Let It Grow
By Tammy Thornton
Garden clubs provide a way for both seasoned and novice gardeners to come together and share their knowledge, experiences, and passion for gardening. Monthly meetings may feature guest speakers and discussions about upcoming events. Often garden club projects involve beautifying their towns or volunteering to help in the community.
Shore Local News would like to feature a few of the garden clubs in our area so our readers can see what’s out there. Each garden club has its own unique personality and story behind its beginnings.
Sweet Scents Garden Club celebrated their tenth anniversary this year. Founded by Bayview Garden Nursery in Northfield in April 2012, this garden club frequently hosts guest speakers and holds workshops on seasonal topics. The club’s dues and services have provided flowers and plants to local nursing homes, libraries, and parks, including the Children’s Memorial Garden at Birch Grove Park and the Northfield Veterans Park. They are currently involved in the Northfield Museum (Castro House) renovation project as well as Birch Grove Park improvements. Their current membership is 25, but they would love to welcome anyone that would like to join and assist them in tackling their projects. For more information about this club, visit their webpage at: bayviewnurseries.com/2021/09/garden-club. You can also call (609) 641- 0648 or email joni@bayviewnurseries.com or colleen@bayviewnurseries.com.
The Green Thumb Garden Club has been growing in Somers Point since 1952. The club meets on the first Tuesday of the month from September to June at 7 p.m. at the Somers Point Senior Center on Ambler Road. Annual dues are $15, and they have speakers on a range of topics throughout the year. Volunteers are encouraged to work on community projects, including planting and maintaining the flower containers at the four corners at Route 52, the Somers Point Mansion kitchen garden, the Somers Point Library beds, and the butterfly garden at Kennedy Park. New Members are always welcome from anywhere in the region. For more information, call Heidi at (609) 703-9170. See you on September 6th!
Newer on the scene, the Egg Harbor City Garden club was started in the spring of 2021. It was a collaboration between Sustainable Egg Harbor City (Nanette Galloway), Coalition for a Safe Community (Candace Negron), and Egg Harbor City resident Kim Hesse. Their objectives are to brainstorm ideas for existing gardens, connect with the community through gardening, help maintain existing gardens, and plan garden-related activities for children. The Club’s second meeting was held in March of this year at the log cabin on Philadelphia Avenue and Buerger Street. The twelve gardeners in attendance had cake, coffee, and tea as they introduced themselves and collaborated on the group’s upcoming agenda. They also had a seed and plant exchange. In 2021, the group took a guided tour of Reed’s Organic Farm, and in 2022, they took a day trip to Barton Arboretum and Nature Preserve. The garden club has been maintaining gardens at Rotary Park and Peace Pilgrim Park. They have also trimmed trees and cleaned up Lincoln Park prior to the Arbor Day celebration. Presently, they are mainly keeping up with the watering of planters around Egg Harbor City. They are looking forward to a project in the near future working with school children to make garden art from bowling balls. New members are welcome! For more information, contact: Kim Hesse at kaahesse@gmail.com.
One of the oldest clubs in our area, The Little Gardens Club, was founded in 1922 by women that summered in Atlantic City. Most of the members of that time were coming from larger homes and gardens in the Philadelphia and mainland areas. They considered their gardens at the shore their “Little Gardens”, thus the name. From the beginning, money raised by hosting garden tours was used to invest back into the community. During the war when soldiers were in the Atlantic City hospital, the money was used for flowers and magazines for recovering soldiers. Today, the garden tour, which is always held on the weekend after the Fourth of July, continues to be a mainstay of the group. The garden club also hosts bus trips to gardens and arboretums, such as Longwood Gardens, Jenkins Arboretum and Gardens, and Chanticleer Garden. The garden club will have regular monthly meetings resuming in September. The group hosts speakers on a variety of subjects and also holds a holiday workshop. For more information, contact the club’s vice president, Lynn Wood at (609) 335-3313.
Joining a garden club is a great way to exchange gardening stories and expertise, and to find others who are passionate about gardening. Being part of a garden club also provides a way to beautify and give back to our communities. These local clubs are only a sampling of garden clubs in our area. If you would like to share information about your garden club, please contact: shorelocalgardener@gmail.com.
Tammy Thornton is a mom of four, a substitute teacher, and a Sunday school teacher. She is passionate about gardening and cooking, and loves the beach.
