Who We Are Today
From the beginning, the Cohasset Garden Club has been a summer club. While member meetings are held from March through October, members remain active and the board meets monthly throughout the year. The Club’s community outreach includes the planting and maintenance of several gardens in Cohasset including the garden at the Cohasset Historical Society’s museums in the center of the village. Since 1969, Club members have given thousands of hours and dollars to the care of this garden. Along with two other organizations, the club designed and maintains a garden at the historic Lightkeepers Residence, a building used by the community for meetings and social occasions. Most recently, the Club renovated its part of the garden with new plants, bushes and a tree. The Club also maintains an antique horse water trough at the junction of Beach Street and Atlantic Avenue that features bright seasonal blooms from spring into fall. Since 2012, the Club has conducted a weeklong educational conservation program, which was developed by the Club’s Conservation Committee for the Osgood Elementary School. This second grade program teaches the students the importance of pollinators to our food supply and how to support all pollinators in a garden. It is called “Bee a Pollinator Pal”week. In 2017, the Club contributed and planted five new trees on Cohasset’s Town Common to replace the Common’s dying and diseased trees.
Member meetings, some of which are open to the public, focus on community improvement, historic preservation, landscaping, conservation, horticulture, and flower arranging. A lively roster of workshops is designed to contribute to the club’s ongoing knowledge of horticulture, sound gardening practices, photography, and flower design,and to further the exchange of ideas and knowledge among members.
The Club also supports various Boston-area community efforts by entering design competitions at the New England Spring Flower Show and creating arrangements for Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, among others.
Our Commitment
To stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, conservation, and community improvement.
GCA
Involvement
The Garden Club of America (GCA) is a National Leader in the fields of horticulture, Conservation, and Civic Improvement. The Cohasset Garden Club is a member of the GCA. As a GCA member, our club is committed to promoting a greater understanding of the interdependence of horticulture, environmental protection, and community improvement. Members of the Cohasset Garden Club are currently serving in national positions as GCA Nominating Committee Chairman, GCA Policy Research Chairman and GCA Parliamentarian.
Environmental
Education
Through our Pollination Protection Program held annually for the Osgood Elementary School’s second grade class, we are teaching the students about the importance of pollination, who the pollinators are and how they pass pollen from plant to plant. The students also learn the importance of organic gardening as part of pollinator protection and good gardening practices. We hold one public meeting a year, during which we have a recognized conservation speaker. As part of the public meeting we hold a professionally judged Flower Show in which our members exhibit flower designs, horticulture specimens from their gardens, and photography according to clearly defined guidelines. Hosting this show fulfills the mission of both our club and the GCA by exhibiting exceptional horticulture specimens, demonstrating the principles and elements of flower design, and promoting the protection of the environment by sharing this information with the general public.
Community Improvement:
Civic Projects & Outreach
In addition to the five Cohasset Gardens we maintain, we participated in the Garden Club of America’s (GCA)Centennial Tree project by planting a number of thoughtfully chosen trees on Cohasset Town Common. We also donate annually to local and national conservation organizations and support the GCA’s Boston Committee, which endeavors to support the design and beautification of parks and green spaces; and encourages civic achievement in horticulture and conservation, and educates the public on horticultural practices and environmental issues.
Our Responsibility
as Club Members
All active members must serve on Cohasset Garden Club committees and actively assist in the Club’s civic duties, which include planting and maintaining five of Cohasset’s public gardens, holding one public meeting each year designed to educate the public on sound conservation issues, and support Boston area community efforts. These Boston efforts include entering design competitions at the New England Flower Show, the MFA’s Art in Bloom program, and supporting the GCA Boston Committee’s horticultural activities to enhance the City of Boston.
OUR PASSION
Is to advance gardening among amateurs, to stimulate and increase knowledge of horticulture, to aid in the protection of native flora and fauna through education about organic gardening practices and the importance of pollinator protection, and to encourage civic planting.
