We invite you to join our Mansfield Garden Gate Club in Connecticut. For the latest meetings and updates, join our Garden Gate Club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Mansfieldgardengateclub/
History & Membership
The Garden Gate Club was organized in 1950 to promote interest in horticulture and related fields. It originally started as a 30-member social club and was by invitation only for experienced gardeners. For many years now the club membership has been open to everyone with or without gardening experience. New gardeners are encouraged to join and attend our programs. At present there are 75 members. Guests are always welcome. Annual dues are $15, and any donations to our scholarship fund are greatly appreciated. The membership cards that are issued provide discounts at many of our local garden shops such as Tri-County Greenhouses, Cropleys, Ladds, Mansfield Supply, and G.M. Thompsons.
Meetings/Programs/Trips
Most meetings are on the third Thursday of the month at the Mansfield Senior Center on Maple Road in Storrs. Refreshments begin at 6:30 PM and the meeting and program follow at 7:00 PM. At each of the meetings in February, March, April, May, September, October and November there is a brief business meeting followed by a featured speaker sharing gardening expertise in areas such as peonies, vegetable gardening, medicinal herbs, Aromatherapy, pruning evergreens, perennials and annuals and other horticultural topics. The very popular Pot Luck dinner is held prior to the March meeting. During the blooming months of May through September club members take field trips to members’ gardens, other nearby gardens, and greenhouses and arboretums. In the spring there is an annual trip to the Tri-County Greenhouse in Storrs for a “Fill Your Planter” event.
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Gardens
Club activities include participating in civic projects, such as creating and maintaining two special gardens in Mansfield. The Memorial Rose and Friendship Garden adjacent to the Mansfield Center First Church of Christ which was originally planted in 1969 in memory of Garden Gate Club members. Recently, special rose bushes were planted in memory of more longtime members and past presidents of the Garden Gate Club. In 1996 Garden Gate Club members refurbished and planted the garden behind the Mansfield Historical Society. A group of members continue to add to and maintain the perennials, daylilies, iris and boxwood plantings. In 2016 members planted a garden adjacent to the playground at the Mansfield Community Center. This Playground Garden is maintained with the support of the Town of Mansfield Public Works Department, as well as families who use the playground.
Scholarships
In the spring the Garden Gate Club awards one or two scholarships in the total amount of $1,000 0r $2,000 for the upcoming academic year. The applicant must be an E.O. Smith High School senior who is pursuing further education in a certificate, associate, or baccalaureate degree program in horticulture, floriculture, botany, landscape design, conservation, forestry, environmental science, and/or other allied subjects. The board members of the Garden Gate Club choose candidates from among the applications received and present the scholarships at the E.O. Smith High School awards ceremony in May. Since 2001, the club has donated $30,800 in scholarships to E.O. Smith graduates. The original scholarships for $500 were given to one student from 2001-2006, and in 2007-2008 the amount was raised to $1,000. From 2009 through 2021 the club gave out $2,000 scholarships every year, except 2011 when there was no applicant, and 2016-2017 when there was only one applicant, and the scholarship was $1,000. Scholarships are not only given to Mansfield residents who attend E.O. Smith High School; we have had previous winners from Windham, Columbia, Coventry, Willington, and Ashford.
Mansfield Public Library, Senior Center & Other Donations
In appreciation to the library for allowing us to hold our meetings and plant sales in their auditorium for many years, the Garden Gate Club has donated over $7,415 to help provide funding for library materials and audio equipment. In addition, the club supports the library reading program with a donation of $50 yearly. In 2006 the club donated $500 to the Willimantic Bridge of Flowers, and in 2016 $750 was provided to create the Mansfield Community Center Playground Garden. Beginning in 2019 the club has donated a total of $850 to the Mansfield Senior Center thanking them for providing space for our meetings.
Annual Plant Sale
The Plant Sale is the club’s major fund-raising event and supports the E.O. Smith scholarships, as well as the other worthy projects in Mansfield. The plant sale is held on May 18 at the Buchanan Center of the Mansfield Library on Route 89 in Mansfield Center. This is a great opportunity to acquire wonderful, hardy plants grown and donated by Garden Gate Club members and from the Tri-County Greenhouses in Storrs. In addition to the wonderful heirloom and hybrid tomatoes grown at the E.O. Smith greenhouse, there are perennials, shrubs, trees, annuals, herbs, and vegetables.
