The Christiana Historical Society will host a lecture titled "19th-Century Victorian Working Gardens in Pennsylvania Dutch Country" on Saturday, March 26, at 2 p.m. at the Christiana Freight Station, 10 Railroad Ave., Christiana. The guest speaker will be Lancaster County Master Gardener Mike Cassidy.

During the event, Cassidy will talk about the characteristics of Victorian gardens and compare them to today's more common gardens.

Society members first met Cassidy during their annual anniversary open house last fall, which highlighted the Christiana Resistance, a slave rebellion that took place in Christiana. "We had an event on Sept. 11 and we met Mike, who was a re-enactor, and we also found out he is a Master Gardener and he volunteered to (host the lecture)," said society member Kathy Patterson.

Cassidy is a Master Gardener volunteer with Penn State Extension and lectures about historic gardens for the Lancaster Master Gardener Speakers Bureau. He is also an active volunteer in the Idea Gardens at Penn State's farm near Landisville.

A former state legislator, Cassidy previously served on the board of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County and is a past president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and the Maytown Historical Society.

He and his wife, Jeanne, restored two log homes in Maytown (circa 1790s and 1810) and designed gardens and outbuildings around them that are appropriate to the 19th century. Their "working garden" includes fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers, including historic varieties and native species that attract birds, bees and butterflies.

The lecture will be free, but donations will be accepted. "This is a membership drive initiative for us. If they come to the lecture and enjoy it, we are hoping they will join our group," Patterson stated.

Information about membership will be available at the event. "(Members will be) part of an exciting new future for the Christiana Historical Society. We will be holding community events and historical events," Patterson said. "Members pay an (annual) membership fee, which gets you free entrance to any event that we hold."

To register for the program on March 26, email quamony@aol.com. Walk-ins will also be welcome. For more information, search for "The Christiana Historical Society" on Facebook.