Meg Whitten was an avid gardener who dedicated more than 30 years to the Branch and Twig Garden Club of Howard County. She was, in the words of one garden club member "a marvelous person."

Whitten's contributions and memory will be honored June 19 as the garden club holds a memorial service at 2 p.m. in the courtyard of the Miller Branch Library for Whitten. A Branch and Twig's charter member from 1970 when the club began, Whitten died on August 13, 2007.

"She was an amazing lady," said Donna Stocker, a club member. "Most of us still have things she made for us. Calligraphy and pressed flowers were her specialties. We all used her pressed flower note cards."

Garden club members planted a crepe myrtle in Whitten's memory. They also added a verdigris arbor, which supports autumn clematis. A garden bench is in place and a plaque has been installed to commemorate Whitten's many contributions to the club.

"We don't usually dedicate our plantings to anyone, but Meg deserved a tree," said Ellen Oppenheimer, a longtime member. "She was one of the happiest people I've known. She did more than her share and gave and gave and gave. Meg would always do whatever the club needed. She had a real sense of design and arrangement and nature. She was a marvelous person."

The honor came as a surprise to Katherine Mallette, Whitten's daughter.

"The garden club ladies really take care of people. When mom died they came in and helped with everything," she said.

Mallette said her mother lived to garden. "February was always too long for her. She couldn't wait to get out in the garden again." Mallette said she knew it was fitting to bury her mother with a new pair of pink garden gloves and her cutters.

Branch and Twig has maintained the Miller Branch courtyard for more than 12 years.

"When we first took it over it was all clay soil and had a serviceberry tree that was too big with berries that got tracked into the library," Oppenheimer said. The serviceberry had to go and Branch and Twig turned the secluded spot into an oasis of beauty.

"The garden club has done a fabulous job of maintaining the courtyard," said Susan Stonesifer, Miller Branch Library manager. "It is not open to the outside, so they have to carry all their materials through the library. They give the courtyard great tender loving care and have made it a lovely sheltered spot."

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