Andy Brand
The next meeting of the Old Bristol Garden Club will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 at The Second Congregational Church at 51 Main St. in Newcastle. Due to COVID-19 concerns, masks are required for this in-person meeting.
Andy Brand, director of horticulture at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, will present a program entitled “After the Flowers Have Faded – Plants with Fabulous Foliage.”
Flowers get most of the attention when selecting plants to add to landscapes. With the exception of annuals, most plants only flower for a short period of time each year. It is the foliage that lasts throughout the growing season. Join Brand as he presents a diversity of plants whose leaves will shine in the garden.
For 27 years Brand was employed at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, Conn., where he was the nursery manager. In March, 2018 Brand joined the staff at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens as curator of living collections. His responsibilities included plant selection and introducing new plants to the garden’s collection and maintaining plant records and labels. He is past president of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association and is an avid naturalist. He is a cofounder and past president of the Connecticut Butterfly Association.
Brand has put his interest in native plants to use as a volunteer for the New England Plant Conservation Program, where he has helped monitor historical sites of endangered native plants. He has spoken to groups statewide on a range of topics including native plants, new and unusual ornamentals, butterfly gardening, and Maine butterflies and their life histories.
Brand, along with his wife, Michelle, lives in Bristol. He also has a Facebook page, Seeing Nature: Observations from New England, a page dedicated to native flora and fauna.
Following the program, a brief business discussion will occur. Then tea and cookies will be served by this month’s tea committee, which consists of Nancy Chick, Carol Rice-Dempsey, Susan Bates, and Judy McQuillen. All are welcome and new members can join at any time.
If school is closed due to inclement weather, the meeting will be canceled as well.
