News

City Park gardeners

Arbor Day Is On the Way!

On Friday, April 25th at 10 a.m., Belfast Garden Club members will join City Park staff to celebrate Arbor Day in the best possible way: by planting a tree! City Park will gain a black gum (Nyssa silvatica) tree to replace the ancient horse chestnut tree that didn’t survive the winter. A proclamation announcing Belfast’s dedication to the health and welfare of its arboreal residents will be read, followed at noon by a guided walking tour of City Park’s trees led by Aleta McKeogh. You can continue the tree walk at 2pm at the corner of Union and Commercial Streets,…

Down to Zero

Down to Zero

Before it looks better, it looks. . .strangely bare. Public Garden volunteers worked with Belfast Department of Public Works employees to clear the Post Office Square garden of vegetation this week, moving trees to replant in the patch forest at Wales Park and potting perennials to use in the twelve other public gardens planted and maintained by the BGC. When complete, the new Post Office Square garden will make the area safer for pedestrians and drivers and more attractive to pollinators. Safer footing will be a boon to those passing through the garden from Church Street, and unobstructed views for…

Big Changes Coming to Post Office Square

Big Changes Coming to Post Office Square

If you’ve walked past the garden in front of the Belfast Post Office recently, you might notice that something looks different, though you can’t quite put your finger on it. The blue spruce that grew at–and then outgrew–the center of the garden has been removed by the Department of Public Works in preparation for a complete revamping of this very visible space. City Council approved the BGC redesign of the garden on April 1, and Public Gardens co-chair Marsha Siviski and her team of volunteer gardeners will be hard at work this spring and summer reshaping the space to be…

Public Gardens Committee Springs Back Into Action!

Public Gardens Committee Springs Back Into Action!

For many visitors, the thirteen public gardens maintained by the Belfast Garden Club are their first inkling that Belfast is a very special place. Go to the post office, the library, the public landing at the harbor, the police station, the city park, the cemetery, the city hall, the Coast Guard station, or to the loo* and you’ll find the handiwork of some very adept and dedicated club members who don’t mind getting their hands dirty. Although summer will be the time to showcase each garden individually, now’s the time to give a shout-out to some of the hardest-working members…

vintage water lily graphic

BGC Poster Contest: Beautiful Conclusion

We received 23 entries to the contest to find work by local artists to feature on the posters advertising the Annual Plant Sale and the Open Gardens Days. The five judges (from the BGC and Waterfall Arts) had an impressive array of paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs from which to choose. The two artists whose work will appear on the poster are photographer Louise Shorette and painter Judy Taylor. This is just a teaser: You won’t see their lovely winning pieces until the posters go up in late April and late May!

Now Appearing In A Yard Near You

Now Appearing In A Yard Near You

Snowdrops are showing up in yards all over Belfast (and probably in other places, too–but it’s in Belfast where we have seen them). Galanthus nivalis reportedly herald Persephone’s annual return from the Underworld, where she spends the long, bleak winters with her husband, pining for her mother and eating pomegranates. Transported to Britain from the Middle East in the 16th century by monks, snowdrops have long been the impetus for rejoicing. Not only are they a sign that winter is drawing to a close, but they were an early source for galantamine, a drug used to slow the progression of…