The Garden Club of Wiscasset met October 3 at the Congregational Church in Wiscasset. It was a well attended meeting.

Cynthia Lewis was the preliminary speaker and she gave an informed talk on conserving the pollinators in our gardens and yards. As most of us are aware, apples and hundreds of other crops need or benefit from pollinators for fruit production. Pollinators are in trouble as the number of managed honey bee colonies in the U.S. has dropped by 50 percent. Diseases, parasite mites and colony collapse have created a crisis. It is not certain that honey bees will always be able to provide pollination.

The principal speaker of the afternoon was Claudia Knox, who gave a spirited talk on English gardens which included fascinating photos of gardens from the National Trust in England.

Claudia Knox retired to downtown Brunswick in 2001 after a career that began with teaching English and moved onto international development work in Jordan, the Ivory Coast and the Baltic States.

Claudia travels every few years to visit gardens in the National Trust and to learn more about garden design and planting schemes. At the end of Claudia's talk all of us were ready to pack our bags and go with her to England in the spring.

The meeting closed with a lovely tea and delicious goodies provided by the committee chaired by Julie Rea and her helpers, Linda Biden and Charlene Sassi.

Anyone who is interested in joining the Garden Club is more than welcome.