The Bard would surely be pleased.

What about the Christmas City would have made William Shakespeare smile? One need only to have visited the Bethlehem Garden Club’s presentation of “A Midsummer Night’s Garden,” a National Garden Club Standard Flower Show July 31-Aug. 1 at Advent Moravian Church, to understand.

The piped-in sound of chirping birds greeted guests as they stepped into the show, presented as a woodsy wonderland with the theme of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“It’s our gift to the community,” Kay Marsh said Aug. 1 during a busy afternoon at the event. Marsh and Rosanne Cilente, president of the Bethlehem Garden Club, were co-chairs of the show.

“We do this for the community,” Cilente said, noting the event helps people learn about plants and design. “We want to generate interest and support the community.”

Though the show is not an annual event, the club is aspiring to begin holding one every other year. The past two shows have been held at Hotel Bethlehem and First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem.

How does your garden grow? If you attended the show, you were treated to a wonderful sampling of fresh ideas through exhibits that included vignettes, horticulture, fairy gardens – botanical arts, table designs, breakfast tray tables, miniatures and regular designs.

Participation in the show was open to everyone – there were 73 classifications in the horticultural entries alone in the NGC judged show.

Everything was tied to the “A Midsummer Night’s Garden” theme, such as The King Theseus Table Design Award, based on the al fresco wedding banquet of the king and queen in the Bard’s play.

A Shakespeare buff, Marsh came up with the theme. “We needed to find a theme we could explore. It’s a fun story and I knew we could make it woodsy looking,” she said, adding “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is often the first Shakespeare people read in school.

The show took over a year to plan and 15 hours to set up at the church – 60 percent of club members worked on it in various capacities, including the many flower show committees. The club hosted a plant sale and bake sale – with tasty offerings of homemade goodies – during the show. Barbara Tracy, a local artist and club member, designed the whimsical poster advertising the show.

The response from those attending was very positive and supportive. “People are very happy,” Marsh said.

Tri-folds offered information on the Bethlehem Garden Club’s services to Miller’s House Garden, Horticulture Enrichment at Moravian King’s Daughters Home and Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehab in Allentown and Fountain Hill, and Morningstar Memory Café at Advent Moravian Church.

One of the newest editions to the Miller’s House Garden in the Colonial Industrial Quarter is a fountain. The garden is totally supported by the club and its members. At the Morningstar Memory Café, volunteers work with dementia patients and their caregivers to make floral arrangements and seasonal crafts. The Horticulture Enrichment program brings the joy of gardening and floral design to those residing at Cedarbrook in Allentown and Fountain Hill as well as Moravian King’s Daughters Home.

The Bethlehem Garden Club, organized in May 1930 and becoming a charter member of the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania in 1931, now has 107 members.

The club has a rich history but is always looking to “grow” into the future. Cilente and Marsh think it’s wonderful the club has been welcoming younger members.

The club’s general meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 1 p.m. at Advent Moravian Church. The club year starts in September, and there are no meetings in January or February.

One of the club’s many activities will be a Garden Tour June 26, 2027. So far eight Bethlehem and Allentown homes are slated to be part of the tour.

For more information visitbethlehemgardenclub.org/ and facebook.com/groups/httpbethlehemgardenclub.org/.