Meetings & Events

2024 - 2025 Calendar



MEETINGS:  

Unless otherwise noted, meetings are open to the public and are held at 7pm at St. Matthias Church Community Hall, 409 Hemmenway St, Marlborough. See below for more details.

We'll get reacquainted, have some fun, and go home with a new plant! Anyone who wishes to participate in the swap, please bring a potted plant to the meeting - both outside plants from your garden or indoor plants are welcome. You can also attend the meeting without participating in the swap (just don't bring a plant). 

This richly illustrated program explores the importance of creating welcoming habitats for birds through thoughtful landscape choices, including native plants vital for food and nesting sites. Learn about the benefits and joys of creating beautifully layered gardens designed for avian – and human – habitat. Presenter: Joan Butler is a Certified Master Gardener, a retired Horticulturalist and a backyard birder who believes gardens should invite you to linger in the world outside your door.

Composting put simply is a unique method of recycling. It uses existing microorganisms to decompose organic matter into usable and highly nutritious soil. It can be done in your backyard, under your sink or even in commercial settings. All you need is the composting recipe for success, an open mind, and the desire to help the environment. Presenter: Barb McIntosh has been a gardener for more than 40 years, a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2016, and is a former volunteer Head Steward in the Trial Garden at Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Gardens at Elm Bank.

9am – 11am at Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Street, Marlborough 

Many might be familiar with color theory in painting, but there are some significant differences when it comes to gardening: color echoes for building depth, false neutrals vs true neutrals, matching vs non-matching, as well as non-traditional but popular color combinations that flout all color theory recommendations. This will be a hands-on lecture, with props for practice to understand why certain things work and why they don’t and also to emphasize the personal nature of color perception and taste. Presenter: Cecilia Mikalac has been a painter for more than 50 years and a gardener for 15 years. She has learned the hard way that one’s yard is a different canvas entirely.

Join us to learn about welcoming native plants and insects to your garden, choosing beautiful plants to attract beneficial insects and pollinators, the truth about native plants, the good citizens and the thugs, leaf-eating insects, why the right balance helps your garden, and garden maintenance tricks to make your yard hospitable to the right insects. Presenter: Rebecca Warner is a home gardener with extensive experience in sustainable ornamental gardening. Her book The Sustainable-Enough Garden is the story of her quest to make a beautiful environmentally friendly garden.

Learn to create your own small but productive cutting garden, so you can make and share beautiful flower arrangements all summer long. This program provides guidance on easy and reliable plants to grow (annuals and perennials), soil preparation, maintenance, harvesting, flower conditioning, end-of-season breakdown and more. This session also includes a demonstration of a spiral hand-tied bouquet, which will go home with one lucky attendee! Presenter: Mary Beth Hayes is an avid gardener and floral designer. She has studied with the Cass School of Floral Design, Mass Horticultural Society, and has exhibited at the Worcester Art Museum Flora in Winter, Boston Flower Show, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Stevens Coolidge Place.

8:30am – 10:30am  at Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Street, Marlborough

Have you always wanted to create lush container gardens that would be the envy of the neighborhood but didn’t know where to start? This talk will show you how to take your container gardens from “blah” to “aaah”.  We’ll start with the basics, including appropriate containers, soil mixes, and plant choices for different site conditions, then proceed to new and unusual plant material and uncommon, even “green”, container choices. Presenter: Award-winning container garden designer Deborah Trickett has worked in the gardening industry for over 30 years and is the owner of The Captured Garden. By combining unusual plant material and creative design ideas she creates gardens and containers that are truly one of a kind.

Club meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month between September and June (excluding January).  No meetings are held in July or August.  Except for the December and June dinners, which are for members only, all meetings are open to the public.  

Educational presentations usually run from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., followed by a business meeting.  Most programs are free, but any which require paid admission or a workshop materials fee will be advertised accordingly.  The current meeting location is St. Matthias Church Community Hall, 409 Hemmenway St, Marlborough; any change in meeting location will be posted on our website, Facebook page, and all published press releases.