Community Gardens
Blue Star Memorial Garden
The Blue Star Memorial Garden is a tribute to the Armed Forces who have defended the United States of America. It was sponsored by the Bethel Garden Club in 2015 in cooperation with local organizations, businesses, residents, The Meserve Memorial Fund, and the Town of Bethel.
Triangle at Greenwood Avenue (Route 302) and Diamond Avenue
Historical Marker Garden
The Club maintains the plants around a plaque that tells the story of Bethel’s beginnings. The Town of Bethel and the Connecticut Historical Commission installed it in 1975.
Intersection of Main, Chestnut, and Maple Streets
Municipal Center Gardens and Planters
The gazebo, built by the Bethel Jaycees, is the centerpiece for the popular summer music concert series held on the Municipal Center lawn. At Christmastime, the Bethel Garden Club decorates it with pine roping and lights. The planters at the Municipal Center were installed in May 2002 and made possible by donations from many organizations. On the municipal lawn you will also see the Bethel Veterans Monument completed in 2000 to honor and express gratitude for all those from Bethel who have sacrificed for our country and freedom.
1 School Street
Shakespeare Garden at the Library
In 1995, as part of a Library Beautification Project (Seelye House Historic Building), the original Shakespeare Garden was established in a raised bed at the library entrance, consisting of plants referenced in Shakespeare’s writings. In 2007, the Club assisted in the creation of a new Shakespeare Garden, and has maintained it ever since. An urn, c. 1881, previously a part of a drinking fountain in P.T. Barnum Square, marks the center of the garden. Friends of the Bethel Public Library donated a reading bench. A detailed book describing the garden, its plant material, related folklore, and Shakespearean quotes is housed in the library.
189 Greenwood Avenue
Libby Kellogg Memorial Garden
This small but historically significant space was Bethel’s first public green. The granite marker, placed in 1989, commemorates Elizabeth “Libby” Kellogg, chair of the town’s Conservation Commission, who led the fight to save the 100-year-old green. After her death in 1989, a granite memorial was placed on the site. The Peace Bell, added in 1999, acknowledges the Bethel Middle School student who won a statewide “Earth Day” essay competition. In 2002, the Bethel Garden Club redesigned the garden to encompass these features and the surrounding plantings.
Intersection of Main, Wooster, and School Streets
Second Meeting House Garden
Serving as Bethel’s original Congregational Church (1842-1865), this building, after being damaged in a windstorm, was moved to its current location and served as the Town Hall until 1939. Today it is owned by Bethel’s Historical Society, and includes a museum. The hall downstairs is available to rent for meetings and events. Adjacent to the Second Meeting House are Bethel’s oldest cemetery (1759) and the current First Congregational Church (1867). In 2004, as part of a National Garden Clubs initiative to establish gardens at historical locations, the Bethel Garden Club created the gardens here.
40 Main Street
Parloa Park Butterfly Garden
Close to downtown Bethel, Parloa Park offers recreational opportunities for all ages. Here, in 2001, the Bethel Garden Club created a crescent-shaped garden for butterflies. In addition to pollinator-friendly perennials, the Club plants nectar-producing annuals each year. The colorful, naturalistic garden is situated so that visitors to the park can easily enjoy the butterflies that alight on the flowers.
South Street
Doughboy Statue Garden
In the heart of downtown Bethel stands “The Spirit of the American Doughboy,” a statue unveiled on Memorial Day, May 31, 1928. One of 130 displayed nationwide, it was created by Ernest Moore Viquesney, and replaced the Barnum Fountain. Around the statue, the Club plants and maintains a lovely display of tulips.
P.T. Barnum Square
Mary’s Friendship Garden
This modest garden (est. 2008) reflects the character of the woman to whom it is dedicated. For many years, Mary Murad donated hundreds of her perennials to the Bethel Garden Club’s Plant Sale. There are countless gardens in and around Bethel that contain these gifts from our dear friend.
P.T. Barnum Square