Marta McDowell
The Garden Club of the Eastern Shore is pleased to present a program by the New York Times best selling author and renowned gardener Marta McDowell, who is well known for her books which follow “the relationship between the pen and the trowel.” She will share her love of horticulture and garden history with a look into her newest book, Unearthing the Secret Garden.
Marta explores the inspiration of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s much-loved book The Secret Garden published in 1910. The Secret Garden follows the story of Mary, Dickon and Colin inside the locked doors of the Secret Garden at Misselthwaite Manor. Marta will help us see how these gardens evolved and were influenced by her book before, during and after its publication.
Marta’s best known books include Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, which shows how Ms. Potter’s love of flowers and gardening appears in her work in the beloved The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Emily Dickinson’s Garden Life, which explores the influence of Emily Dickinson’s gardens on her poetry.
Marta currently teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Gardens. She has been a featured speaker at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Smithsonian Institution and Beatrix Potter Society’s Linder Lecture at the Sloane Club in London. Marta is the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement. Her garden is included in the Smithsonian’s Archive of American Gardens.
Join the Garden Club of the Eastern Shore and Marta for her lecture with tea and scones followed by a light boxed lunch. In addition to a complimentary copy of Unearthing the Secret Garden, attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction, including several “Eastern Shore Adventures” such as an “Elegant Tea for Twenty” at an Oxford waterside home and a “Flower Design Class for Eight” led by Samantha McCall.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the college scholarship program and community projects of the Garden Club of the Eastern Shore. Each year, the Talbot County-based club awards a college scholarship to a deserving high school senior in the county whose scholastic accomplishments, community work and chosen field of study are consistent with the club’s objectives. The club has awarded 19 scholarships since the inception of their Scholarship Program.
Marta’s presentation will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 8 at the Oxford Community Center in Oxford. To make a reservation to see Marta McDowell, send your check for $100 with contact information payable to GCES to P.O. Box 1924, Easton MD 21601. Your ticket includes a complimentary copy of Unearthing the Secret Garden, lunch, a chance to win all four of Marta’s books personalized by the author and a silent auction including several Eastern Shore Adventures. Proof of COVID vaccination and booster required.
Founded in 1963, the Garden Club of the Eastern Shore is committed to stimulating knowledge of horticulture, aiding in the protection of trees, shrubs, wildflowers and birds and encouraging all conservation practices.
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