Let It Grow
By Tammy Thornton
Just when many of you might be considering your garden season over, local garden clubs are just getting started. After taking a summer break from their regular meeting schedule, the garden clubs kickoff the start of the new gardening season in September to meet and plan for 2024-2025. Both “seasoned” and novice gardeners come together to share their knowledge and learn from each other while celebrating their collective passion for plants.
Each garden club has its own personality. Some groups focus on hosting garden tours and bus trips, while others hold workshops and invite guest speakers to their meetings. Often garden clubs find ways to help their community with fundraisers or to use their shovels and elbow grease to beautify their town. Check out some of the garden clubs in our area and choose one that suits your style.
Green Thumb Garden Club of Somers Point was established in 1952 for “community beautification and to encourage the protection of natural resources, trees, shrubs, and birds,” according to Rosemary Evans, publicity chairperson. Evans also stated that their club is very active and encourages volunteer participation in all their projects and events. “Many hands make light work!” Some of their projects include the Somers Mansion kitchen garden, the Butterfly Way Station at JFK Park, the Library, and the Four Corner Containers leading to the Ocean City Bridge. The club also sponsors a table at Bayfest in April and a “Pride in the Point Garden Contest” for Somers Point residents to be held next June. This year’s kickoff meeting will be held Sept. 3, outside at 118 Pleasant Ave. in Somers Point (bring a beach chair). Subsequent meetings will be held the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Somers Point Senior and Community Center located at 22-98 Ambler Road. No meetings are scheduled in January, July, and August. This year’s programs include: garden journaling, artistic elements of design (tips for Ocean City Flower Show entries), an arborist program, terrarium building, plant propagation, and their annual plant swap. Visitors and new members from all around are welcome. For more information, email Pam at: pjd261@comcast.net or check out their Facebook page: Green Thumb Garden Club – Somers Point.
Offshore Garden Club meets at the Northfield Public Library (Otto Bruyns Public Library) at 10 a.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the month from September to November (in November, they will meet on the third Wednesday), then they will reconvene from January to April. They will have luncheons in December and June and a group trip in May of next year. They offer various programs and workshops. On Sept. 25, they will have a “Fall Planting for Spring” presentation by a Rutgers Master Gardener and will have a wreath-making workshop on Oct. 23 by Master Gardener Ann Cinquina. If you would like to attend any of their programs or meetings, contact: Janet Toland at (609) 369-0449 or email: golfer_nurse@hotmail.com.
One of the oldest clubs in our area, The Little Gardens Club, was founded in 1922 by women who summered in Atlantic City. Most of the members of that time were coming from larger homes and gardens in the Philadelphia and Mainline areas and considered their gardens at the shore their “Little Gardens”. In July, they held their 25th garden tour which helped raise funds for local, civic and environmental organizations. In August, the group held a planning meeting for next year’s various activities. In September, they will have their “Show and Share” meeting when members share cuttings, plantings, bulbs, and seeds with one another. The club is looking forward to a bus tour and workshop at Pennsbury Manor, William Penn’s 43-acre country estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. You do not need to be a member to join this bus trip. The deadline to sign up is September 13. For more information, contact Karen Farbman at (609) 501-5257 or Cheryl Amico at (856) 691-6973.
Sweet Scents Garden Club focuses on beautifying gardens at Birch Grove Park such as the Children’s Memorial Garden and the Casto House/Northfield Museum. They have already mulched the beds and lined them with a stone border. Once the weather cools down a bit, the group looks forward to adding fall flowers and foliage to the gardens. They have workshops and garden work days throughout the year. Their next workshop will be held at Birch Grove Park with a hammered flowers craft. Sweet Scents would like to expand upon their projects and would love to have you join them! For more information, email: joni@bayviewnurseries.com. Or stop in and see Joni who is always hard at work at Bayview Nursery in Northfield.
We hope you find a gardening group that will help you share your passion for gardening with others. If you would like your garden club to be featured, contact: shorelocalgardener@gmail.com.
Tammy Thornton lives with her husband, children, and crazy pets while enjoying a life of gardening, cooking, and going to the beach.
