PARIS — The McLaughlin Garden and Homestead announces its 2014 lecture series. The first presentation will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, when Carol Cotrill, president of the Maine State Beekeepers Association, will discuss “Bees and Beekeeping – Why They Matter.”

Cottrill of Rumford serves as the secretary of the Western Maine Beekeepers Association and is the director of their annual Beekeeping School held in Mexico. She also teaches beginner and intermediate beekeeping schools for the Oxford Hills Adult Education program. As an EAS Master Beekeeper, she is dedicated to educating the general public and prospective beekeepers about the fascinating honey bee. She has spoken to many groups including children’s summer reading programs, local social organizations, regional beekeeping chapters and garden clubs. Each fall she takes a demonstration hive to the Farmington and Fryeburg Fairs to promote beekeeping.

The presentations will be held at the garden’s newest acquisition, 103 Main St., right next door to the garden. This year they will be held weekly on Wednesdays with the talks beginning at 4 p.m. Come early for tea prior to the talks.

On Feb. 26, McLaughlin volunteer and archaeologist Harriet Robinson will share her love of Mediterranean plants, both as wildflowers and as garden specimens in “Mediterranean Plants in Maine Gardens.”

Cindy Creps of Meadow Ridge Perennial Farm will discuss “Growing Cut Flowers in Your Own Garden” on March 5. Her farm is located in Hebron.

The lecture on March 12 is by Professor Jean Potuchek. She lives part time in Poland and will be here on her spring break from Gettysburg College. An online blogger, she will present “Garden Blogs: A Virtual Garden Club.”

Betsey-Ann Golon of Common Folk Farm in Naples will discuss “Growing and Using Lavender” on March 19. She is the herbalist at the Shaker Village in New Gloucester and will be coming directly from the Philadelphia and Boston Flower Shows.

On March 26 Eli Goodwin of Goodwin Nursery in Oxford will be making a return visit to the lecture series. His topic is “Need to Know Points on Landscaping and Landscape Design.”

The series will end on April 2 with Cindy Tibbetts of Hummingbird Farm, Turner. A popular lecturer at the McLaughlin Garden, she has previously discussed clematis and herbs. This year her lecture is “Not Your Grandmother’s Geraniums.”

The lectures are open to the public. No prior reservations are needed. Donations will be accepted to further the maintenance of the historic garden and buildings.