Author: joypurdin

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Floriography: The Victorian Language of Flowers.

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We know that flowers are a way of expressing our thoughts and emotions on occasions both happy and sad; but most of us have never thought about where this tradition and the meaning of flowers first began. The speaker at our October program, Jessica Roux, opened our eyes and our minds to the world of floriography, a study in the Victorian language of flowers.

After our members gathered to socialize and share in the treats prepared by our hosts Andrea, Dawn and Joy, we found our places, and the meeting began. Our President, Susan, welcomed everyone and shared an invitation from the Marblehead Garden Club to join them for an upcoming lecture on bees  — a very nice collaborative gesture. Our Program Chair Cheryl then reminded everyone about our “Horticultural” field trip to the Mt. Auburn cemetery in Cambridge the following Saturday. With business out of the way, Cheryl introduced our speaker, Jessica Roux.

Jessica Roux, a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, is a freelance illustrator and a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. She is also a prolific gardener in her home outside of Nashville, TN. Her passion, she told us, is the Victorian period where flowers began to have specific meanings, and floral bouquets were sent as a way to express feelings in a world where feelings were not expressed openly. And because this was her passion, she decided to pursue it by researching, illustrating, and publishing a book on just that — Floriography: The Victorian Language of Flowers.

In her talk, Jessica took us back to the Victorian period, where “plant hunters” went on expeditions to explore new worlds and bring back unique and exotic plants. With the invention of the Wardian Case (a small glass greenhouse), plants and seeds were able to be transported back to England and grown on a wider scale. It is during this period that the Victorian love of all things botanical grew. There were fern designs on wallpaper, walks outdoors with friends called “fern walking,” and the use of the tussy-mussy, a small hand-held vase of two or three sweet-smelling blooms, which women carried with them. It was at this time period that flowers began to have meanings, and bouquets were made expressly to send an unwritten message.

For example, because Queen Victoria wore a headdress of orange blossoms for her wedding, the orange blossom became the “it” wedding flower, an occasion of love and happiness. The willow tree meant “death” and was used on gravestones and jewelry to signify grief. The rose, of course, meant love, and different colors indicated levels of affection. Jessica held us spellbound while she explained varying flowers and their bouquets. Of course, all of this was complemented by her magnificent illustrations as she talked. The details and coloring of each flower and bouquet in her drawings were so intricate that you could feel Jessica’s passion in each one. It was amazing to see her talent and dedication to her art.

Our meeting had to end, but we all went home with new knowledge about this subject. And for those members who could not make the meeting, I encourage them to look up Jessica Roux, just to see her illustrations and other books she has published. You’ll be happy you did!

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It’s Party Time!

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Each September, members and guests of the Driftwood Garden Club come together at the home of one of our gracious members to socialize and begin our “winter” season of programs and field trips. This September, we gathered at the beautiful home and gardens of Leslie D. and her husband, Ric. The annual cocktail party is a popular event for everyone, allowing people to mingle and get to know one another outside of the gardens that we care for throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Our hosts for the evening, members Rose, Brigitte, Kathy, and Adrienne, were magnificent at setting a beautiful table, organizing everything, replenishing plates, and cleaning up while also circulating  to chat with members and their guests.

DGC members signed-up ahead of time to bring either a savory hors d’oeuvre or a sweet dessert, and they outdid themselves this year. There was more than enough food, and it was all delicious. Not only are we talented gardeners, but we’re also darn good cooks. A special shout-out to our bartenders, Ken and Rick, who manned the wine bar and kept everyone happy.

Our President, Susan M., welcomed everyone with a toast to members and their guests. The next few hours were filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter as members shared stories of their gardens, trips they had taken, their family activities, as well as all that was accomplished by their hard work in the gardens of Abbot Library and Farrell Court this past season.

The Driftwood Garden Club is looking forward to a fantastic schedule of workshops, speakers, and field trips planned for the coming year by our Program Chairs, Cheryl and Barbara. There will definitely be something everyone can enjoy!

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New Members Welcomed.

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It was a perfect summer’s evening in late August when the Executive Board and Chairpersons of the Driftwood Garden Club met to welcome our newest members to our organization. This tradition was started several years ago in an effort to make new members feel welcome, to give them an overview of the leadership of the E-Board, and to introduce them to the many opportunities within the club to become more involved by participating on one of the committees.

The event was held at the beautiful home of our President, Susan M., and a delicious array of savory and sweet treats was provided by the officers and chairpersons attending. Sitting on the patio, enjoying the surrounding gardens, we chatted and admired the property surrounding us. Just a quick side note: We found out that our President not only takes care of her flower gardens, which were lovely, but also mows, edges, and prunes all of her landscaping herself! It looks like she has a team of landscapers come in every week! The result of her dedication and hard work is a sanctuary for the birds, bees and butterflies who visit daily.

After the social hour, the presentations began. Starting with the Executive Board, each officer introduced themselves and gave a quick summary of their responsibilities. Chairs and Vice-Chairs of each committee were next, giving a quick job description of their duties and that of the committee as a whole. Questions from new members were sprinkled among the presentations, all in an effort to encourage new members to become more involved on a committee that might be interesting to them.

The evening ended just as the sun was setting, and we all left with smiles on our faces, knowing that the work of the Driftwood Garden Club takes the many talents of all of our members.

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Summertime in the Gardens!

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The Driftwood Garden Club was established in 1952 as a non-profit organization to “obtain a practical knowledge of gardening, to assist in preserving the natural beauties of Marblehead, and to practice the art of flower arranging.” In 2026, we do all that and more!

During the summer, our DGC members work in teams to care for two properties: The Abbot Public Library gardens and the courtyard and gardens at Farrell Court, a property under the auspices of the Marblehead Housing Authority. With direction from our two Civic Chairs, Kathy B. and Joy G., our member work groups make these gardens flourish from spring cleanup, through the dog days of summer, until the fall cleanup.

For our history and your enjoyment, here are some photos of DGC members working at each of the properties.

Abbot Public Library

Farrell Court

Thank you to all of our gardeners for all your hard work this summer!

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DGC Annual Luncheon 2026.

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It was a beautiful day for the members of the Driftwood Garden Club to gather for their annual business meeting and luncheon. Smiles and chatter filled the rooms as members arrived and began connecting with each other.

Many thanks to Adrienne Sweetser for sharing her beautiful home for our annual meeting. DGC hosts provided a delicious variety of salads, fruit, and side dishes to accompany our main course. We especially thank Louise Moore of ‘Every Little Breeze Catering’ for the amazing lobster rolls and lobster salads, as well as Lily at ‘Three Hundred Fifty Bakery’ for the scrumptious cupcakes.

DGC President Cheryl Miller began the meeting with an overview of the past year’s activities, and thanked the chairpeople and members for continuing to work hard to make this club such a vital part of the community. Along with our work in the gardens of Abbot Library and Farrell Court, we attended wonderful programs over the winter, and took several fields trips together. A new civic activity that was started this year was to bring food donations to every meeting. After each meeting, the donations were brought to either the Marblehead Food Pantry or the Anchor Food Pantry in Swampscott and both organizations were truly appreciative. We then voted on bylaw changes with Joyce Raymond, welcomed new members, and approved the roster of incoming officers and committee chairs.

Laurie Boggis, Treasurer, give her financial report to the members and talked about possible projects at both the library and Farrell Court for the coming year. Of course, we were anxious to hear the end results of our hard work at the 2026 plant sale, and we were not disappointed! Everyone said how much fun they had had, and we were happy to hear it was successful once again. 

Susan McMullen, our incoming President, presented Barbie Saraceno with the DGC’s very own “Unsung Hero” award. Barbie has many talents, but she has an exceptional ability to manage anything and everything computer-related. From creating an online membership application to managing Sign-Up Genius to helping a member with a computer issue, Barbie is there, with a smile on her face. Congratulations, Barbie!

Luncheon was served, and we each found a place to enjoy our delicious lobster with wonderful friends, old and new, all of us looking forward to many Driftwood Garden Club events and programs in the coming year.

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Art in Bloom 2026: Max Beckmann’s ‘Still Life with Three Skulls’.

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Congratulations to our DGC members, Susan McMullen and Pinar Gokce, for their participation in the 50th Anniversary of the MFA’s Art in Bloom. Their creativity and interpretation of Max Beckman’s piece was stunning.

Art in Bloom took place on May 1 to May 3 of this year, but the work for our designers began well before that. On March 2, 2026, Susan and Pinar reported to the museum to receive their assignment. Up until this time, it was a total surprise to the participants what their art piece might be. The designers were then given an opportunity to visit their piece of art, closely observing details of the work. Because of the heavy lines, dark colors, and three skulls in this piece, Pinar’s first reaction was a bit of shock. But as she and Susan looked closely, and talked about the details in the painting, they began to see where their design could lead them.

Max Beckmann was a German painter, printer, sculptor, and writer. Although classified as an Expressionist, he rejected that label. He fled Germany in 1937 after the Nazis seized 500 of his paintings which they called “degenerative art.” Unable to get a US visa, he spent the war years in Amsterdam, where he experienced Nazi persecutions, bombs, and hunger. Beckmann printed this tabletop scene during the final months of the war, using objects such as skulls, playing cards, and an extinguished candle to symbolize the transience of life.

With this background knowledge, and the design sketches they had each made, our designers went to the flower market for the first time on March 2. This first trip was to see which flowers might be available and would work in their floral piece. They made a second trip on April 2 to check out the inventory of flowers. And then, on April 29, they went to the flower market for a third visit, this time to purchase the flowers that they would need for their arrangement. They chose chartreuse green hydrangeas for each of the three skulls, a gerber daisy for the candle, and lily blooms for the cards. 

Everything from the flower market went home with them in buckets of water because on the following day, April 30, they would be driving back into the MFA for Arranging Day. They were ready!

During the three-day Art in Bloom exhibit, our designers had to make sure their arrangement stayed watered and refreshed which meant going in early to make sure everything was perfect. Art in Bloom is one of the MFA’s major fundraisers, and Pinar and Susan both said it was an honor to be participants. We, as the Driftwood Garden Club, are honored to have members like Susan and Pinar who are excited to put in their time, energy, and creativity to represent us in such a positive light!

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Ready, Set, Plant Sale!

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It was a full house for our April meeting in the Abbot Library Community Room. Members of the Driftwood Garden Club, veterans and newbies, gathered to participate in an information and question session about our upcoming Dig & Divide, the Plant Sale Set-up, the actual Plant Sale, and our Plant Sale celebration luncheon. 

Thank you to our hosts for providing delicious snacks and beverages, and a perfect table setting for our topic tonight! Our social time is just as important to our members as the topic of the meeting, especially after a long winter. It’s a nice way to reconnect.

We were welcomed to the program by our Plant Sale Chairs, Susan and Adrienne, who, along with the members of their Plant Sale Committee, have been working for many months to set up donor gardens, gather supplies needed for our Dig & Divide days, assign Captains for each Dig & Divide garden, prepare flyers and signage for the event, and myriad other details to make our Plant Sale 2026 a great success.

They started off by reminding members to watch their emails for the Dig & Divide Sign-up. There will be choices of gardens and dates, so members will be able to choose the time and place convenient for them. This signup will be followed by an email from your captain reminding you to bring CLEAN tools, potting soil (large bag, please), and newspapers to your particular location for Dig & Divide. Your Captain will provide a table, tarp, and chair, as well as your individual bag of supplies to bring home for the 10 plants you will be digging in your own gardens. If you are new to this event, your Captain and teammates will help you. Dig & Divides are really fun, and you always learn something new. At the end of the Dig & Divide session, usually about three hours, members of your team will each take home 15 or so plants to care for until the plant sale. At home, you will dig and divide 10 plants from your own garden to care for until the Plant Sale Set-Up.

You will receive another Sign-Up for the Plant Sale Set-Up day, which is the day before the plant sale. This will take place at the Masonic Hall on Pleasant Street from 10:30-12 noon on Friday, May 8. Please clean (wipe down) each of your plant pots before bringing them into the building. The tables will already be set up in categories: perennial sun, perennial shade, etc., and in alphabetical order in each section. Take your time finding the right place for each of your plants. There is always someone to answer a question if needed.

There will also be tables for “special” plants. This year, two of our members will be hosting a table of indoor plants which can be for Mother’s Day gifts, or for plant-lovers who like indoor gardening. There will also be our “Grab & Go” table with beautiful annuals or perennials wrapped and ready to be given as a gift on Mother’s Day. There will be baskets of dahlia tubers, donated by a friend of the Driftwood Garden Club, a station to help create a beautiful window box, and, and of course, Marblehead Gardens, our partner for many years, will add a burst of color with an incredible collection of annuals for purchase.

SATURDAY, MAY 9, THE DAY OF THE PLANT SALE! Members will arrive by 8 a.m. on the day of the plant sale. We’ll have our blue Driftwood Garden Club aprons on and be ready to greet our customers. Once the door opens, our job is to help each customer in any way we can. If we do not know the answer to something, there will be somebody who does. We want happy customers because they will come back year after year and also tell their friends. From 8:30 – 11:30, things can get hectic, but we have some extra help this year from high school volunteers who will carry a customer’s plants to the car. At 11:30, the plant sale ends, and the clean-up begins. All members help put the room back together just as if we had never been there!

Before the close of the meeting, Susan and Adrienne chose a name from the hat for the drawing for a Spearhead Shovel, and Ellen, a longtime member was the happy recipient! We left our April Meeting with smiles on our faces, carrying yard signs, flyers and bookmarks, all to be used in spreading the word to people that the Driftwood Garden Club Plant Sale 2026 is NOT to be missed!

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Rethinking Uses for Annuals.

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Most gardeners are well-aware of the importance of perennials in our gardens (especially native perennials), but our March speaker was here to remind us of the importance and various uses of annual plants. Sally McGuire Muspratt holds a graduate certificate in Landscape Design from Radcliffe College and has spent her career designing gardens that showcase both. As she told us, “The definition of a perennial is a plant that, if it had lived, would have come back every year,” which made us all laugh. There is definitely a need for both annuals and perennials in a garden!Rethinking Uses for Annuals.

Thank you to our hosts for bringing the luck of the Irish to our table this month! With a bright yellow centerpiece of gerbera daisies, and many delicious snacks, including little pots of gold from Harbor Sweets, we chatted with old friends and new before our program began. I think we all felt spring is just around the corner!

Sally began her program with some history of the explorations in the 19th century to South America and South Africa. Exotic plants were brought back to home countries, and those wealthy enough built greenhouses to sustain the plants. Eventually, these gardens and greenhouses were opened to the public. Examples from this period are The Crystal Palace, Longwood Gardens, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In the1800s, public gardens began to emerge as places for people to spend time in nature, surrounded by trees, perennials, and seasonal displays of annual plants. Public gardens also provided year-round jobs for many workers in maintaining the grounds.

As a landscape designer, Sally developed an interest in overcoming difficult growing conditions such as those in traffic islands. She became a cheerleader for garden clubs that took on the challenge of creating a beautiful spot of living color in the middle of moving traffic and hot pavement. Her advice for success with annuals to those taking on a traffic island or gardeners designing a section of their own garden or a container:

SECRET #1: Supply soil appropriate to the plants, gypsum if the soil is salty, enough water for the plants, and good drainage.

SECRET #2: Include three or four levels of plantings (vary the heights). Some of Sally’s favorites:

–High: cleome, cosmos, verbena, giant zinnias, and grasses.

–Medium or rounded: asters, chrysanthemums, coleus, lantana, sedum.

–Short: ageratum, alyssum, impatiens, lobelia.

–Dripping: dichondra Silver Falls, ivy, black or lime sweet potato vine.

 SECRET #3: Acquiring annuals. When acquiring annuals, remember that seeds and six-packs are more affordable than full grown plants.

She showed several slides of traffic islands, including one of her own design. She wrote and was awarded a grant from her hometown of West Roxbury to restructure a traffic island which is the first thing people see when entering the town. As a result of this project, she was named Volunteer of the Year by West Roxbury Main Streets.

In our own gardens, we can use annuals to add color to different areas, to try something new, or even create an inexpensive rough draft for a future perennial garden by using annuals. And, of course, using planters and pots, whether beautiful handmade ceramic, or lightweight fiberglass that look like concrete, can be welcome additions to our gardens, patios and doorways. Sally’s suggestion was to browse catalogs, make lists of what looks interesting, think of colors that you would like in your garden, heights of the annual, the soil conditions it grows best in, and the plant’s needs for light — then just begin!

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Gardening with Dahlias.

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If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow dahlias. – Betsy Szymczak

The above quote is from our guest speaker, Betsy Szymczak, who is not only passionate about growing dahlias, but also passionate about educating and encouraging other gardeners to grow these magnificent flowers. Growing dahlias seems a bit tricky for most of us: planting at the correct time, patiently waiting for the blooms, digging up the tubers in the fall, and carefully storing them for the winter. It takes a little work, but by the end of the evening, Betsy made everything sound easy and very much worth the effort.

Thank you once again to our wonderful hosts who set a beautiful table and supplied us with tasty treats. This social hour lets us reconnect with old friends and introduce ourselves to new members before our program begins.

Betsy began her talk with a bit of history and description of dahlias. The dahlia is native to Mexico and is Mexico’s national flower. Although dahlias are not native to our area, they do attract pollinators and that is one reason there may be so many varieties of dahlias. The basic dahlia has eight petals, with either an open center or a closed center. Between humans hybridizing and bees pollinating, there are now about 55,000 varieties of dahlias. One of the many striking characteristics of dahlias, of course, is the vibrant color of each variety. Comparing the colors to the Pantone Color of the year, Betsy showed us pictures of dahlias in Living Coral, Illuminating Yellow, Vivid Magenta, Peach Fuzz, Mocha Mousse and Cloud Dancer (white!).

Most gardeners know that dahlias grow from tubers which store their food and energy. The tuber should have three parts (the tuber, the neck and the crown) in order to grow. Dahlia tubers should not be planted in the ground until the ground reaches 60 degrees. The soil should be well-drained, in an open sunny location (six hours of sun, afternoon shade), and slightly acidic. Plant the tuber 4-6” deep with eyes up. Cover with soil and do not water directly after planting. Wait until after the sprouts have appeared. After the dahlias are established, water with a soaker hose two to three times a week. You will be rewarded well into October for all of your careful tending with magnificent dahlia blooms to use for arrangements or just to enjoy in your garden. About two weeks after a killing frost, the plants will turn brown. Tubers dug too early are still “green” and will not store. Wash dirt from the roots, and allow to air dry 24 hours. Mark your tubers with their name and color and store in plastic or cardboard boxes and vermiculite. Store in a cool dry area (40-50 degrees) until spring.

Betsy left us information for web resources, how and where to purchase dahlia tubers, and contact information for dahlia societies. If you become a real dahlia connoisseur, there is also this website: www.dahliaaddict.com. Good luck and happy gardening!

NEW TO OUR MONTHLY PROGRAMS:

There are two new additions to the DGC monthly program meetings:

— A seed sharing program. Bring seeds to exchange with other members each month

–Donations to the food banks of Marblehead and Swampscott

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Ribbons & Wreaths & Holiday Cheer.

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Members of the Driftwood Garden Club gathered once again at the Marblehead Community Center to participate in our annual wreath decorating program. In collaboration with the Marblehead Council on Aging, Driftwood members decorate wreaths and swags as one of our civic programs, thus giving back to the community during this holiday season.

After members enjoyed a social time with delicious homemade treats provided by our hosts for the evening, we got to work. Members came prepared with scissors, glue, floral wire, ribbons and various decorations to use in their decorating endeavors. There was also a table, provided by the Driftwood, laden with pre-made bows, pinecones, and assorted ribbons and decorations for all to share.

As the members worked, they chatted and laughed and shared in the spirit of the season. They began to turn the fresh wreaths and swags into lovely gifts to be given to Marblehead residents who participate in the lunch program through the Council on Aging. Each of these residents will receive a decorated wreath or swag with their lunch which is delivered the following day.

We know, through the Marblehead Council on Aging, that the recipients of our wreaths are delighted to be part of the program, and we know how it brightens their day to receive a beautiful wreath. We receive many thank yous in return, and we hope they know that we are just as delighted to do this for them. Happy Holidays, everyone!