Welcome to The Garden Lovers' Club

Garden Lovers’ Club members maintain gardens at several locations in our area: Thrall Park, Mulberry House Gardens, SUNY Orange Morrison Hall’s front entrance, 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.

Garden Lovers’ Club offers a sponsorship for two eleven-to-thirteen-year-old students to attend Camp De Bruce each year. The camp stresses hands-on exploration of nature and ecology and is run by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Fourteen hundred students attend their three camps, located throughout New York State, each year. The club will also provide a scholarship to a College student interested in environmental studies.

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.

Working with college staff, members plant and maintain the gardens at Morrison Hall, a Victorian treasure in Middletown, which houses the administrative offices for the college. These gardens are enjoyed by the students and staff each day, as well as by those attending SUNY Orange graduation, and by participants of the Hidden Gardens Tour.

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.