2026 - 2027 Season Kickoff
Doug Towne and Erik Jensen will be welcoming everyone back to the start of the new Naugatuck Garden Club season. Our many club activities will be highlighted with a chance for members to sign up to help and there will be a small presentation on how to navigate our new website. This is the perfect opportunity to meet and welcome our newest members.
Fabric Flower Pounding with Mums
It was a fun filled evening last spring when we gathered for a hands-on flower pounding session led by Carly Message. This year we are having an encore performance and Carly suggested featuring fall mums. This time the flower pounding will be the only activity of the evening and the emphasis will be on fabric impressions.
Note: This event will take place in the rear of Terri’s Flower Shop, and we will start at 6:00 P.M. so we can capture as much of the wanning sunlight as possible. The business meeting and refreshments will follow in the church hall.
Dish Garden Workshop
A great way to bring nature indoors is with a dish garden. Dish gardens are miniature landscapes created in shallow containers, showcasing a variety of plants and decorative elements. Not only do they add beauty to your home, but they also promote relaxation and can improve air quality.
Come watch or participate as local floral designer and Naugatuck Garden Club member, Stephanie Fusco, guides us in making dish gardens. Learn how to choose the right containers, plants and other materials for the light in your home.
Festive Holiday Celebration
Our annual Christmas get together will be held at Aldo’s Ristorante 199 Park Road Extension in Middlebury. We will have a genuine private room with convenient bar and a delicious buffet style meal, and like last year we will have a cookie swap finish to the evening.
This is a member and guest event. Payment due by December 1st, 2026.
Restoration of the American Chestnut (Zoom)
Learn how the American chestnut tree was a vital com- ponent to the livelihood of people throughout the Appalachian region. In the early 1900s, the tree was decimated from our forests due to an introduced blight fungus that our tree had no resistance to. We will ex- plain the efforts underway to restore it to the forests of the Appalachian Range, including work being done right here in Connecticut.
Jack Swatt has been a member of The American Chestnut Foundation since 1993. After becoming a CT Chapter Board member in 2017, he then became President in 2018. He was elected to the TACF Board of Directors in 2025 and is Chair of the Restoration Working Group. He is currently retired. He is also an active volunteer for the CT DEEP (monitoring wintering eagles and Whip-poor-wills), Audubon CT, CT Audubon, NH Audubon, the Loon Preservation Committee and the Society to Protect New Hampshire Forests (aka the Forest Society). He is also a life member of the Wolcott Fire Dept. Co. #2 and the New Haven Bird Club.
Light Pollution: Learn How You Can Help (Zoom)
Millions of birds pass through Connecticut every spring and fall on their way to and from their summer nesting grounds. Because our state is located along the Atlantic Flyway, many birds use our shorelines and green spaces to rest and refuel during their trip.
But light pollution has wreaked havoc on our night sky. Artificial light emitted by our homes, buildings, streetlights, bridges, and other structures can confuse and disorient birds, causing them to land near buildings, crash into windows, and/or circle around for hours until they drop from exhaustion. The result is catastrophic: There are nearly 1 billion bird deaths in North America each year.
Light pollution impacts other wildlife, human health and energy waste. Please come to learn about the problem and what can be done to mitigate the damage.
Edible Plants: What’s Neat to Eat from your Yard
An evening discussing and learning about plants that you may or may not know are edible.
Topics Include: benefits of some specific plants, foraging through your yard, and even recipes that include many common plants you may be surprised to learn are edible.
Bring an open mind, and be prepared to have a few laughs as well.
Sourdough Bread Workshop
Stepping aside from her usual flower arranging, Stephanie Fusco from Terri’s Flower Shop will be demonstrating how to make sourdough bread. Kits with the ingredients will be passed out and she will talk us through each stage of the instructions in detail with some actual samples. Members can take the kits home and make the dough on their own schedule.
Garden Bingo
The game of Bingo has been around since the 1920’s and 100 years later, a variation known as Garden or Plant Bingo has become very popular. Challenge your memory for identifying all things garden as you play to win some prizes. Join us for a night of fun and togetherness.
Annual Meeting & Spring Banquet
The details of the Spring Banquet will be announced as the date gets closer. Please remember that this is our Annual Meeting. According to Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised annual meetings are for members only. No guests.
Deadline: Membership Dues
June 30, 2026 is the deadline to pay your membership dues for the 2026-2027 year. We look forward to seeing all new and returning faces!
Annual Meeting & Spring Banquet
The details of the Annual Spring Banquet will be announced as the date gets closer. This is a closed meeting. No guests.
Deadline: Spring Banquet/Annual Dinner
June 1, 2026 is the deadline to submit payment for your spot at our Spring Banquet and Annual Meeting.
Plant Sale
Join the Naugatuck Garden Club for a lively spring Plant Sale featuring a wide selection of perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, indoor plants, and unique craft items. The event takes place on Saturday, May 23, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the gazebo on the Naugatuck Town Green. Rain or shine, come browse, shop, and support local gardening efforts—cash, check, and credit cards are all accepted.
DIY Craft Day
A doubleheader of DIY creative projects will be featured starting with Flower Pounding led by Carly Message. We will actually be pounding the colors and designs of flowers onto paper or cloth.
That will be followed by the very popular art of making flower pots using a special blended Portland cement aka hypertufa. Our instructor for this will be Doug Peterson.
This is an outdoor event and will take place in the rear patio area of Terri's Flower Shop, just down the steps from St. Michael’s Parish Hall. It will get messy! Remember to dress appropriately.
Hosted By: Carly Message & Doug Peterson
Succulents Your Mother Never Told You About
Doug and Venusse will be showing off some eye-opening, unusual succulents, and giving us a quick course in all aspects of succulent care.
If you are the owner of something that you think is “off the wall” bring it in for display and we’ll see what the experts have to say.
Hosted By: Doug & Venusse Peterson
Sugar Moon Dance
The Naugatuck Garden Club presents the Sugar Moon Dance! Come celebrate the annual awakening of the earth from its winter slumber, and honor one of the most significant New England products, maple syrup.
The Sugar Moon Dance takes place Saturday, March 21st at the Crystal Room, 98 School Street in Naugatuck from 6pm to 10pm. Tickets are $75 per person ($76.50 if paying through Venmo) which includes a buffet dinner, beer & wine, and dessert. Dancing energy will be provided by DJ Magic Chris Palermo, and of course our legendary raffle baskets!
Spring Kickoff
Subjects to be discussed in this meeting include Spring garden activities, final cleanup and prep of your garden space, succession planting, how to set up your space for future plans, and the evolution of your "happy place".
The interactive portion of the presentation will be a "show and tell" type activity. Any members who wish to, please bring a fun or interesting garden tool that you use and share info about it. Unique and/or homemade items are encouraged!
Hosted By: Erik Jensen
Connecticut Woodlands
What’s in your backyard? Naugatuck Garden Club member and Woodlands Management expert, Doug Peterson, will discuss what you’re looking at outside your window. He will talk about the characteristics and care of our native trees in this winter Zoom program.
Hosted By: Doug Peterson
The World of Herbalism
Connecticut native Sami Jo Artus has always believed in the healing, calming, and beautifying power of nature. Her skincare making journey began in 2019 when she discovered many of the ingredients in her favorite body wash were toxic chemicals that disrupt the normal functioning of our bodies and can lead to cancer and birth defects. She tossed all offending cosmetics, began studying herbalism and cosmetic formulation, and whipping up her own natural alternatives.
Please join Sami Jo as she introduces us to the world of herbalism. She will share what she does as an herbalist and the education required to safely and effectively practice herbalism. She will also discuss the seasonality of herbalism and how we can use the herbs we grow in our gardens and in pots inside our homes for skincare and kitchen remedies.
To learn more about Sami Jo and her company, florapothecarie, please visit her site at www.florapothecarie.com. “You're a natural beauty; keep your beauty natural.
Hosted By: Sami Jo Artus
Festive Holiday Celebration
Remember the fun we had last year?!
We have again reserved the room at Jesse Camille’s for our annual holiday party. Let’s see what creative ideas our party planners will surprise us with this year. Stay tuned...
A Bountiful Bouquet
Local floral designer and Naugatuck Garden Club member, Stephanie Fusco, will guide us in making festive fresh bouquets that will be fashioned and hand tied in the true European tradition.
Hosted By: Stephanie Fusco
Senior Therapy
Our next meeting at Beacon Brook is Wednesday, Nov 19 at 2pm. We will be making individual silk flower arrangements for their holiday tables.
Also some fun stuff to go with it.
Book Club with the Garden Club
Our Book Club is open to everyone! The books we read cover a variety of natural world topics. Through fiction and non-fiction titles, we explore pollinators, animals, plants, and more!
The book for this meeting is Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Free copies are available for pick up a the Whittemore Library. Please call 203-729-4591 for more information.
The Soulful Forest
The Soulful Forest is a nonprofit for the benefit of children’s emotional and social health and this one-of-a-kind project will be taking shape soon on the Gunntown property. The Naugatuck Garden Club had been asked to design and build one of the more significant pieces of the landscape. Southbury resident Terry Murphy, the creator of the Soulful Forest, will be giving us a live presentation of the plans.
Hosted By: Terry Murphy, creator and founder of the Soulful Forest Project
Introduction to NGC 2025
Our season opening meeting is dedicated to giving new and old members an inside look at how the club operates. We have revised committees and have some new changes to introduce.
Come and meet our leadership teams and sign up to help out with our many programs and events. Tables will be set up around the hall staffed by committee members ready to tell you what they have planned. This will give you a chance to ask about what’s happening one-on-one. Become involved! Look ahead to the next few years for some exciting stuff.
Hosted By: Doug Towne & Erik Jensen