Belfast Garden Club

Rain Gardens in Your Backyard!

On Tuesday April 9^th at 6:30 pm Rebecca Jacobs from the Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District will present a slide show and talk on “Rain Gardens” in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Fee Library. This program is the last in the series of three evening presentations co-sponsored by the Belfast Garden Club and the Belfast Free Library on the topic “Water in the Home Landscape for Beauty and Conservation.” 

Rain gardens are shallow gardens which contain flowering plants and grasses that can survive in soil soaked with water from rainstorms. They help reduce the rapid flow of storm water, and thus protect lakes and other bodies of water from pollutants washed from roofs and paved areas.  They are not permanent ponds, but act as filters and temporary holding areas for the infiltration of storm water into the soil, while providing attractive landscaping and increased habitat for butterflies, birds and beneficial insects. Our speaker Rebecca Jacobs will discuss how to design, choose the best plants for and maintain a rain garden in your own landscape. 

Rebecca Jacobs comes to Knox-Lincoln SWCD with a wide range of experience in the field of conservation. Moving to Maine in 2006, Jacobs was able to share her love of horticulture and “all things outdoors” in her role as education coordinator for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Since that time she has moved on dividing her time professionally with her own business in landscape design and horticultural services, Gabriella’s Gardens, and as education/outreach coordinator for Knox-Lincoln SWCD. 

Belfast Free Library is located at 106 High Street, Belfast. The talk is free and the public is encouraged to attend, light refreshments will be served.  The Belfast Garden Club is committed to promoting both beauty and the conservation of our natural resources in public spaces and home gardens.  Please join us for the final program of the water series on the topic of Rain Gardens on April 9. For more information contact Ann Mullen, 207-338-9125 or the Belfast Free Library at 338-3884 ext.10.

 Flower Foragers: Bees and Others in My Backyard and Borders with Amy Campbell

The April meeting of The Belfast Garden Club will take place Tuesday, April 16, featuring a presentation and discussion, “Flower Foragers: Bees and Others in My Backyard and Borders" with Amy Campbell. 

The program is free and the public is encouraged to attend. The speaker will begin at 2 p.m. following a brief public club business meeting beginning at 1 p.m. The afternoon meeting and program take place at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church Parish House, 95 Court St., Belfast.

Amy Campbell lives, gardens and keeps honeybees in Rockport. An advocate for native bees, she is also a Master Gardener and an award-winning nature photographer.  She will give us an introduction to the common kinds of bees that are found in Midcoast gardens, how to tell the difference between bees and other confusing flying insects, and how we can and why we should welcome them in our gardens. 

This month’s short horticulture topic will be: “Growing a CSA,” with CSA farmer Christa Bahner of Bahner Farm in Belmont.  After a break, featuring snacks and finger foods provided by the Hospitality Committee, Amy Campbell will give her presentation.

The Belfast Garden Club has promoted civic beautification since 1929. They maintain 12 gardens around the city each year, host Open Garden Days garden tours during the summer, and support education through donations to the Belfast Free Library, Troy Howard Middle School Garden Project, and an annual education scholarship. Each meeting of the Belfast Garden Club is open to the public. The club welcomes new members and volunteers year round.

For more information, email belfastgardenclub@gmail.com or call Corliss Davis 930-3562.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012: Field trip to the gardens of Dr. George Holmes

We will gather at St. Margaret’s Church at 1:00 p.m. to carpool to Dr. Holmes’ home on Atlantic Highway.  (Please do not drive yourself unless it is absolutely necessary as parking is limited.)  Dr. Holmes has lived and worked on his 3 ½ acres for 41 years.  He has vegetable gardens, woodland areas and more and hopes to have fall roses for us to enjoy.

OCTOBER 16, 2012:  Mark Fulford: “Caring for your fruit trees”

 Mark Fulford, an independent farm consultant and educator with 40 years of agricultural experience, operates Teltane Farm in Monroe with his wife, Paula. He teaches how to transition from conventional to organic and biological agriculture, hands-on skills in organic orcharding, non-electric water technologies and soil, crop and forage nutrition. He’s studied new developments in agriculture in Australia, the Philippines and mainland China.

NOVEMBER 20, 2012: Rick Sawyer: “Wet and dry shade gardens”

Rick Sawyer has worked in the nursery business for over thirty-five years.  In 1991, he founded Fernwood Nursery, now on Route 3, which specializes in shade and woodland plants.  He will share his extensive expertise in choosing and growing plants for shady gardens.

JANUARY 15, 2013: William Browning: “The Maine Coastal Regional
Reentry Center garden project”

Jerome Weiner is the Program Manager for the Reentry Center.  The garden project is in its third year of operation. In the past two summers it has produced thousands of pounds of vegetables and shared the produce with over three dozen programs that provide food to those in need.  Reentry Center residents do much of the work in the garden and that work allows them to get out and give back to the community in a significant manner (and enjoy the fruits of their labors!). 

FEBRUARY 19, 2013: Joan Willey: “Herbs for Good Health”

Joan Willey has studied herbs for more than 20 years. She and her daughter, Fran Clementson, also of Belfast, had a small herbal tea and salve business in Annapolis, Md. They developed recipes, produced teas and salves and sold them at farmers’ markets and through mail order. Active in the Sierra Club for 45 years, Joan served as regional staff director for 10 years, as Maryland Chapter chair, on the national Political Committee and on the national Board of Directors as vice-chair for training.

MARCH 19, 2013: Hammon Buck: “What’s new in annuals
and perennials”

Hammon Buck founded Plants Unlimited in Rockport on March 2, 1978 – in a snow storm!  They have been at their current location since 1989 and are renowned for their dedication to bringing unusual plants to Midcoast gardeners.  Mr. Buck has a degree in landscape architecture from Cornell University.

APRIL 16, 2013: Amy Campbell: “Flower Foragers:
Bees and Others in My Backyard and Borders”

Amy Campbell lives, gardens and keeps honey bees in Rockport. An advocate for native bees, she is also a Master Gardener and an award-winning nature photographer.  She will give us an introduction to the common kinds of bees that are found in Midcoast gardens, how to tell the difference between bees and other confusing flying insects, and how we can and why we should welcome them in our gardens.