Being advised to “stop and smell the roses” started me thinking. Healthy, robust and fragrant rosebushes don’t just happen. There is usually a gardener who lovingly tends to the plant the way one would children – or in my case, cats.

The Garden Club Federation of Maine, the state chapter of the National Garden Club, is full of such gardeners. There are 56 local garden clubs, divided geographically into seven districts, in the federation. Requirements for membership are simply nominal annual dues and a love of gardening.

For Susan Poole, 61, member of the Penobscot district’s Bangor Garden Club, the love of flowers began early and effortlessly.

“I was a little girl, maybe 7 or 8, and I took a package of mixed seeds, tossed them in the ground and walked away,” Poole said with slight amazement at the memory. “A couple of months later, there they were – zinnias and marigolds. It was wonderful. I made a bouquet for my mother and the next door lady.”

Her love of gardening grew.

“When we bought our first house, I planted a vegetable garden,” she said. “It was 42 years ago and there was a drought in Weymouth, Mass., so an elderly neighbor told me to use my dishwater. It was sort of an instant fertilizer because it had all the vegetable’s nutrients from dinner scraps, and the soap would not hurt the plants. It was the best garden I ever had.”

After moving to Maine, Poole joined the Bangor Garden Club in 1992.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about different types of gardening, such as organic and chemical,” she said. The National Garden Club offers classes to its members on just about everything associated with gardening. The local clubs also work to beautify the community by creating gardens around the area.

Education is an important component of the mission as well. The members take their skills into schools and teach children the wonders of growing things.

“Even though, as the common perception goes, many of us do have gray hair and we love our teas, we also have an agenda to educate the public,” said Poole of the organization’s mission. “Also, we want to increase awareness of the earth and the ability of each of us to keep it safe and beautiful. It is really the same mission as Keep Bangor Beautiful, just a little different direction.”

Sally Mowbray, 70, garden club member since 1973, and standard flower show judge, agrees.

“We do good for other people,” she said. “Whether working on a butterfly garden, wildlife conservation, or gardens that attract birds, I love it all.”

Garden clubs often have standard flower shows organized around a general theme, said Poole.

“The purpose is not simply to showcase one’s talents, but also to encourage others to use plants and flowers in their daily living,” she added.

The theme this year, presented at the Bangor Garden Show March 19-21, is the musical “My Fair Lady.” Displays will include “The Rain in Maine” exhibit, which addresses how much rain is needed for plants to grow, and the “I’ve grown accustomed to her face” exhibit, which must use mirrors in the flower arranging.

“All the judging of exhibits is done according to a standard set down in the NGC handbook for flower shows,” said Poole.

“[Garden clubs] are a way of giving back to people and the country,” Mowbray added. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s wonderful to create a thing of beauty.”

For information on the standard flower show, presented during the Bangor Garden Show, go to www.bangorgardenshow.com. For more information on the Bangor Garden Club, call Caroline Tully at 945-3807.

Carol Higgins is communications director at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.