​The Haddam Garden Club, Inc.
Our Civic Gardens
If there is one thing that defines the Haddam Garden Club best, it is the civic gardens that we have designed, installed, and maintain throughout town. Each garden has a "team" that spends time year-round planting, weeding, mulching, watering, and nurturing them. So, the next time you pass one, please take a moment to enjoy their beauty and appreciate the care that goes into making each one of them a symbol of our love for gardening.
Welcome to Haddam Signs
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On each major road that enters Haddam you will find a welcoming sign around which the Haddam Garden Club plants a variety of annuals and perennials. The signs were hand carved by Dennis DeCarli with various themes of Haddam's history, such as the American Shad, the Higganum Gazebo, and a hoe and rake which are symbols of the Scovil Hoe Co. The Haddam Garden club maintains the plantings around all seven of these beautiful signs to help enhance the unique character of our welcoming signs for years to come.
Brainerd Memorial Library
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There are two gardens at the Brainerd Memorial Library located at 920 Saybrook Road. The entrance garden on the south side bursts with color throughout the growing season with a variety of annuals, perennials, and flowering shrubs. Daffodils greet the spring, not to be out-done by the baptisia, coreopsis, gaura, geraniums, and a myriad of others all summer long. The asters and hydrangea are showy right into fall.
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The crescent-shaped butterfly garden on the north side mirrors the building's shape and was added in 2008. There are a variety of plants known to attract CT butterflies that serve as host plants, and a variety of nectar plants placed for constant bloom in the garden to attract other pollinators as well. These include bee balm, catmint, verbena, sedum, coreopsis, milkweed, asters, and many more. We included a "mud puddle" as an important water and mineral source for butterflies, and rocks as a source of warmth for butterfly hatchlings. In 2019 this "Brainerd Library Pollinator Garden" was certified by Monarch Watch as a Monarch Waystation and was placed on the Monarch Waystation Registry (ID#25406), which is an international list of Monarch habitats. The library uses the garden as a teaching tool and many patrons enjoy the many varieties of butterflies it attracts! For more information on creating a butterfly garden, please read the May 2018 article in our Garden Blog Archives.
Higganum Green
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The Higganum Green, located between Rt. 154 and Candlewood Hill Road, is an important gathering place for local events and ceremonies, so it's only fitting that we beautify this icon for all to enjoy. The base of the white granite-based Gazebo is planted with long lasting annuals such as geraniums as well as spring bulbs and flowering shrubs such as Spirea and Azalea. Another icon on the Green is a large inscribed rock dedicated to the historic Higganum Union School that once stood there. We maintain this area with more flowering shrubs such as Holly and Eastern Redbud. Come take a look and enjoy the view!
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Haddam Green
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This garden is located on Rt. 154 on a triangular island at the intersection of Walkley Hill Road. It is historic in that back in the 1800's it was once the home of the Haddam Town Hall, the Middlesex County Courthouse and the Granite Lodge 17. Today it boasts a focal point of a blue spruce and antique style urn which are enhanced with various size granite boulders mined from our local quarry. Come sit on the stone bench and admire the crabapple tree and variety of shrubs, perennials and bright annuals.
Town Office Building
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These gardens are located at 30 Field Park Drive off Rt. 154 in Haddam and they surround the Town Office Building entrances. There is a “warm garden” on the upper level with yellows and reds; and a “cool garden” on the lower level with blues, purples and whites. Each reflects the favorite colors of the team members who tend to them. There is a nice dogwood in the upper garden and a lot of bulbs in the lower garden to compliment the daffodils that come up in the spring. Each year there is at least one new perennial and lots of annuals planted to provide blooms from spring to fall and from year to year.
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Haddam Transfer Station
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The garden at the entrance to our town transfer station on Rt. 154 is our largest garden, and as such, is a work in progress. It is a "native garden" and each year we add many species of perennial flowers and shrubs that are native to our area. Native plants are easier to grow and are adapted to the climate and soil where they naturally occur. These important plant species also supply pollen, seeds and nectar on which our native birds, insects, butterflies and other creatures survive. You are sure to see something beautiful to brighten your visit to the transfer station and recycling center!
