The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels is presenting a discussion entitled “A Chesapeake Garden” in its Van Lennep Auditorium on Thursday, June 23 at 2pm. Museum head gardener and volunteer Roger Galvin will discuss how the museum’s 18-acre waterfront campus has recently been transformed into a showplace for native and heirloom gardening.

Located throughout its 18-acre waterfront campus, the museum’s feature unique landscapes, including a grassy living shoreline, a native plant rain garden, and a 19th century African American heritage garden.

The gardens are highlighted by the museum’s expanding Heirloom Garden. Maintained by volunteers, the garden features rare, unique and historically accurate plants and herbs. The plantings are extensively researched to reflect the kitchen and medicinal gardens cultivated by Chesapeake people, from Native Americans to Bay residents of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

“Roger’s work on our Heirloom Garden speaks to the stories of how land and water have always been interconnected,” commented Chief Curator Pete Lesher. “With heirloom and native plantings, the Museum’s gardens help us to understand the beauty and function of gardens and plantings surrounding our Chesapeake Bay.”

Galvin is a certified professional horticulturist, and former head gardener of the 18th century William Paca Garden in Annapolis, MD. With Galvin’s guidance, the museum was accepted as a partner in the Maryland Public Garden Consortium this past May. Through collaborative alliances, the consortium promotes Maryland’s public gardens as significant community resources.

Galvin’s “Chesapeake Garden” discussion will take place June 23 in the museum’s Van Lennep Auditorium with reserved, limited seating available at $6 for museum members, or $10 for non-members. Proceeds benefit the maintenance and expansion of the museum’s Heirloom Garden. To register or for more information, call 410-745-2916.