Membership Programming
Every year from September through June, St. Mary’s Garden Club offers monthly programs, special workshops, and daytrips to our members. In recognition of people’s diverse interests, the programs cover a wide variety of topics. Here’s a sampling of programs from the last few years.
Famous Book Floral Designs: Art in Bloom - designs inspired by well-known woman authors with ties to Maine and created by SMGC members. February 2022
Cutting Edge Floral Design Using Natural and Found Flowers and Plants: SMGC member Sabrina Warner on how to create unusual arrangements with a minimum of purchased flowers and greens. May 2021
Orchid Hunter and Native Orchids: David Sparks, who grows more than 450 orchids in his home and greenhouse, on getting started with orchids in your own home. April 2021
Landscape in Your Living Room: SMGC member Marianne Dodge on creating terrariums using found containers and a variety of plants. January 2021
Intelligent Tinkering: Owner of First Light Wildlife Habitats, Deborah Perkins, on how to protect and improve biodiversity for a more resilient landscape in the face of climate change. March 2020
Shade Gardening: Ben Crockett, McLaughlin Garden horticulturalist, on choosing shade plants, their propagation, and soil requirements. November 2019
Art in Bloom
St. Mary’s Garden Club is a regular participant in the Portland Museum of Art’s Art in Bloom Program. Beginning in the inaugural year, 2018 with a design inspired by Dalov Ipcar’s Blue Savanah, the Club has taken part in some way every year. In 2021 not knowing whether the Museum would hold the program as usual due to the pandemic, the Club created its own virtual program. Club members selected a work from one of six Maine artists and interpreted their pieces, many with plants and materials from their own backyards. Club members were impressed and inspired by the program which featured 20 entries from 15 members. Happily, the Portland Museum of Art did decide to stage a combination live/virtual Art in Bloom event, and two members of SMGC created pieces for the program.
Art in Bloom, 2021 inspired by Fitz Henry Lane’s Castine Harbor, 1852
Silver Tea
St. Mary’s club members socialize throughout the year before programs and during workshops, garden maintenance, and field trips, but during the December holidays, the club puts on a special event called the Luncheon with Silver Service. Members bring sweets and savory dishes and past presidents serve tea and coffee. In a warm and convivial atmosphere, members enjoy seeing new friends and old. Associate members who are no longer active in the club and special guests are invited to join the festivities.
2012-2019 Great Gardener Series
From 2012 to 2019, the club held six events that brought gardeners from southern Maine together for a gardeners’ night out. The event began with a cocktail party catered by St. Mary’s members and ended with a well-known speaker. It was a time to see old friends and make new ones.
2012 Kerry Mendez, now with Estabrook’s, spoke on three seasons of color from perennials.
2013 Bill Cullina, the director of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, gave us tips and ideas for designing our gardens.
2014 Amy Ziffer, owner of A Shady Lady Garden Design in Connecticut, talked to us about creating a New England cottage garden
2015 Charlie Nardozzi, writer and Vermont radio and TV personality, charmed us with his tips on growing our best flowers and vegetables
2017 Maria von Brincken, an award-winning certified designer, told us how to put together beautiful, colorful perennial gardens
2019 Andy Brand, plant curator at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, presented a beautiful program on native plants for our yards that attract our native butterflies.
These events were sponsored by local businesses and nurseries, with Gnome Landscapes as a major sponsor for every event. Proceeds were used to fund our SMCC scholarship and our community outreach.