Meetings and Programs 2026-2027
Welcome to the Meetings & Programs page of the Holden Garden Club website!
Each year, we plan a very informative and enjoyable assortment of lectures and activities with the goal of appealing to the wide variety of horticultural interests of our members. Please feel free to browse the details of this year’s collection below.
If you prefer, you may click on the link below to view a printable summary of our beautiful program booklet for this year’s upcoming activities:
2026-2027 Holden Garden Club Meetings and Programs Booklet
Thursday, September 3, 2026 @ 6:45 P.M., at the Holden Senior Center Landscaping Basics: we are pleased to welcome Gretel Anspach, who will teach us about the basic needs of our plants and about how we can most easily meet the needs of our botanical companions for years of happiness in the garden. Ms. Anspach is a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, and a recently-retired engineer for Raytheon.
Thursday, October 1, 2026 @ ****6:45 P.M.,**** at the Holden Senior Center Composting: please join us for an unprecedented third visit in one year, as we welcome Gretel Anspach. Gretel will share her encyclopedic knowledge of gardening with a focus on composting, a unique method of recycling! It uses existing microorganisms to decompose organic matter into usable and highly nutritious soil. All you need to know is the composting recipe for success, an open mind, and the desire to help the environment. Gretel established and has maintained a 2,000 square foot food production garden that has provided fresh produce to the Marlborough and Maynard Food Pantries for the last ten years.
Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 P.M., at 1157 Main St., Holden, MA Hendricks’ House and Bandstand Rose Gardens Fall Clean-up: please bring your gloves, pruners rakes and yard waste containers to help prepare the Hendricks’ House and the Bandstand gardens for the winter. See you there!
Thursday, November 5, 2026 @ 6:00 P.M. at the Holden Senior Center
****PLEASE NOTE: this is an earlier time than usual**** Harvest Potluck Supper And After Dinner Lecture– Spouses Welcome! Please join us for our Annual Potluck Supper, followed by our after-dinner lecture: Fantastical Folk Tales of Flowers, narrated by Diane Edgecomb and accompanied by Celtic harpist Margot Chamberlain. In this award-winning performance, Diane will celebrate flowers and the stories that have been told about them through the ages, while Margot will treat us to the music of the Celtic harp.
Please bring a dish for 8:
A-G Desserts
H-M Salads
N-Z Casseroles
Thursday, December 3, 2026 @ 6:45 P.M., at the Holden Senior Center Christmas Centerpiece: we are delighted to announce that our own Holden Garden Club member, Robin VanLiew will demonstrate how to create a winner centerpiece that will last for weeks.
****Please bring a container, or you may choose from one from Robin’s collection ($25.00).
****All materials and decorations will be provided.
Thursday, January 7, 2027 @ 6:45 P.M., VIA ZOOM LINK: Plants That Bunnies and Groundhogs Don’t Eat: This very interesting ZOOM program will be presented by Monica Von Brincken, a certified landscape designer, who will share the details of her bunny experiment, including her researched and tested list of animal-resistant plants. Featured plants will start with May-blooming and progress each month.with
Thursday, February 4, 2027 @ 6:45 P.M., at the Holden Senior Center: Gardens of Splendor in the Netherlands and France: please join us for a lovely lecture and slideshow presented by our own Holden Garden Club member, Priscilla Chesna. Each year, the Dutch horticultural industry plants over seven million tulip, daffodil and hyacinth bulbs in its themed gardens. Priscilla will take us on a springtime tour of the Netherlands and of Keukenhof Gardens, followed by a peek at Floriade, the largest international floral exposition in France. Then, we’ll travel on to summer in the country gardens of Monet, in the village of Giverny, France. Bon Voyage!
Thursday, March 4, 2027 @ 6:45 P.M., at the Holden Senior Center Women Floral Painters Through The Centuries: we are pleased to welcome Martha Chiarciaro, who will explore with us renowned (but often overlooked in discussions of art history) women artists from the early 17th to the 20th centuries who featured flowers in their creations.
Thursday, April 1, 2027 @ 6:45 P.M., at the Holden Senior Center Getting To Know You: this will be an evening of sharing our hobbies and interests outside of gardening. What else gives you joy? What are you passionate about? Set up a display. Tables will be provided.
Thursday, April 22, 2027 from 2:00 P.M to 4:00 P.M., at 1157 Main St., Holden, MA Hendricks’ House & the Bandstand Rose Bed Spring Clean-up on the Main Street side of the Senior Center: Celebrate Earth Day! Please bring your gloves, pruners, rakes and yard waste containers to help prepare Hendricks’ House and Bandstand gardens to shine for the summer. See you there!
Friday, May 14, 2027 from 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. @ Damon House @ 1187 Main St., Holden, MA
Perennial Plant Sale Prep: please bring your clean, labeled plants to the Damon House (across the street from the Gale Free Library). Help price plants & set up for the following day’s sale.
Note: Plants may also be dropped off Thursday or on Friday morning. Please tuck them against the Damon House or under the steps of the Damon House. Thank you. Members may refer to our Dividing & Potting Tips document for assistance in preparing your potted & labeled plant donations. Thank you!
Saturday, May 15, 2027 from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., @ Damon House 1187 Main St., Holden, MA
Perennial Plant Sale: our club’s only fundraiser & best community service. All members are urged to contribute 10 plants (or more) & to share their expertise with our faithful customers by working at the Perennial Plant Sale. See you there!
Note: members may refer to our Dividing & Potting Tips document for assistance in preparing your potted & labeled plant donations. Thank you!
Thursday, June 10, 2027 from 10:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Members’ Gardens Tour, Annual Luncheon and Annual Meeting:
This year’s Tour of three member’s gardens will be followed by an open-air Annual Luncheon-Under-Tents and our Annual Meeting. At our Annual Meeting, we will review the highlights of the past year and preview our next program cycle. The slate of new officers will be presented and elected.
The locations of the Members’ Gardens Tour will be announced at a later date.
The Annual Luncheon and Annual Meeting will be held at the home of the Holden Garden Club Auditor.
The Cost of the Annual Luncheon will be announced at a later date (and will be collected at the final garden of the Tour or paid in advance to the Holden Garden Club Treasurer).
Thursday, July 15, 2027 @ 10:30 A.M., at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill Annual Guided Tour: please join us for a guided tour of these lovely gardens! Please email the Holden Garden Club Hospitality Chair to register for this event.
