WESTFIELD — The Garden Club of Westfield will present “Native Gardening 101” at the Westfield Memorial Library on Thursday, March 21, beginning at 7 p.m. Guest speaker Deb Ellis will discuss why native plants matter, why people should include them on their property, and which shrubs and flowers are easiest to grow for one’s growing conditions. The library is located at 550 East Broad Street.
Attendees can enter a free doorprize drawing to win a kit. Each kit includes 25 plant plugs consisting of five each of five different plant species. A plug is a small plant with deep roots that is ready to transplant. Six different types of kits will be offered for the following range of garden conditions: Best Behaved, Deer Resistant, Dry Sun, Wet Sun, Dry Shade and Wet Shade. Winners can select which type of kit they prefer.
Winners can pick up their kit on Saturday, May 4, at Brightwood Park Day, the family festival sponsored by the Friends of Brightwood Park and the Westfield Green Team.
Ms. Ellis is an environmental activist who teaches how to use native plants to promote biodiversity and heal the Earth. She is the founder and leader of the Essex chapter of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, a Master Gardener, a Rutgers Environmental Steward and formerly served on the Montclair Environmental Commission. A retired social justice lawyer, Ms. Ellis was named a Champion of Change by the Obama White House in 2011.
This free program is co-sponsored by the Westfield Green Team and The Garden Club of Westfield. The native plant giveaway is funded by an Operation Wildflower grant from the National Garden Clubs, Inc. The Garden Club of Westfield will conduct the giveaway and source the kits from the Great Swamp Watershed Association annual Plants for Pollinators sale. To learn more, see the plant catalog and planning sheet at https://www.greatswamp.org/native- plant-sale/.
To register with the library for the program, go to Pollinators in Peril; Native Plants to the Rescue! Native Gardening 101 and Native Plant Giveaway. Only attendees are eligible to win a door prize. For more information, email gardenclubofwestfield@gmail.com.
