Welcome to The Garden Lovers' Club

Garden Lovers’ Club members maintain gardens at several locations in our area: Thrall Park, Mulberry House Gardens, and Hill Hold Historical Site’s herb garden, Members continually seek to improve their knowledge of gardening through workshops given by guest speakers at meetings, knowledgeable members, and field trips to garden centers and botanical gardens.

The Garden Lovers’ Club offers a sponsorship for a 6 – 14 years old child to attend the 4H Camp Clover which takes place at the Education Center & 4-H Park in Otisville, NY. This new program is rooted in the nationally recognized 4-H Positive Youth Development framework. Camp Clover is guided by the 4-H values of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. The club also provides a scholarship to a college student interested in environmental studies. We partner with SUNY Orange to select a student who most closely meets this curriculum requirement.

Club members decorate “The Mansion”, Morrison Hall, at SUNY Orange, as a holiday theme each year. An open house is held on two weekends in December, with live singing and instrumental music provided by talented students, and the Warwick Valley Chorale. The event is sponsored by the college, with the help of the Garden Lovers’ Club of Middletown, to encourage the community to visit and enjoy one of Middletown’s treasures. All donations go toward a scholarship fund.

Every year our club members reach out to the community and fill gift bags for children during the holidays. This project covers young children in our local Outreach Program.

To promote youth appreciation of gardens and conservation, with the cooperation of Middletown Parks and Recreation, members will offer projects selected to develop a love and respect for nature, flowers, animals and the environment for young children.

Garden Lovers’ Club members visit area senior centers to assist participants in creating flower arrangements, providing education in bloom and green selection, floral design and arrangement care. This committee also provides the Middletown area Nursing homes and Assisted Living Centers with member designed centerpieces and wreaths for the December holiday season.

The Gardens at Mulberry Senior center have been restored, planted and maintained by our members to benefit the community and staff that walk by each day.

Members plant and maintain the Herb Garden at Hill Hold, a historical farm, which is part of the Orange County Park System. This garden is visited by school groups and is a large part of Herb Day, an annual event at Hill Hold.

Annual and perennial gardens at Thrall Park are planted and maintained for the benefit of the community.