The Acton Garden Club will present an NGC Standard Flower Show on June 11 – 13 at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main Street in Acton. Hours are Thursday, June 11, 2026, 3:00 PM-8:00 PM
Friday, June 12, 2026, 9:30 AM-2:00 PM
Saturday, June 13, 2026, 9:30 AM–3:00 PM
Free and open to the public.
Tis the season. Be on the lookout for plant sales sponsored by local Garden Clubs, and patronize them. Proceeds support neighborhood beautification projects, scholarships, and programming benefiting all. Here is just a sampling:
Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Reading Garden Club will be hosting its Annual Plant Sale at the Reading Town Common on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 (rain or shine). Annuals, perennials, native plants, milkweed, geraniums, herbs and vegetables will be available from Tewksbury Florist and Greenery. Also for sale will be the much sought after members’ perennials.
Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – Acton Garden Club Plant Sale. The sale takes place on the grounds of the “Red House” municipal property located at 468 Main Street, between Woodbury Lane and Newtown Road. They emphasize the sale of “Local” plants, approximately 2000 of which are dug and donated from the gardens of Club members. Plants are also dug from the Club-maintained town gardens. Fred Knipple generously provides a variety of bare-root daylilies propagated in his gardens. Annuals, vegetables and pollinator plants are purchased through several local farms: Cucurbit Farm in Acton, Brigham Farm Stand and Greenhouses in Concord and D&D Farms in Stow. Tickets are sold for raffle prizes ranging from gardening treasures to dining experiences.
Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Arlington Garden Club Plant Sale, on the Jason Russell House Lawn, 7 Jason Street in Arlington.
Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Sharon Garden Club Annual Plant Sale at the First Congregational Church of Sharon, 29 North Main Street. The annual Plant Sale is an opportunity to purchase beautiful plants, purchase Daffodils for Fall planting, and to support the Club’s activities such as the College Scholarship, Library Arrangements, Holiday Greens Workshop, Civic Beautification, and more. Featuring seedlings from local Copper Kettle Farm, including common and unusual herb varieties, and Dahlias.
Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Garden Club of Norfolk Plant, Bake, and Garden Treasures Sale (rain date Sunday, May 21, noon – 3), at the Town Hill & Gazebo, 2 Liberty Lane in Norfolk. You’ll find plants grown by members of the Garden Club of Norfolk, home baked treats, and treasures to decorate your home or garden. Funds raised support horticultural programs that welcome all to attend as well as a campership to Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.
Saturday, May 20, Southbridge Garden Club Spring Plant Sale on the Sturbridge Town Common.
Saturday, May 27, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Annual Harwich by the Sea Plant Sale, at Doane Park in Harwich Port, featuring hundreds of plants – perennials, annuals, shrubs, hanging baskets – most donated from member gardens.
Saturday morning, June 10, you will once again be able to find plants in abundance at the Garden Club of Hingham’s popular annual Plant Sale. With hundreds of perennials from Hingham gardens, the plant sale has always attracted a line of eager gardeners awaiting the opening moment. As always, the Garden Club will be offering perennials which thrive on the South Shore such as salvia, astilbe, heuchera, yarrow, columbine, and peonies, and anticipates including drought-resistant plants, as well as some unusual shade plants. The main fundraiser for the Garden Club offers choice plants dug from members’ gardens for sale to the community. Proceeds from the Plant Sale help to underwrite the planting and education programs of the Garden Club of Hingham each year. The time is 9 am – 12 noon in the Hingham Common, 2 Middle Street in Hingham.
The Acton Garden Club will host landscape historian Ellen Pazzano on Tuesday, May 6, beginning at 10:30 am in Room 204, Acton Town Hall, 472 Main Street in Acton, for a slide presentation which explores and uncovers John and Abigail’s little known farm Peacefield. For 30 years the Adams family called an ever expanding piece of land in Southeastern Massachusetts home. The Garden Club of the Back Bay invited Ms. Pazzano to one of our meetings a year ago, to great acclaim, and we recommend this lecture highly. For more information visit www.actongardenclub.org.
Following the rhythm of the seasons, celebrated landscape designer Kim Smith presents a stunning slide show and lecture demonstrating how to create a welcoming haven for bees, birds, butterflies, and other wildlife with Kim Smith, author and filmmaker. The program will take place in Room 204 of Acton Town Hall, 472 Main Street, Acton, on Tuesday, February 4 beginning at 10:30 am, and is free, sponsored by the Acton Garden Club. Photo below by Kim Smith.
The Acton Garden Club will host Barbara MacPhee, beekeeper for over thirty years and Beekeeper of the Year in 2009, on Tuesday, June 4, beginning at 10:30 am at Acton Town Hall, Room 204, 472 Main Street in Acton. Barbara will discuss the family, home, and the products of bees, and will talk about the research she is doing with Colony Collapse Disorder. For more information visit www.actongardenclub.org.
The Acton Garden Club will present Have Scissors Will Travel, a lecture and floral demonstration with Ann McDevitt, on Tuesday, November 6 beginning at 10:30 am in Room 204, Acton Town Hall, 472 Main Street in Acton. The public is invited. Ann McDevitt is an accredited International Flower Designer and teacher, with over twenty years of experience. For information, visit www.actongardenclub.org.
Visit the Acton Center Common on Saturday, May 19, from 9 – 1, and support the Acton Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale. Over 2,000 plants will be available – annuals, shrubs, herbs, choice rare plants, ground covers, succulents, vegetables, water-wise plants, and hundreds of locally grown perennials.
The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts will hold its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 5 at the Holiday Inn, Mansfield, 31 Hampshire Street, Mansfield, Massachusetts. The day will begin with registration and coffee from 7:30 am. Registrants may select one workshop to attend from 8:15 – 9, either How to Take Minutes and Write Reports, taught by Nancy Donaldson, GCFM Parliamentarian pro tem, or How to Develop Your Club’s Web Site and Service It, instructor to be announced. At 10:15 the Acton Garden Club will present Problems with Lyme Disease, and at 10:30, Nancy Brennan, Executive Director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, will speak. President’s Certificates and Club Awards will be announced at 11:30 am, followed by a social hour and boutique shopping. Lunch will be served at 12:45, and the 2012 Life Members will be introduced. At 2 pm, there will be a floral design program, with four GCFM floral designers honoring four major visionaries of New England’s cultural landscapes – Frederick Law Olmsted, Fletcher Steele, Charles Eliot, and Beatrix Farrand. Following a registration report, the meeting will adjourn.  Below, Heidi Kost-Gross is presented the Landscape Design Council Award for Excellence by Joan Butler (right) at the 2010 meeting.
To register (please mail registration before May 29), send your name, address, telephone, email, and Club affiliation with a check for $55 ($50 if you do not intend to attend the workshop) made payable to GCFM,Inc. to Linda Yuele, 38 Nevins Road, Methuen, MA 01844. Please indicate also your luncheon menu choice preference of chicken marsala, grilled salmon, London broil, or eggplant parmesan. Any questions may be sent by email to denlinyuele@comcast.net.
A number of local Garden Clubs will hold plant sales in early May, to benefit their community projects. We encourage you to attend and spend, since neighborhood beautification benefits everyone. For complete, up to date listings, log on to www.gcfm.org and check the Calendar page. Here are some highlights:
May 7, 9:00 – 2:00 – Open Gate GC of Chelmsford Plant Sale at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, Chelmsford Center. Contact sharon8@rubinfamily.com.
May 8, 9:00 – 1:00 – Bridgewater Garden Club Spring Plant Sale at the Cole Yeaton Senior Center, Bridgewater.
May 8, 9:00 – 12:00 – Hanson Garden Club Plant Sale at Thomas Mill, Route 58, Hanson. Contact gparros@comcast.net.
May 8, 8:30 – 12:00 – Groton Garden Club Plant Sale at Groton Town Hall. Contact Kimniles@hotmail.com.
May 8, 9:00 – 1:00 – Country Gardeners of Georgetown Plant Sale at the corner of Park and East Main Streets, Georgetown. Contact amlacey@verizon.net.
May 8, 8:00 – 12:00 – Greenleaf Garden Club of Milford Plant Sale, at Louisa Lake, Milford. Contact tblackbetty1@comcast.net.
May 8, 9:00 – 12:00 – Arlington Garden Club Spring Plant Sale, on the lawns of the Jason Russell House, corner of Mass. Ave. and Jason Street. Contact Kathy Leva at 781-646-6814.
May 8, 8:00 – 12:00 – Southborough Gardeners Plant Sale, at Community House, Southborough.
May 8, 9:00 – 12:00 – Ashland Garden Club Plant Sale, at Montenegro Square in Ashland Center. Contact Diane Roberts at 508-881-8165.
May 15, 9:00 – 1:00 – Reading Garden Club Geraniums and More Plant and Bake Sale, at the Reading Public Library. Contact Diane Chapin at 781-944-8152.
May 15, 9:00 – 1:00 – Acton Garden Club Plant Sale at the Acton Center Common. Contact Gail Davidson at 508-993-8701, or email gd1@comcast.net
May 15, 9:00 – 11L00 – Mansfield Garden Club Gardening on the Green Sale, at Town Hall, Mansfield.
May 15, 9:00 – 12:00 – Garden Club of Buzzard’s Bay Plant Sale at St. Mary’s Church Parish Center, South Dartmouth.
May 15, 9:00 – 1:00 – Framingham Garden Club Plant Sale at Cushing Maintenance Building near Keefe Tech School in Framingham. Contact Chris McGuire at 505-405-1113.
May 16, 10:00 – 2:00 – North Andover Garden Club Plant Sale at Stevens Memorial Library. For more information, log on to www.northandovergardenclub.com
May 19, 10:00 – 4:00 – Lexington Field & Garden Club Plant Sale at the National Heritage Museum.
June 5, 9:00 – 1:00 – Rockport Garden Club Plant and Garden Shed Sale at Spiran Lodge, 19 Broadway, Rockport. For more information, log on to www.rockportgardenclub.org.
The Acton Garden Club presents Garden ‘Sites’ and Garden ‘Delights’ from 10 – 4 on Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13. Explore seven unique gardens and enjoy outstanding fresh floral arrangements created by members. To further tantalize you, there is a labyrinth to walk and an adult tree house. Advance tickets $20, $25 day of tour. For tickets and more information, log on to http://www.actongardenclub.org.
