Mystic Seaport to Host 2nd Annual Garden Days

Event sponsored by Sprigs & Twigs, Inc., the official landscape company of Mystic Seaport

Mystic, Conn. - Garden tours, demonstrations, hands-on activities and children's events will highlight the 2nd annual Garden Days at Mystic Seaport Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

            Through educational lectures and hands-on demonstrations, master gardeners and local business owners will share gardening tips and discuss varying topics including landscaping, nature, the environment, sustainability and "green" living.
            The event's featured demonstrator will be Linda K. Lillie, master gardener and co-owner of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc., who will present "Gardening with Native Plants in the Sun and Shade," "Low Maintenance, Naturalistic Gardening" and "Proper Mulching, Pruning and Planting of Shrubs and Trees in Your Garden." Additional demonstrations include: "Landscaping for Wildlife" by the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, "Sustainability in Landscape Design" by Kent & Frost, LLC  Landscape Architecture, "How to Make a Hypertufa Container" by Lisa's Garden Designs, "What Goes into Composting" by the Connecticut Master Gardener Association and "Getting Started with Orchids" by the Rhode Island Orchid Society. Daily food demonstrations will also be presented by Sous Chef David Vacca from Latitude 41° Restaurant and Tavern and Chef Jeanine Botsko from Mystic Market East.
            Additionally, visitors can tour the historic and contemporary gardens at Mystic Seaport, shop vendor booths and make their own seed packets in the Museum's 19th-century Print Shop.
            Garden-themed arts and crafts, as well as hands-on children's activities, will take place in the Kids' Activity Tent located on the Village Green.
            Vendor and informational booths will be provided by Sprigs & Twigs, Inc.; Center for Vector Borne Disease; Connecticut Master Gardener Association; The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co.; Four Mile River Farm Landscaping; Kent & Frost, LLC Landscape Architecture; Lisa's Garden Designs; New England Carnivorous Plant Society; Pan's Acres Nursery; Rhode Island Orchid Society; Stephen Sisk Photography and Wild Ones, the Mountain Laurel Chapter.
            For more information, visit www.mysticseaport.org/gardendays.
            Within the nine gardens at Mystic Seaport, visitors will find a diverse collection of gardens, trees and shrubs with hundreds of different varieties of plants that accentuate the beauty and historical context of the river, ships and historic village.  Two recreated 19th-century gardens portray the social order, economy and cultural pursuits brought about by the Industrial Age. For more information, visit www.mysticseaport.org.