click here for the registration form.
Want more information?
Tour Coordinator Kathy Lindroth
Kathleen.Lindroth@gmail.com
Registrar Kris Urbanik,FGCCT Tours
Krisurb@cox.net

Fairfield County Nursery Tour
2024-06-24 09:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York)
Join us for a Fairfield County Nursery Tour
Location: Starts off at Oliver Nurseries, 1159 Bronson Rd, Fairfield, CT
Date and time: Mon, Jun 24, 2024 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM

Take the day, carpool with friends, and enjoy a tour of three of Fairfield County’s finest
nurseries. We’ll start at 9:30 am at Oliver Nurseries (1159 Bronson Rd., Fairfield), to explore and enjoy an alpine trough planting demonstration given by Lori Chips. Then it’s off to Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center (7 Sylvan Lane, Westport), to visit the largest herb plant grower on the East Coast. Next up is Terrain (561 Post Rd. East, Westport), where we’ll shop the wonderfully curated and displayed collection of nature-inspired items and grab lunch at the Terrain Cafe-or you can bring your own.
Cost: $10. Register now!
