When Garden Club of Wiscasset President Linda Belmont first joined the club, she was struck by how supportive and welcoming the members were to her, a beginning gardener.

It’s a very friendly, active group with about 90 members from Wiscasset, Woolwich, Edgecomb, Alna, Westport Island, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Dresden, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Gardiner, Brunswick, Richmond and Bowdoinham, Belmont said.

Members not only show support for one another, regardless of gardening skills, the club that started in 1984 also has found many ways to support the community.

Emily Adler, publicity co-chairman, said the club raises money for college and camp scholarships; helps maintain Wiscasset’s Sunken Garden, along with gardens at Wiscasset Public Library, Historic New England’s Nickels-Sortwell House, Lincoln County Historical Association’s Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, and the Cancer Treatment Center in Bath; and gives the Wiscasset library flower arrangements in May and June.

In December, the club provides holiday baskets to people in need and agencies throughout Lincoln County, provides wreaths for the Nickels-Sortwell House and the train station, and helps decorate the library, Adler said.

At the Nickels-Sortwell House, the club tries to give the garden a 1930s look, including using older varieties of flowers as much as possible, club member Lisa Freeman said. She and Kaddee Vitelli co-chair the club’s effort there.

Before Freeman retired from her work as a gardener, she didn’t have the time for a garden club. “Now I get to garden for myself and help other people, and it’s a nice way to meet other people” with similar interests, Freeman said.

Linda Redman is a former director of the Garden Federation of Maine’s Medomak District that the Wiscasset club is in. She said a number of things about the Wiscasset club probably help explain its success, among them, good communication and members’ diverse  interests.

“You’ve got a nice mix of people, with some who like to be in the dirt and others who like the design work.”

Some members come early on meeting days to practice flower design, Adler said.

Redman also noted the club’s work in the community, and the monthly programs the club offers; they are informative, she said.

The next meeting, April 7 at First Congregational Church in Wiscasset, will feature Sharon Turner on gardening with native plants, Adler said.

The club meets the first Thursday of every month, September to May, at the church. Meetings start at 12:30 p.m. and are open to the public.

Each starts with a short business meeting, then a brief section on horticulture or the environment, followed by a featured speaker, Adler said. The meetings wrap up with tea and social time.

Adler said men have occasionally joined the group, helped on a project or come to hear a guest speaker; the club would welcome men to join, she said.

The club is already gearing up for its annual plant sale May 7. It’s the group’s biggest fundraiser for scholarships and community projects, Adler said.

For more on the club, call 882-6228, or write to gcw04578@outlook.com or Garden Club of Wiscasset, P.O. Box 174, Wiscasset, ME 04578.